1 The little cottage where Gramma stayed right nearby! This is what we want to build on our property.
2 Gramma says she saw these guys flying by on Christmas Eve!
3 One of many movies Gramma and I took over the holiday to give you a flavor of being here. This is about a cute little lighted ice cream stand that Benji got at ACE when he was with Gramma. He LOVES looking at these little village homes, and this year he finally got one of his own!
4 Ben talking about a domino cube :)
5 Practicing for the pageant at church.
6 Three wise men :)
7 That cutie in dark brown is the donkey.
8 Pageant rehearsal.
9 Look at Benji - so silly!
10 A friend of mine with ducks! He is convincing me these are very useful creatures - they eat slugs and even mice!
11 One of Sam's creations!
12 Sam singing...
13 A tower.
14 "Mom! I will NOT put my shirt on rightside out!"
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16 Now we're at the pageant!
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19 Look who came down our driveway! Betsey and her team!
20 No way! This was so impressive. Mom and I were both crying by the time she got turned around. We miss horses so much!
21 Here she goes with a few neighbors on board!
22 And look what present I got! My happiest present ever!
23 Ewwww!
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25 Steve made us the most amazing lamb shepherd's pie ever!
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27 Christmas cookies - now you know why I was GREEN!
28 The elf outfit is back! We're out on a hike now with a bunch of friends.
29 Exploring the new Hilltop Trail connecting two sections of forest. This used to be farmland and was purchased by the Bainbridge Island Land Trust with donations from citizens. It is really amazing. On a clear day you can see the Olympics from here. I won't annotate every picture - just enjoy clicking through and seeing all the boys play hide-and-seek, spook the parents, race each other...
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31 Ben and Sam with friend Thomas in the middle.
32 Uh oh - Gangnam style broke out!
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39 Ready to jump?
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41 Taking a little time to reflect.
42 I don't know what he was thinking about. So cute, though.
43 My friend Carrie and her youngest.
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47 Kids loved hiding in the woods to scare us. Look - the sun popped out!
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49 Lying in wait ;)
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52 An unintended "victim" - a passing jogger.
53 Don't fall in the muck, Ben!
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55 Gramma did great on the hike even though she hasn't been able to keep up her walking regimen at home. She is a trooper!
56 Handing out Christmas cookies.
57 I decided I needed a cape this year. Super Elf! I shed that for the hike, though.
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59 A domino train!
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61 Watching the Yorkshire pudding rise!
62 And here it comes!
63 The parade of the pudding!
64 Gorgeous, Dave. You make THE BEST Christmas dinners. I love them!
65 The table.
66 Gramma flies off to Turks and Caicos in a few hours - boo hoo but so glad she could be here!
67 Merry Christmas Eve!
68 One present could be opened...you know what Sam chose! Mr. Domino dominoes!
69 Ben got a castle fort from Gramma!
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74 Oh boy! We didn't exactly see this coming.
75 Seeing if we can make lips touch noses...
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82 Steve's mashed potatoes!
83 "Helping" Dave set up the castle.
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85 All three of us in Ben's castle!
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87 Time to sleep...
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89 The tree at night...
90 Can you see the ghost to the right? It must be an elf!
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92 Look what Gramma gave to Dave!!! He is really good at picking it already - just having fun playing around.
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95 Ben loves this crazy sphere! It collapses to 1/10th its size.
96 Daddy got Sam a crazy cube.
97 Ben also loves this toy - a huge logging truck.
98 Uncle Steve got Sam some rockets to build! We are really looking forward to launching those. They fly up to 1500 ft!
99 Two brothers :)
100 Oh boy Ben really likes these! There are a couple movies of him rocking out.
101 Here you go...
102 A domino cube with the new Mr. Domino dominoes.
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104 Randy and his wife Krissy came over for Christmas Day breakfast. Randy is Sam, Dave and Ben's music teacher.
105 See the nice scarf Nana made me?
106 Ben built a nice house for Mini Mommy!
107 I got to work on a wall with Sam. He taught me how to build pretty well.
108 Thanks for these rubber band guns, Tito Pig and Tita Bear!
109 A movie of toppling a very long wall!
110 972 dominoes set up here!
111 Another wall!
112 Beautiful bouquet from Randy and Krissy. They are so sweet.
113 The credenza with some leftover bread Dave uses for French toast on Christmas Day.
114 Sam's domino wall, ready to go. He's counting towers.
115 All set!
116 The set-off!
117 The chicken girls are laying again! I think we have 3 layers right now - Jersey (brown), AllisonAudrey (pink) and Goose (blue/green).
