The holidays are closing in...

Well, we finally had to turn the heat on. It's been unseasonably cold here. We've been using only our wood stove, but last night was the turning point with temps below freezing. Now we are anxious about our oil, but we'll stay positive.

Lisa is coming over tomorrow when I get home from work to take our annual family photo. We usually make 100 copies and make it into a Christmas card, but the way things are this year, we''ll probably just use it as our annual 8x10 and forego the cardgiving except for a few close family members. I was going to skip it altogether, but realized I'd probably regret it since we've done it the last 6 years. I don't want to skip a year after all. I like seeing how everyone changes from year to year. We are hoping Lisa can stay for a while after the photo shoot. We want her to sing Led Zeppelin with us.

I have only a few more work/class days until Thanksgiving break. It's a fun time of year with the kids. I've been asking everyone what they want to eat most at their Thanksgiving dinners. I get some interesting answers. Some have been: cotton candy, apples, gummy bears. I've never had any of those at my Thanksgiving dinner. We're going to Scott's parents house again this year.

Walker is now taking rock climbing lessons at the YMCA in Haverhill, MA. Here are a couple of shots. It's so scary to me. I wouldn't want to be way up there, but he loves it!

He's the guy on the back wall with the black helmet (in the glare of the picture). He goes all the way to the top and rings the bell.

Walker on a different "face" of the climbing wall. This is a scary ledge to get up on, turn around and continue climbing to the top. He's really good at it.