It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas...

This is a holiday tradition that we love every year! I have been going since I was in high school and Brad since we have been dating has enjoyed it...and I'm pretty sure that both kids haven't missed a year since they were born. They have the annual tree lighting in the Village in Big Bear Lake the day after Thanksgiving...they sing Christmas songs, have dance contests for the kids (which Sammi won a prize this year!), countdown to the lighting of the Christmas tree...but the best part is when the Big Bear Lake Fire Department arrives with Santa and Mrs. Claus on the top of the fire truck!! Brody and Sammi had the best seats in the house...on the shoulders of Uncle Scott and Pappy!

The "men" in the family took turns letting Brody on their shoulders! Here is Uncle Jeffrey taking his turn at holding the little man!
Uncle Scott had some Brody time too! The tree had just lit...these two are BUDDIES!!

Brody felt the need to salute while enjoying the view from Ron's shoulders!

Check out Brody's new "dino" hat!!

Auntie had her "crazy" whoville hat for the festivities too!

You better what out...you better not cry...you better not pout I'm telling you why...SANTA CLAUS is coming to town!! Sammi was leaning out as far as she could reaching for Santa. She was almost in tears because she wanted him sooooooooooo bad. It was the cutest!!

Sammi could not stop smiling when Santa arrived on the fire engine!! She is LOVING that jolly old man this year!!

This is what she was going NUTS about...Santa rode with the Mrs. on the top of the fire engine!!

This is her looking straight up at them...oh my, to celebrate Christmas through the eyes of a child! It is the best ever.

Brody gave his wave the Santa too!

Here is a close up of that man in the red suit!

Here is a picture of me and my little man...Sammi couldn't stay still, she wanted to hunt down Santa!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

Every year on Thanksgiving weekend, Grammy and Pappy put the kids in charge of setting up their Christmas tree. Being that it gets really cold up there and they always have the heat on or a fire in the fireplace, they have a fake tree....so it gets drug up from the garage and put together to make a BIG tree, then the lights are tested and put on the tree....and then the fun part of putting all the ornaments on the tree! The kids love decorating Grammy and Pappy's tree and they are in charge of all the lower branches!

Sammi poses as Uncle Scott reshapes the tree!

Grammy gets out the box of decorations and the kids are READY to decorate!!

Sammi waits for her next ornament to hang, while Grammy checks out the decorating progress!

Sammi gets a boost from Ron to decorate those high branches!

Monkey see Monkey do...Brody asks Ron for a lift to place an ornament high up on the Christmas tree!

Brody and Sammi hanging more ornaments....

Sammi poses with her favorite ornament...

Brody LOVED that Grammy and Pappy had a Mayflower ornament! He wanted his picture with it too...he just studied about the Mayflower at school and was amazed at the ornament!

Grammy and Pappy decorate their tree and reflect on the ornaments that they collect on their travels! What fun!

Thanks for letting us help with your tree Grammy and Pappy...

Over The River and Through The Woods....

...to Grandmothers house we go!! Despite a little snow on the road and in the trees...we made it to Grammy and Pappy's house in Big Bear for our Thanksgiving Dinner! Oh what a feast it was...all that work was worth it Grammy :) Auntie and Uncle Jeffrey flew in from Missouri, Uncle Scott drove up from Glendale (with his friend Ron who had to spend Thanksgiving away from his own family in Ohio), and of course the kids, Brad and I drove up from Yucaipa! Daddy was only there for the day and had to drive back down to head back to work on Friday. Auntie was so happy to see her favorite little guy...

As Grammy worked hard on the turkey...

...we started our work on our 2nd Annual Fruit Turkey!

Auntie got into the fun of building our Fruit Turkey...we ended up eating more cheese then actually making it part of our turkey!

Uncle Jeffrey got into the fun too!

The kids pose with their Fruit Turkey masterpiece!

Daddy and Sammi smelled the turkey in the kitchen and they are ready to endulge!
Sammi posed with Ron before coming to the table for our Thanksgiving feast!

Uncle Scott and Brody attempt to lick up some gravy before everybody gets to the table!

Everybody is at the table and ready to give thanks for all the blessings in our lives.

Pappy and Uncle Jeffrey sit a bit after dinner...

Brad joins Grammy in the kitchen to start the dishes! But he most pose for a silly shot with Grammy before he gets started...

Uncle Scott and Sammi experience the workings of tripofan and take a little snooze after dinner!

Sadly we had to say goodbye to Daddy so he could go down the hill to work!

It was a great Thanksgiving Day...

Happy Thanksgiving!!

From our little "turkey's" to you all...we wish you a VERY happy Thanksgiving!! The kids found this turkey bench upstairs at Bass Pro Shops and we thought it was the perfect bench to send our greetings out....enjoy your turkey day!! We will be in Big Bear with my family...my sister and her husband flew out from Missouri this afternoon, and my brother will be joining us for the weekend as well! We are VERY excited for a fun filled Thanksgiving weekend...

Cookie Day at the Byers House....

We had a cookie decorating day at the house today with the Swails Family. We had a few sick friends that couldn't join in the fun...so we are planning a Christmas Cookie Day soon too! We made turkey cookies...however Danelle did get creative by making a snowman cookie! Brody was all about the frosting while making his turkeys!

Sammi dressed in a tank top and shorts while it was raining and cold outside...go figure?! She was all smiles while putting the "toppings" on her cookies!

Madison was VERY proud of her turkey cookies! She posed with her little works of art!

Here is a shot of the madness!! The sugar was alive and kicking in the house today!

Here is one of the finished trays of turkey cookies!!

This is what happens when you mix LOTS of sugar and a rainy day with kids!

Bass Pro Shops Winter Wonderland....

We took the kids to Bass Pro Shops in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday and let them explore the Winter Wonderland they have in the store! It really is awesome!! They have a whole corner of the store dedicated to their Winter Wonderland. Unfortunately Santa doesn't arrive until 5pm during the week...so we missed him this trip. But they did have a shooting gallery (similar to the grown up one upstairs), an archery target practice with nerf darts, several coloring tables that had different pages to color and stationary to write a letter to santa, they have a mailbox to collect the letters for the big guy and then he e-mails the kids that write him (to save postage), a remote control car that drives on the snow, two DVD viewing areas (one way playing A Christmas Story and the other had a winter animals DVD showing), they usually have Santa there and they kids can visit with him and get a FREE picture! All the activites are free!! On the weekend they have different crafts that are free for the kids too!! Plus Saturdays at noon is the big fish feeding frenzy in their main tank!! Too fun. Phew...I feel like I wrote an ad for Bass Pro :) The first pic is the kids in front of the mailbox for letters to Santa!

Here is Santa's Workshop...

Daddy's found the "perfect" bench to rest on while the kids enjoyed the shooting gallery!

Sammi was all girl with her pink cross bow!!

The kids loved the shooting gallery and wanted to keep coming back...even after we ate lunch at the restaurant they BEGGED to go back to the shooting gallery. That was the best part about going during the week...no crowds, so the kids got to play LOTS!!

Daddy loved making tracks in the snow with the remote control Tundra!!

Sammi was loving the cars and wouldn't stop posing for the camera in them!!

Look Mommy...no hands!! Our silly kids. Such fun!!