12.04.2020

Decking Our Halls part 2

 We finally got the house de-thanksgivinged (pretty sure that isn't a word...) but now the house is ready for Christmas and setting up our tree!

Our fireplace room:

One of our favorite things is pulling out our Christmas children's books:
Our advent traditions:
Our dining room:
Our bookshelves:
This year we got a brand new nativity scene:
I love how it centers our main living space and we still read our nativity story at the beginning of the holiday season...
Our entry way:
WE are excited for this holiday season, even if the only ones that reside her are the 4 of us, I am so grateful that we are healthy and the we get to be together.

12.03.2020

New Thanksgiving Leftover Recipe...

 After thanksgiving, we always make things like sandwiches and soups and pretty much use things up.  This year we tried a recipe that Ryder had gotten when he had had Eden's third grade teacher and this year, the kids decided to make it.

We were pretty much able to dump things in and the kids could pretty much make it themselves...
They REALLY liked it and are hoping that we can make it again, and in our house, that is a win!
Thank you Mrs. Shenton for sharing this with us!

12.02.2020

Decking our Halls part 1

 Ok, we have a rule in our house that we don't decorate for Christmas until Thanksgiving is over, but this is the year that things are just different.  Since we were hosting Thanksgiving, we focused most of our energy upstairs.  We don't usually put a lot of energy into our rooms, which made it very fun for us! In our room, I decorated our headboard (complete with mistletoe) and pulled in a plaid throw:

In Ryder's room, we pulled out felt holly garlands and trees for his dresser:

And for Eden's room, we got a little pink bottle brush tree to match her first silver and pink ribbon tree:
I put my childhood nativity out for her:
Then we crafted a few garland for her room:
She is loving it and it makes it all feel so special!
I decorated the staircase.  It's the third time I have done it since we have lived in this house and we love it each and every year!
In our guest bathroom, we did a new little area, which I think just might be my favorite:
Those are the kids hands and fingerprints: 
It is all coming together!
Then a little nook in our kitchen:
 
And the holiday scent that has seemed to taken over this year...
This is our first year decorating our remodeled kitchen and we love it so much!
Since we hosted a little Thanksgiving, there are a few parts of the house that I am still switching over from Thanksgiving to Christmas, and this weekend we are planning to get our tree...
I should have more switched over tomorrow!

12.01.2020

Kicking off the Christmas Season

 As a family tradition, my side of the family gets together the weekend after Thanksgiving to be together, to decorate my parents tree, to eat a fun meal, play games, watch movies etc... This year we added a  3 mile hike up to Wildwood Canyon:

Part of the walk includes an old, abandoned farm, which was so fun to explore:
Then we headed to my parents house for the rest of the festivities. We decorated our tree:
My parents made pizzagna.  If pizza and lasagna had a baby, this would be it:
My parent's friend made cookies as name cards.  
Eden lost her mind!
Then some of the kids watched a movie while the adults played Triple Yahtzee:
The adults were teamed with their spouse and, not to brag, but Kit rode my coat tails and we won❤︎!
It was a really sweet time to be together and I feel like Christmas season can really begin now!