Christmas also brings the annual "Pondtown Christmas" to Salem. Colorful lights shine on large trees at Knoll Park and small rafts hold lit trees out on the pond.
Of course kids put the fun in Christmas. Here are a few photos from our get together:
We have a tradition of making gingerbread houses on Christmas Eve. This year we were joined by several girls from Ben and Jordan's home. Nate checked to see if it was real candy.
You can see from this shot that we're not quite trained for guests like Eva. It's amazing how fast she can get her hands on things.
Any guesses where Kate did her Christmas shopping? And look how respectful Colin is.
Dylan loved his pirate ship. He dragged it into the theater room while his dad was watching Pirates of the Caribbean and played with it for nearly two hours during the movie.
Eva was quite enamored with her Pretty Pony. By the way, Ben is quite a cook and treated us to a multi-course Italian feast on Christmas Eve. He says he has a good deal because the girls at the home in Erda have to clean up the kitchen after he's done.
Here's Nate enjoying his dad's meal. By "enjoy" I mean he puts the food in his mouth, chews it a bit so he can savor the flavor, then throws what's left on the floor. It is not pretty but since he can't actually eat normally he deserves all the gastronomical pleasure he can derive. 
Ben brought over the game "Rock Hero" and it was quite a hit with both big kids and little kids.
