Two of the professors in my department are married. They have been so nice to us! They often ask how our children are doing, and they sometimes pass along used items that their own children have outgrown. Just before Christmas, they offered to give us this amazing playhouse. It was in like-new condition, and we were thrilled to have it. It’s nice to have something fun for the kids to do indoors, especially during these long Michigan winters.

It snowed a lot this past week! Most of the schools around the area were closed on Wednesday, and Kay even canceled mutual. (U of M stayed open though – we’re not about to let a little snow get in the way of our studies!) I’m getting a little tired of shoveling out the driveway, but the kids think it’s awesome.

Oliver starred as one of the wise men. His two elephants played the other two wise men.

A very tired wise man and shepherdess.

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving! Grandpa and Grandma James came to visit, and we had such a good time together. Oliver and I picked up Grandma and Grandpa from the airport on Thanksgiving afternoon. Kay was at home finishing this:

Dinner was incredible – Kay is a fantastic cook, and she did nearly everything by herself (I made the rolls, but that was it). We enjoyed our Thanksgiving feast, but even more, we enjoyed eating it together with family.

We are so blessed! I am thankful for these two.

They make my life wonderful.

Abby always has the best ideas. Lately she has decided that she is too big to ride in the shopping cart, so she has to walk with us through the entire store. I think that she just wants to be able to reach things – we’ve ended up with all kinds of things in our shopping cart, including frozen lemonade. (We’re still not sure how she reached that!) The other day, though, she tried something new. When we got home, we found this:

I guess all of the “stickers” were just too tempting. They look cuter on Abby, anyway.

We had a super fun Halloween this year. The kids were so excited for the big day that they started playing “trick or treat” about three weeks before Halloween. They would gather up some toys and give them to me, tell me to go to Abby’s room, and then come and knock on the door and say “trick or treat”. I would give them some of the toys, and then they would come back for more. Even with all of the anticipation, I think the actual trick or treating lived up to their expectations.