We celebrated Thanksgiving in Iowa City with the Spencers and had a great time wrapping up the end of November with Dave’s 32nd birthday.
The first weekend in December had Dave in the backyard wrestling to get our tree into the tree stand, perhaps we should invest in a new one next year, and the kids and me decorating it. Amelia loved all the “magnificent” ornaments and Will just couldn’t keep his hands off them. Our living room took on a festive look and the Christmas music has been on ever since.
This past weekend we took the kids to the Missouri Botanical Gardens to see their Gardenland Express, a replica of the Appalachian Trail with lots of model trains. It was well done and Will loved all the trains. We also watched “The Sound of Music”, something I remember doing each year as a kid. Amelia thought it was fine, then good, then in the end she loved it. Everyone made it through the movie without shedding a tear until the very end when the Von Trapp family has escaped to the mountains. Will burst into tears, literally, because their car had been left behind! Sunday morning we woke up to several inches of snow. We all got bundled up, had a snowball fight and did some sledding down our front hill. It was quite cold so we warmed up with hot chocolate and a fire in our fireplace.
We’re looking forward to taking Amelia to The Nutcracker this Saturday and then Christmas.
We’ve been in St. Louis for six months now and our house feels like home. We have a good routine and nice friends, but we certainly miss all our friends in the Pacific Northwest and our family. Happy holidays everyone, you’re constantly in our thoughts and hearts.