AND HE KEEPS ON GIVING AND POURING IT ON!!!!!

Not to "up one" on the sanitation engineers, but this one IS better.

Dad has been working mega hours and we just didn't have time to get a tree. We wanted to get it later this year, because the older children aren't coming until the weekend after New Years. So, Betsey decided that she could take Zachary & Elyse and get a tree for us (you know I "love" shopping for a tree - praise the Lord she didn't ask me to come along). Anyway, they just went to the corner tree lot and there wasn't much to pick from. It was 10 degrees and Zachary wasn't dressed for that cold of weather. He just stood there shaking. The man that ran the lot said the kids couldn't get their tree in the car since the limbs were all frozen and they would break putting it in the car or on top of it. So, he put it in the back of his truck and delivered it. Not only that, but Betsey started to hand him the $20 for the tree and he refused and said, "Merry Christmas." So, not only did we get it delivered, but we got it free.

But, we did get a "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree.

Next, we put the tree in the garage with the kerosene heater going full blast to thaw out the tree. It took awhile to thaw. Then we noticed how crooked the tree was. Dad sawed off about a foot from the bottom and we still had crooked issues.

Here are pictures to prove it. Notice the HUGE gap without any branches. We put that side toward the window.

Here is the finished "leaning Tower of Pisa."

As our tradition continues, the kids opened their "Christmas Eve Gift." For those of you who aren't familiar with our tradition, the kids get pajamas on Christmas Eve. Elyse got her nightgown like she wanted.

Zachary got "Da Bears" pajamas. They are HUGE, but we hope he will grow into it in a few years.

Lacey, Emily and Erin, don't look - you got a similar pair of pjs.

Betsey, Zachary & Elyse helped wrap the gifts this year. Zachary cut out the "stop" on his wrapping paper and taped it to the front of his gift. He wanted to make sure you saw his artistic work before he ripped it open.

That is our Christmas Eve in a nutshell. We will post Christmas Day pictures later.

Have a super Merry Christmas everyone! See you all next weekend!