Santa Claus Came To Town!!!!!

WOW did we have a big Christmas!!! I think Santa went a little crazy this year, although Santa goes crazy every year if it's a Walpole Christmas. The kids had an absolutely amazing time opening all their presents. The big Barbie house turned out great considering it was painted an ugly barney-purple on the outside and nothing on the inside when I got it. Now it's adorable and the girls can't stop playing with it. It's definitely big enough that they can share. Brandon's shed turned out great too, especially since I had to help Douglas build it. He separated his shoulder in a snowboarding accident on December 19th so he couldn't really do much with his right arm. That was quite the experience! Brandon is really excited to have somewhere to park his big tractors and it's sturdy enough for them to climb all over it too. Brandon got TONS of Legos, which is keeping him very busy. For the first time in his life he will disappear into his room for hours and I don't hear a peep out of him. They all love the new train table too. Brandon got an electric Lego train to go on it but we also got a Thomas train set to go on it too. The girls think their new playhouse is super cool, especially because there are two parts to it so there's room for both of them to play. Douglas spoiled me, but I think I kind of spoiled him too so it all worked out okay. Brandon made us an adorable wreath at school that he couldn't wait for us to open so we had to open it early. He was very proud of his hard work! We were very grateful to be able to spend time with family. We know some loved ones who have been having an incredibly difficult time lately and we hope that everyone will have a better year in 2010. You are in our prayers and we love you! There were so many Christmas pictures it was easier to do a slide show than try to post them all individually. Enjoy!

A little holiday fun!

For Thanksgiving we had our first dinner around noon with my in-laws and then we had our second dinner at my parents' around 5:00. So much turkey! One Thanksgiving dinner is big enough but doing two in one day makes me full for about a week. I made a ton of pies this year for family and friends. I ended up making 3 pumpkin, 2 peach, 2 apple, 1 blueberry, 1 cherry, 3 banana cream and 1 french silk. Here's a picture of my pretty cherry and blueberry pies. Yum! I did quite a bit of Black Friday shopping this year. I got up early and left the kids at home with Douglas so I could get it done fast. When I got home Douglas was putting the lights on the house so I helped him finish that and then we put up the tree. The kids had a ton of fun with that. It's a good thing we don't have too many breakable ornaments! We each get an ornament every year that represents something we did that year or something we really enjoyed that year so it makes it really fun to look all the ornaments. Then, of course, my family just did their 3rd annual Gingerbread house contest. It was a lot of fun, as usual. The kids love to help decorate the house! I don't know if we have picked a winner yet for this year but here is our house. Kind of cute isn't it? I liked our house last year better. Douglas had to make sure he had his dog house to stay in when he's in trouble.