We visited Santa a couple of weeks ago! Meryl had her scene all planned out…riding the rocking horse of course.

Oh what fun! Here they all are and they are treasures!

Meryl’s letter to Santa here is a strategy play for next Christmas, hoping to ride the rocking horse yet again:)

Magic show! And Meryl was chosen to go up on stage to help! The kids are still treasuring their ‘signed’ playing cards by the magician:)

Still working through pictures from a couple of weeks ago:) These e-bikes are so much fun!

Lucky kids! Frank rode them around Lake Union, where they happened upon a model sailboat racing crew who let the kids try out their remote controls!

Holmes always has to bring ‘something’ into the car with him:) Consequently, our cars end up with loads of toys and books and all forms of somethings that need to go back in the house at some point.

And here we are today…iced-in and hoping Xanna’s flight arrives safely this evening as the whole of Seattle closed this morning due to sleet and ice everywhere (it’s also blizzarding in Anchorage). The kids have yet again found the walkie-talkies (they always need new batteries) and Meryl is giving Holmes a remote concert, multitasking by pressing the talk button while playing the ukulele and singing ‘Jingle Bells.’

Allllllllll over the house!

Merry Christmas early to the Lawers before they head off to vacations in Turks And Caicos and New Zealand this weekend!

Xanna made a flight to Seattle! Xanna made a flight to Seattle! It’s been an all day waiting game, and a big gamble to wait as long as she did, but she boarded the plane and will be here tonight!

In the next edition of hallway pen pals, Meryl made a coloring sheet for Holmes to work on during his nighttime quiet time:)

Meryl is going to cooking camp this week and has befriended a number of animals along the way:) Unicorns still remain her favorite with horses a close second, but this calf here has become her riding partner for the week.

A snowy morning means catching snowflakes on her tongue on her way to camp! Snow has come earrrrrrrrly to Seattle this winter!

Snow day from preschool! Holmes initiated our need to shovel, or as he calls it, “scooping.” He LOVES to shovel snow.

Holmes just might like eating snow more than shoveling, it’s a hard toss up. He much prefers eating snow directly from its naturally landed surface (yes, he knows about yellow snow)…though I did freak out about metal surfaces and he is now, thankfully, well informed about not licking snow off of anything made of metal - poles, handrails, guardrails, you name it. Because we need our tongues.