A Little Christmas

We had such a wonderful Christmas this year!

My Dad and my sister, Amy were here for the first time ever! We haven't spent Christmas together in over twenty years! It was so great to have them here!! I had my Achilles operated on the Monday before Christmas so I wasn't the host I wanted to be...they seemed okay with that though!

My wonderful sisters in law...Melissa, Meagan and Shelly. We spent Christmas Eve at Brian's parent's house with his siblings and nephews, my dad and my sister and of course our family. This year we all gave to our favorite charities and  it was so nice!! We were all blessed as we blessed others.

We added a new one to the group this year, my daughter's boyfriend, Brady!

Christmas morning was pretty leisurely! The joy of having older kids I guess!! Breakfast around 11:00!! Didn't start with gifts until around 12:30!!

Tyler got Brian the beanie he's been wanting...he fits right in now!!

The camera I thought Tyler would like, but that he really wants to trade for something else!!

Aprons for the girls!

Loved having a houseful of people! We need to do gifts more slowly though. Tyler opened his so fast that he was done before I even looked at him!!

The gift we gave ourselves this year...with help from family and a few gift cards!!! My rebel died over a year ago and we've been wanting to replace it. So excited to have this big boy again!!!

We spent the day doing puzzles...

And playing this little game...

It's not really a game, just a series of questions. We did this for about four hours and it was so fun and interesting. Really a conversation starter and can get pretty deep. Of course we skipped over the extremely personal ones, such as "what's your biggest regret?" Some things just don't need to be shared!! The kids all went to the movies while  the rest of us stayed home.

We had a great dinner...no pictures...and lots of treats...no pictures....visits from friends and neighbors...no pictures...! But the memories are there just the same!!


We are so blessed!!!

A New Tradition

Last night the siblings started a new Christmas tradition. Instead of buying each other gifts, we decided to gift ourselves with time spent together. So yesterday we met up in Seattle at Palomino restaurant for and early dinner and a white elephant gift exchange.

A lot of thought and junk cleaning was put into these gifts....such as:

The coveted "Bumpits" that I should have stolen from Meagan. Mistake on my part!

A really nice BB-Q condiment set...

This lovely tissue box holder (call if interested!)...

And what gift exchange is complete without a Snuggie???!! There was also artwork, a dancing/singing poinsettia and a few other trinkets. I think everyone was "really happy" with their gifts!!!

We did a little shopping while the guys took our gifts to the car.

We went to Pacific Place and Westlake Center. There were so many people out including an organized group of over a thousand Santa's! Bands were playing, carolers singing, street performers and just a great feeling of festiveness all around!!

 I don't know how I got this picture the way it is, but I thought it looked really cool!!!

We ended the night at Starbucks with a hot drink and conversation.

This was my favorite night this season!!! I'm so blessed to have such great "sisters and brothers"!! I hope we do this every year!!!!  And I hope Meg gives me another chance at the Bumpits!!!

A Little (lot)of Christmas Decor!

I thought I'd share a little of my Christmas decor with you. I'm a little obsessive and LoVe Christmas!!! I don't like to put it up and I don't like to take it down, but I love every second of the finished product!!!
I've been decorating for two weeks, and seem to keep finding things to add here, and there...enough already!!!!

Welcome and come on in!!!

Here's the tree! It's a mix of homemade and special ornaments that my Grandma gave us over the years. She gave us all, one each, every year for many, many years.

These ornaments are my favorite and the first things to go on the tree every year!

My buffet in the kitchen with my Starbucks tree next to it.

My dad got me most of the rolling pins and the crocks at a garage sale.

I got the icicle shelf liner at Grandiflora this year...I think it's my favorite thing! I got the sparkly trees and the old bingo cards there too. I collect cookie cutters and Thermos's, enamelware lids and kitchen scales too! I would like to get lights in here to make it a little brighter.

Another favorite thing...my Starbucks tree!!! So fun to decorate every year!

I took some old suitcases and spray painted them off-white and love how they turned out. The top one even says "holiday" on it! I received the santa for Christmas when I was four years old...love him!!

 A few of the things I've made recently. The red-work was really fun to do and I always love working with wool, especially these colors!

This penny rug was this year's project...the snow pail from years past.

A simple, spray painted, wooden bowl filled with ornaments.

A cute little chalkboard I picked up this year, sitting on a different buffet, next to the s'more trees.You can also see a bit of a winter quilt in the background.

The trees on the stairwell with lots of bears underneath. I made the ornaments years ago and really need to do something different, but I just keep putting it off!! Santa's undergarments hanging on an old door!

A little tree in the entry, with a wall hanging I had made for my mom.

I like to put these little trees in my sewing room...they add a little sparkle! I got the Merry Christmas tree skirt at the museum this year. The skirt on the bigger tree is literally a little girls skirt from the GAP. I got it at a garage sale and cut it up the middle. It may have to be sewn back together if a granddaughter ever comes along!!!

While this is just a snippet of my Christmas decor, I hope you enjoyed it!!


And of course the real meaning of Christmas, the birth of our Savior.

Blessings!!

Christmas at Molbaks

Brian and I spent the day in Bellevue on Saturday doing a little work for Haggen and having a little fun too!

After working we headed over to Woodinville to Molbaks Nursery. We'd been there the week before, but my camera quit and I wasn't able to get any pictures. This place is a feast for the eyes!! So many decorations, hundreds of trees and thousands of poinsettias, not to mention billions of people! I may have exaggerated on the people, but not the rest!!!

The poinsettias are a thing of beauty and the greenhouse is full of them, every color and size!

There were carolers milling about...

The decorations are spectacular! Such a feast for the eyes! I love seeing the different  tree and decorating ideas. I wonder how long it takes to decorate this place!

The last time we were there it was Humane Society day and you could bring your pets to take holiday photos. This time Santa was there and lots of people were having their pictures taken, including Brian and I! He's so good at doing dorky things with me!!

This may be my Christmas card this year...my kids aren't so into posing anymore!

These kids were cute...maybe I'll use this picture for my card!

Turn up the volume and enjoy the Christmas music...I play it all day!!!!