Holiday Plans

Greetings friends and family,

The delivery man showed up with our entertainment center for the great room.  After it was built I installed the REAL entertainment components, Easton and Layla. They are much more enjoyable than any electronics I could add.

We chose this unit because it is large enough to cover a good portion of the 14 foot high wall.  Also, we shopped on Craigslist for the last few months and discovered the price of this one (after negotiations) was about the same price.  That's the only reason we bought new.

Kendra planned to have a family dinner at Rustler's Rooste.  The missing piece of information we didn't know what that all banquets were moved inside the restaurant because of the light sprinkles across the valley.  Instead of waiting 90 minutes for a table we just took advantage of the sweet indoor slide.  No-Fear Layla didn't even wait for us to get the camera ready the first time.

Easton's exuberance was so loud he caught the attention of other kids and near-by patrons.

Layla asked me to join her down the slide so I gladly obliged.  Hopefully I'll never get too old to have fun on their level whatever age they are.

Easton declined going down the slide with me because he wanted to be a brave big boy and go down all by himself.  I appreciate the initiative and don't mind a bit for him to get these small "wins" to boost his confidence.

The 4 Webbs are staying home this year so we bought a Christmas tree in an effort to get our house in the holiday mode.  The last time we set up a tree was 8 years ago!  The twins helped me string the lights.  I took this picture below before we turned them on for the first time.  You can see in their face the apathetic look, but as soon as Easton plugged in the extension cord their faces lit up and they were filled with holiday cheer the rest of the day.

Especially when they helped Kendra hang decorations.  She bought the shatter-proof kind for obvious reasons.  The decision paid off only seconds after the twins got their hands on a few bulbs and smashed them into one another on accident.

The stockings were hung by the plasma with care...  No, wait. There should be a chimney involved, right?  Usually, but we live in Arizona so chimneys are almost extinct.  Of those who have a chimney I would bet $5 no one lights theirs up more than five times per year.  Anyway, this is improvising at its finest and an example of working with what you got.  Kendra is so good at it.

Now all I need is eggnog and a long sleeve fleece to know Christmas is just around the corner.  I have two weeks of vacation coming up for the last half of December so I'm excited about the quality AND quantity of family time coming up soon.  Also, Ouma and Oupa are coming back for a redo of their vacation.  Two weeks ago was an extremely labor intensive trip.  We are hoping this time together will be full relaxation and enjoyment...  and maybe a ceiling fan hanging or two.  :)

See you soon!