We're celebrating...

For lots of reasons obviously...

First off the Christmas season of course...

And the fact that today marks 7 years in our home...
 (also the day we accepted an offer on our last home we were desperately trying to sell 7 years ago...)

And..  it's my bestie Shelby's birthday!
 It was 1st grade when I met that girl...
life would never be the same with out her!

Love ya Shelb!

(1986 - 6th grade?
Only posting this because I threw that oldie but goodie in of Shane a few posts back. :))

And... we are also STILL celebrating because, on our mantel, standing proud...

for at LEAST the next year...

resides this bad boy...

Thanks to this pretty awesome boy, who last week...

Became the "Neighborhood Spoons Champion".

That's an honor... a serious honor.

I'm in awe...

It was another wonderful neighborhood party filled with the usual caroling and treat giving.

Yummy food...
and totally awesome neighbors that we call friends.

And of course a wild game of spoons...

We're also celebrating that Jadyn is...
"Facing her Fears."

Yes she sat on the man in red's lap...

by choice!!

Well mostly by choice...

Thanks to my parents for taking us to the fabulous Pickleville Christmas show...
Before which I told Jadyn that this was the last time that she would be able to tell Santa what she wanted...
and then...
Maybe I threatened a little...
That if she didn't tell him what she wanted tonight...
he just might not know what to bring to a certain little girl.

So after this picture...

She came off the stage and said I have to go back up there...
I didn't talk to him...

And so she did very calmly.

That-a-girl Jady...  FACE THOSE FEARS!

Lydia doesn't look overly excited, but she's up there right??  Even if it was in stunned silence!

But most of all this Christmas we are celebrating our little family...
and our crazy life.

From which we took a break to spend an evening together sleeping in the front room under the tree.
Where my whole family froze because I wouldn't turn on the heater due to the dust from the sheetrock in the basement below.

I was toasty warm cuddled up on the couch...
but then I had more than one blanket...

 they weren't quite as prepared...
oops...

Merry Christmas Adam!
(the day before Christmas EVE!

What were we thinking?

The last few days around our neck of the woods has been pretty hazy outside.

It makes one want to just stay inside all day...

But then this week OUR inside hasn't been much less hazy...

We are finishing the basement...  {yippee}

insulation was done Monday...

sheetrock today...

(actually tonight apparently?  Shane told me the guy said he could come at 6 and probably be done by 7...  I'm a little confused, I'm sure it will take more than an hour... so... does that mean he will be working under us ALL NIGHT LONG???  I think Shane needs a few more details, like where the AM's and PM's fit in... don't you?  Cuz if that's the case... we may be reconsidering the fast track...  Or we are all wearing earplugs...)

It all seemed like such a fantastic idea...

but after the "dust" settled from the blown in insulation Monday...

and my ENTIRE HOUSE was coated in a not so fine layer of this...

I'm rethinking the whole idea!

Pretty sure drywall isn't going to help the matter much...

The girls are TOTALLY excited for their Christmas Break...

I'm sure it's because they are so ecstatic about helping me clean all week!!

Merry Christmas...

Merry Christmas!!

From our family to yours...

 

 

Hope yours is fantastic, and filled with what matters most...

Love... Family... and our Savior Jesus Christ.

Getting the tree...

Does anyone else have traditions that... well...

aren't really that much fun??

But they're traditions...

and the kids are expecting it...

So you do it anyway????

We have one...

It's cutting down our own tree,

( think I've mentioned this before :))

on the day after Thanksgiving,

no matter the conditions...

and no matter how BLASTED COLD it is,

or how DEEP THE SNOW is that year...

There have been many years that I have used the "pregnancy" or "small baby" excuse...

but alas no more excuses for me...

so tree hunting we will go,

it's pretty much just a reminder of how out of shape I am...

since I have to stop every 10 steps in the thigh high snow for a breather.

(and that is after I pawned my little crying Lydia off on her sisters to pull on the sled)

This was how I felt...

I was basically a whiner because all the other girls... minus screaming Lydia were having quite a great time playing in the snow and trudging along.

At one point Jadyn enthusiastically said to me (after my 10th fall..)  "It's OK mom, I fall lots too, but you just get back up and keep going."

That's my girl.

I'm kind of exaggerating here, it wasn't THAT bad and it was quite fun to be up in the mountains searching with our good buddies the Carlsen's, who found their tree right off.

We weren't very picky either.

Shane just gave me an A... B... or C... choice and I think I picked... D.  And then asked if we could switch to E after he was half-way through the trunk. :)

(He said NO of course.)

 

Our tree ended up looking like our tree does every year...

A little bit sparse between branches.

And a little bit creepy to decorate...

talk about creepy... what's Tayler doing chillin' on top of the fireplace???

Shane hates putting on lights...

on the house or the tree.

So this year since he did the tree, and pretty well made it known that he would NOT be doing the house.

I did the house... all by myself!

Granted they don't even go from one end of the house to the other.

And they are those stupid LED lights that barely put any "light" out at all.

But they are up, and I lived to tell about it.

Now that everything is put together for Christmas our tree couldn't have been more perfect.

So yes the hunt was worth it.

And yes I will do it again next year.

Although I would prefer to tag it in the summer and just send Shane and the kids up to get it in the winter... now that's idea.  Maybe we could make it a TRADITION!

Thanksgiving...

We are well into the Christmas Season of course...

But as far as blogging goes, I'm still back on that awesome November Holiday.

Our Thanksgiving... (pretty much like every ones :))  Was filled with yummy food and family time.

We spent Thanksgiving with my family.  (minus my only sister Shelly's family :()

 I was in charge of a different cranberry salad this year...

not that horrible pretzel salad fiasco from 2008...

Just another thing all at this meal had to be thankful for...

The kids had fun playing together.

We were so happy to have Jeff, Kimi and Trey here. 

Trey and Lydia were a little timid around each other for a while.

It seemed one was always waking up from a nap when they got together.

But they did get a few hugs in over the week.

 

Kimi got some extra pampering...

Pregnancy has it's privileges.

Possibly a little strange that 2 of her bro-in-laws are massaging her back and her feet while her husband sits across the way texting...

But she does agree that Shane gives the best massages EVER...

which she possibly shouldn't have said in front of her hubby, it kind of ticked him off just a little.

She may never get a massage from him again...

(But Kimi you know where we live... come on over :))

After dinner and cleaning up... we headed home and Shane and I took a much desired Thanksgiving nap!!

 Thanks for all your hard work momma!

It was delicious.

Apparently next year my parents will be in Hawaii with Steve and his girls for Thanksgiving.

So Missy and I were told one of us would have to take over.

Missy looks like you'll want to be borrowing our tables... right??? :)