Catching Up

December has been full so far, but in light of recent tragic events, I need to blog about the joys of life for myself and perhaps for others.  Sometimes the little things get us through when the big things threaten to overwhelm and paralyze us.  With that in mind, the Bangsund Update.

December began with our family visit to Schneider's Tree Farm, located on SE 172nd off Foster.  Yes, this is a commercial.  Owned by Don Schneider, this place is a kid's dream come true.  Check this out:

Don spends all summer spending hundreds of dollars at garage sales so that he can do this each December.  And my boys love it.  We pick our tree, and then they pick a toy.

Two out of three isn't bad.  ;-)

So many choices!  Paul ended up with a really cool fire engine that was actually in the overflow shed.

 Luke's choice has a very sweet story behind it.  With all these options at hand, Luke spied a plastic sandwich baggie full of Nerf darts.  He was instantly sold because we have lost three of the four that came with the two blasters we own.  Don, the proprietor and adorable grandpa figure, noticed Luke's pick and had to tell him that those weren't actually available.  They were for Don to give out to kids who chose Nerf items and needed darts.  Luke kept it together, but I could tell he was disappointment. He and the Daddy-Man redoubled their search efforts, while Don disappeared into his house.  He arrived back on the scene with this:

 It's an air hockey game that totally works and is totally awesome.  Luke was sold instantly.  The boys are playing the 2-player version here, but we also tried our hand at the 4-player version later that night.  Pretty great family entertainment.

We also got...a Christmas tree!

Look whose at the door, dear.  It's our Christmas tree!

We spent the rest of the day decorating, un-decorating, and re-decorating our tree.  Okay.  I can explain.  The first set of lights that we put on blinked, and we didn't have any extra bulbs to get it to stop blinking.  I don't like blinking lights.  So I went to the store and bought new lights, the LED kind that are fancy and whatnot.  Erik put them on the tree, and I didn't like them either.  Finally, I went down into the dungeon we call our seasonal storage room and found the actual Christmas tree lights hiding in a box that hadn't yet made its appearance upstairs.  I promise, I only made my husband put lights on the tree three times.  And yes, we have started a conversation about a pre-lit artificial tree.  ;-)

Here are some of the cutie pics taken once the lights were correct.

Paul decorating.  I love Christmas light shots.  Sorry for the blur.

Luke decorates.

Blinded by the flash, Five Year Old Paul poses by Two Year Old Paul.  Where does the time go, people?

Luke peeking around the tree at me.

Both boys peeking around the tree at me...looking a little like a two-headed monster, but mostly just cute.

In completely unrelated news, Erik and I are at the cabin for the weekend.  It has been delightful to spend time together watching movies and playing video games.  Yep.  That's what we do.  We also have enjoyed cooking together and watching it snow.  Super low maintenance weekend.  We even brought some Christmas along with us.

Cabin Christmas Tree - This little tree has been with me since college.  It's seen better days, but it does the trick here.

This beautiful box of light was a gift from my neighbor a few years ago.  I take it with me everywhere I go in December.  ;-)

The full effect

We have also had some snow.  This is the view of the deck this afternoon.

We will head home tomorrow, rested and ready to hug our boys.  I believe that no matter how crazy they make me this week, I will be so very thankful to be with them.  Every moment with the people God has given us is a gift from Him.