the holidays, and stuff

So, for reasons we can't quite figure out we more or less stopped taking pictures right after Halloween. Oh, we took a few, but we went right through the holidays and into spring with very little to show for it. What little we have, we share with you here.

With Christmas coming up, Ender decided to get a job slinging burgers in order to make a little quick cash.
Would you like fries with that?


We had a wonderful visit and Sunday dinner with the Mercado family.


-Thanksgiving-

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For Thanksgiving we met Lisa's family at the Outer Banks in North Carolina, which was more or less in the middle of all of us.


Marianne came along as well, making it one big happy family vacation on the cold autumn beach!


Nothing says "I'm thankful for..." like sparklers!


Before...


After!!!


Ender wanted to write his name with a sparkler.


-Christmas-

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We took Ender to have his picture taken with Santa at the haunted theater.


His cheeks look extra chubby because they're stuffed with kettle corn.


Ender is going to beat the humbug out of you with his festive candy cane.
"Grinch this, Ebenezer Scrooge!!!"


Amy's ghostly, yet beautiful, visage hiding behind the haunted drapes.


Because we didn't like our picture with Haunted Theater Santa, we also took Ender to have his picture taken with Ghetto Mall Santa.


Trying to stow-away to the North Pole so he can hang-out with the elves.


It's a Ghetto Winter Wonderland!


We had dinner with our friends Kirk & Catherine, and Ender had tons of fun hiding in the fridge. That, or he kept trying to find his missing sock in there.


Ender loved having a white Christmas... until we forced him to go out into it.


Wearing Abuela's wig is always fun!


Uncle Rod teaching Ender about finance. Apparently, It's All about the Benjamins.


Ender didn't mind sharing Abuela's wig with her.


-Christmas, Take 2-

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We went back to SLC a few weeks later for Grandma Nina's funeral, so the coastal cousins got to spend more time with Grandma and Grandpa!


Papa Rasmussen hoarding his grandsons.


Aunt Marianne spent some time giving Ender a piano lesson.


Our little man was so cute in his sweater that we wanted to get a picture of him. This is the closest thing to a normal smile we were able to get out of him.

He was more interested in busting-a-move for everyone.


Since we finally had the whole family together, we decided to take a family picture. Unfortunately, we took the pictures at the funeral home, and they were all filled with ghostly blobs (as seen here). This is the least haunted picture of the batch.