Our Christmas

Ok, so we took a lot of pictures this Christmas. I just upgraded to Picasa 3 and it has a slideshow feature. So I thought I would make a slide show of all our pictures. We had a great holiday season, and really enjoyed our cookie making and delivering this year. A big thanks to Jenny Orchard for the edible ball bearings (dragees to you non-Dr watchers) and edible glitter! They really set off our spritz cookies. Christmas eve was fun. We did a little carolling and then we watched Get Smart. Too fun! Christmas morning started with taking care of the animals, of course. They can be soooo demanding. Ü After they started their special breakfast we were able to settle in around the tree. Now the presents are open, dinner is in the oven, and we are getting ready to spend the evening with friends playing games. We hope all of you had as wonderful of a season as we had!

Mia playing with her Christmas mice

I couldn't resist taking a couple of videos of Mia playing with her Christmas mice. She was just too cute! Of course, as you see in the first one, having the camera at her level can be even more interesting then the mice.

Christmas Around the House

I decided to take some pictures of our Christmas decorations around the house. I'll try to remember to go out at night and take some pictures of the outside decorations. I LOVE THEM! I really think that we have a chance to win the neighborhood holiday decoration contest this year. Of course I am a little biased. Maybe I'll take pictures and have you vote.

We downsized the tree this year, so I couldn't even put half the decorations on it, but it's still really pretty.

I love my mantel! It's so pretty in silver, glass & red.

This is as far as I've gotten with the Christmas cards. Hopefully they will make it out in the next couple of days.

The tree here was crocheted by my dear friend, Jenny Orchard. She's so talented. Check out her blog at justjennys.blogspot.com Thanks for the tree Jenny!

The snowmen are invading the upstairs!! This is my shelf at the top of the stairs. If you look close, you can see that I need to repair one poor snowman whose nose fell off!

I love window clings! These little Santa's jumped into my cart on a recent Walmart trip! That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Also, you get to see the snow on my patio.

I really like this table with some of my nativity and angel decorations.

Snow Day

We're having our first "big" snow of the season today. It snowed an inch or so last week, but melted the next day. This snow is likely to stick around, since we're not forecasted to get above freezing in the next week. This morning's temp was 10°!


I had to take these pictures of Maggie wiped out after playing in the snow. She loves to eat the snow! She's just too cute in her bandana. That she got on her last trip to Puppy Jail (aka the wonderful pet boarding facility we take her to when we go out of town.)

Girls Day Out

Marissa Carlson and I try to spend one day a week doing something out of the house. A couple of weeks ago we visited the Bingham-Waggoner Estate in Independence, MO. It was beautiful!! It is a restored Victorian house that right now is decorated for Christmas. Almost all of the furniture in original to the house. It was very Meet Me In St Louis.

Time Out For Women

Some girlfriends and I attended Time Out for Women in Omaha, NE a couple of months ago. We had a wonderful time. It was really nice to get to know each other better. Time Out for Women is an event sponsored my Deseret Book that is a weekend of beautiful music and inspirational speakers. Friday night we listened to the music of Jenny Oaks Baker (a violinist). It was wonderful and she was adorable!


We stayed in a phenomenal hotel. I wish I had taken pictures of the lobby, it was beautiful! Of course we had to stop and enjoy the cookies and cocoa by the fire Friday evening.

After we got back friday night, we all brought some chocolate to share and had a little party in our room!


I really enjoyed this weekend. I was uplifted by the messages shared and by the music. If you ever have a chance to attend, I would encourage you to do so. It was so worth it!

Oh the weather outside it frightful!

This year I have gone Christmas ornament crazy! I just can't help myself. They are all so pretty and they bring me joy!! LOL I haven't actually started decorating yet. I'm giving my Thanksgiving decorations a chance. Ü We will decorate in 2 weeks. That's a week early because we'll be out of town Thanksgiving weekend (woo hoo to all you SC folks!) I'm chomping at the bit to do it. Sam and I have been going back and forth over where to put the armoire in the kitchen for December (that's where the tree goes). We bought a slightly smaller tree this year b/c last year our humongous one was a joke. It took up half the kitchen...almost literally. The new tree in prelit, so Sam is excited. I'm not the only excited one...someone on our street has already put their lights up and is turning them on! I've so far resisted turning on the carols only b/c I'm afraid that I'll be sick of it before Christmas actually gets here. I did that with Halloween. We decorated the middle of September, and by October 31 I was so over Halloween! So happy beginning of the holiday season to all you out there who like me are ready to deck them halls!

Grocery Bag

I've been sewing for craft group this month. Here is my attempt at a grocery bag.

Apron

I made my first apron! I designed it and it actually worked!! Now, what can I cook???

Our First Missouri Garden

Maggie enjoyed being outside with us and was curious as to what we were doing.

You know me, if I have to make something, it's going to be cute! One year we planted a garden and didn't mark what we had planted. Of course once it grew, it became a daily mystery as to what we were going to get. This year, I want to know what to expect!

The finished product. I can't wait for them to grow!! They have already survived their first MO thunderstorm, although I'm wondering if we should have drilled a few more holes in the bottom of the bucket. The corn especially was slow to drain. Still, I'm just like a little kid watching in wonder for the first signs of life. Even though I know they won't sprout for at least a week, I still look hopefully every morning.

Cat Napping

This I just thought was too sweet. You can't be still in our house without kitty coming to join you.

Girls Camp

I worked at our Stake Girls Camp this year on the cooking staff. Boy was that a lot of work! The other ladies cooking with me were just terrific. I didn't particularly enjoy the standing in an unairconditioned kitchen for 16 hours a day, but I really enjoyed the people I met. We had a really good time goofing around and talking all week long. Spending time with the girls was really uplifting and made me miss my sister. The bottom picture is of me with my friend Marissa Carlson. She was the camp leader over the 2nd year girls. It was great to be able to see her there. We're so used to spending time together, that I think we would have gone through withdrawls being apart for a whole week. I'm not sure I would go back, but I'm really glad that I went.

Refinishing the Patio Fence

After many delays we've finally refinished the patio fence! The stain Sam chose turned out a bit more orange than we expected, but it has dried to a nice color. It's so nice to have a handy husband who can make things look so nice!