Checketts Family News...: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

We didn't celebrate our usual U.S. Thanksgiving this past week, because it was just another regular day here in Canada (we did our big Thanksgiving dinner on October 10th, when the Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving). Neil had to work this past Thursday & the kids had school, but we did get together with some friends on Thursday night for some Thanksgiving pie, which was a lot of fun & SO delicious! And the kids all had a blast!

Usually, the day after Thanksgiving is when we put up our Christmas tree & bake our traditional gingerbread cookies, etc. So, we decided to do those things over the weekend. On Friday night we ordered pizza & hung out at home playing games, eating pizza, & just enjoying some down time together as a family. Then on Saturday morning, Neil & I headed to the store to get some (post Thanksgiving) goodies. When we got home, Neil put out a cheese ball & cracker tray, a veggie tray, and made some yummy cranberry wassail. We cranked up some Christmas music & pulled out all the Christmas decorations! We put up two Christmas trees--one on the main floor, in the living room, right in front of the big front window, and the 2nd tree in the basement family room. We told the kids they could decorate it any way they would like to. We didn't have a lot of extra decorations or lights, but they didn't care. They hung 1 string of colored lights on it, a colored star on top, & some various homemade ornaments & candycanes. They had a great time. After that we baked some gingerbread cookies, and then headed to see a movie. We went to see "Arthur Christmas." It was a really cute family flick.

After we got home, we decorated the gingerbread cookies (and ate plenty of goodies while we were decorating them), and then finished decorating the trees, hanging the stockings, and putting out some Christmas knick-knacks. We always hang some of our gingerbread cookies on the tree, and then eat the rest...YUM!!! That night Neil made some homemade beef stew, the kids played on the Wii, & we just watched some T.V. The kids said it was such a fun weekend, that they wish that EVERY day could be like that. Me too!!! :) We'll just have to enjoy them as often as we can. I hope our kids always remember the fun times we have as a family. :)

PJ enjoying the cheese & crackers...