Christmas Decor

Craig won the fake or real Christmas tree battle, and the result is a lovely hand-me-down fake tree.  Isn't it absolutely beautiful?!  Craig thinks so too. :)  It came with 350 colored lights so those were swapped out for 600 white lights.  Much better.

Lori and the girls are now INSISTING on a real one next year, but Craig is hoping they'll forget.

This year's Jesse sticks …er, I mean, tree.

Christmas Prep

Meg created a special nook where she could do crafts and Christmas present prep in privacy.  Good idea.

Christmas Cards

Totally appreciated the help from the kiddos, and they were thankful for the pull-n-seal envelopes.

Snowfall

To say that the girls were totally excited about it snowing is a huge understatement.

And here's a picture of Val that was too cute to pass up …

Rakers

Before the weather was to turn nasty cold, I had some help with the leaves.

30 minute Halloween

That's how long we lasted outside in the cold wind and rain.  By the end, Val's bird costume (designed and produced by Meg) was quite disheveled.  Despite the conditions, we had a good time running around the neighborhood and meeting neighbors.

PS -- If you're looking to use black electrical tape for tiger stripes, I'd make another choice.  The tape left a residue that wasn't easy to get out.  Live n learn.

Team Denver Soccer

Val and Meg were stoked to be team Denver as this is the city of one of their uncles.  They had a great season, and below are pictures from their tournament weekend.

They won both games on Saturday one of which was in the pouring rain.  While Lori, Lia and I shivered on the sidelines, Val and Meg played on hardly noticing the rain.  Afterward, I asked, "Weren't you freezing out there?"  "No, it was fine."  Clearly, they were in competition mode.

The two wins put them into the championship game on Sunday.  This final game was tied 1-1 at half, tied 2-2 at end of regulation, and still tied 2-2 after overtime.  Lots of near misses kept the parents on the sidelines in a constant state of anxiousness.  A shootout ensued in which they lost 3-2.  Fantastic game.  And team Denver gets major props as they were missing 3 players all weekend which meant they had no subs.

Game #2 ...

The Final ...

Way to go Denver!!!