We went from warm summer-like days straight to chilly autumn. Jonah and Ella have loved playing with leaves and crunching through them on walks.

Andrew ran in two more races this month. The first was the Apex Turkey Trot. His dad was supposed to run with him. Unfortunately, an injury during training kept his dad on the sidelines cheering. Maybe next year, the two of them can run in a race together. His other race was the Jingle Bell run. All the runners had jingle bells attached to their shoes. It was cool to hear the runners coming! It was a cold morning, but we loved cheering him on as he ran his last race of 2007.

We had a busy and lovely Thanksgiving. We had 14 people at the house for Turkey and all the Thanksgiving favorites. It is rare that all Sarah’s siblings can be in one place, so it was extra special to have the sisters, brother, and significant others together. Plus, Ned and Sheilah, Great Grandmama Shields, and Cousin Charlotte joined us. We ate a lot (and I mean a lot). The sisters went on a long walk (aka “death march”) and went to yoga and the guys played golf. There was also lots of time on the Wii and just hanging out.

On Saturday after Thanksgiving, we went to Aunt Pat’s for our yearly Warren family gathering. It is so lovely to have so many family members come together to celebrate. Aunt Pat organized a short performance and the kids did very well. As usual, we had a wonderful time and look forward to next year!

As soon as we finished with Thanksgiving, it becomes Christmas at our house. We have all the decorations up and Jonah loves the lights on the tree and looking at the ornaments. Ella was so helpful with decorating the tree this year. She loved unwrapping each ornament and exclaiming: “Ohhh! THIS one is my favorite!” She is very sentimental and wants to sit by the tree and talk about the ornaments and Christmas.

The kids have had two opportunities to meet Santa. Ella likes talking to Santa and Jonah is interested and not afraid. Obviously, he does not quite get the whole present thing from Santa—but he says: “Santa! Ho Ho!”

Ella rode on a float in the Apex Christmas Parade with her ballet studio and had a great time. Sarah also walked with the float and then they joined Andrew and Jonah to watch the rest of the parade.

Jonah has also taken to wearing his hat ALL THE TIME. He even naps with it on. Check for it in the pictures—it is green with a blue and white band.

Sarah finishes her semester next week and is ready for a break (well, at least ready for some time to get prepared for Christmas). We will be heading up to VA and MD for a few days around the holidays.

Love,
Sarah, Andrew, Ella/Eleanor, and Jonah