Christmas Market 2012

A couple of weeks ago my friend, Shawna, and I put together a fun little open-house-style Christmas Market. We invited 8 friends to join us in selling handmade wares, and enjoyed a day together of selling our goods. I cannot believe these are the only pictures I took...but I was busy!

We cleared most of the bigger furniture out of the first floor of Shawna's home to accomodate tables for the vendors. This was my little space. I sold notecards, fabric covered notebooks, and stitched artwork.

This was Shawna's table...

Shawna also sold these cute purses...

We had a great variety of items...jewelry, stationary, home decor, knit and crocheted items, bath and body products...it was a wonderful day. I even made some money! I think we'll try to make this an annual event. If you've ever thought about venturing into the world of craft shows, this was a great, low-key way to start.

Christmas Palooza 2012

Cousin Jodi and her family introduced us to the concept of Christmas Palooza, and we've embraced the tradition ever since. We opted out of Black Friday shopping, and enjoyed a day of decking the halls around our house. The kids woke up to our elf, Robert, who delivered a special letter from Santa...an idea I stole borrowed from here. We like the idea of mixing in a little bit of make-believe with the true reason for celebrating...Christ's birth. We enjoyed a special breakfast together and the kids opened their new Christmas pjs. We like to give them their pajamas early so they are able to wear them all throughout the Christmas season. (Again, thanks cousin Jodi for the idea!) They also got a new Christmas movie and book...we're loving our growing Christmas library!

Maren was quick to spot Robert hanging from the light above the table.

I love my Christmas dishes. This year we decided to get them out and use them everyday...not just for parties. I also collect vintage red goblets, and this year I added some miniature ones to my collection so the kids are able to enjoy them, too. (Well, Maren enjoyed hers...Truett still has tendencies to throw things, so he hasn't graduated from a sippy cup quite yet!)

And, a humorous collection of pictures of the children...

Finally...both kids smiling and looking at the camera!

Maren had her shirt stuffed with ornaments...she loved helping me with the trees this year. We have a smaller tree in the family room decorated with Swedish ornaments. We'll also put our handmade ornaments on this tree.

This is the first Christmas with our new-to-us hutch. I loved making it look festive for the season! I'm hoping to share a more complete tour of the holiday decorations sometime soon.

Maren decorated the bottom half of the bigger tree with kid-friendly (aka, non-breakable) ornaments and I put the more fragile ones near the top.

Truett mostly did this...

While the kids and I spiffed up the inside of the house, Brett lined our roof with lights. I love this time of year...the lights, the smells, the music, the celebrations and parties. I'm hoping to share some of my favorite Christmasy 'things' in the coming weeks. For now, I'm off to watch an afternoon installment of Christmas Curious George with the two cutest kids I know.

Thanksgiving

Ever since Brett and I got married almost 10 years ago (!) I have looked forward to hosting Thanksgiving. This was the big year! It was a LOT of work, but worth every moment. We were blessed to share our day with lots of family and friends.

Maren loved helping me in the kitchen the days before. She had the great idea to wear her goggles while we chopped onions. Smart kid. My friend, Jaime, spent Wednesday at our house helping me do most of the cooking. It was fun to share some of the work with someone I like so much. :)

We moved some furniture around to accomodate one huge long table. It worked out perfectly, and allowed us all to be in the same area.

Maren cut out and painted 24 of these corn place cards (all by herself!). I love working on things like this with her...she loves having people in our home just as much as Brett and I do, and it's fun to watch her work hard in preparation.

On Thanksgiving morning Brett rescued a couple of tiny mice from one of our window wells. Maren and Truett were very interested by their brief visit. Maren was certain they'd find their parents across the street in the horse pasture.

This turkey was delicious...I found a recipe for  Maple-Cider Brined Turkey with Bourbon-Cider Gravy. The gravy was the best I've ever had...and others said the same. Mmmmm.

Brett did the carving.

Serving the food buffet-style worked great with our big group. (And there's a peak at the finished white cabinets! We're hoping to get hardware soon, and then I'll post about the whole process!)

Pilgrim Abby, Maren and Hannah are such great friends...it was a delight to share Thanksgiving with them!

Feasting...

Truett's favorite? Mashed potatoes.

We had 2 brand new babies...my sweet nephew, Ian...

...and another sort-of nephew, Luke. Precious boys!

Me and Jaime. I love her.

Brett and me...we celebrate our 10th anniversary next month. I can't wait!

Our friends Kyle and Brooke with their daughter, Karis. Kyle and Brooke were dishwashers-extraordinaire! It was fun to have them spend the day with us...and not just because they helped in the kitchen. *wink*

Gigi brought some yummy pie...Maren chose pumpkin!

So thankful for my family. Truett had just woken up from a nap, so he's got sleepy-hair in this picture. We also found out the next day that he had an ear infection. Poor buddy. It's looking like he might be getting tubes pretty soon. Sad.

Truett loves his Papa...and he loves pie and ice-cream!

Mike and Ian.

Robin and Tiffany...we love our Colorado family!

Pastor Ben and Miss Jaime...they might as well be family.

Brett's parents introduced us to a fun new game called Mexican Train Dominoes. It was the perfect ending to a lovely day. Happy Thanksgiving!

...and now Christmas season begins! It's my favorite time of the year. Yay!

Meeting Ian

In the wee hours of the morning on November first, Brett's sister and her husband welcomed their first baby into the world. We were blessed to visit Tiffany, Mike and baby Ian at the hospital when he was less than a day old. Oh, sweet babies...it's always a treat to snuggle a brand new one. And now Truett seems enormous to me. Ha!

Believe it or not, this was the best picture of our family with Ian. Truett looks a little dazed.

Maren did a wonderful job holding Ian so gently.

I love you, sweet nephew!

Tiffany and Mike are doing great. It's fun to think of the times ahead for them...welcoming a baby into the family is an incredible gift. We're thrilled for them!

Happy Halloween

Maren's cat pumpkin actually turned out pretty cute. She was a tad over-zealous on the marker sketching, but I suppose that adds to the charm.

We had some friends over for chili and cinnamon rolls and trick-or-treating. Truett was a golfer and Maren was a small doctor. Admittedly, I didn't put much effort into the costumes this year. We still had a great time. Sometimes simple is best. Usually simple is best!

The cousins {actually, their grandmas are first cousins...but our families are close enough to just leave it at 'cousins'} Julia, Truett, Maren, Hannah, and Abby. Abby made her costume...she was a rubik's cube.

And the full gang...we are blessed to have such wonderful friends. {Hannah, Julia, Truett, Maren, Will, Abby, Eleanor, and Spiderman Jack} Can you tell they were all a little pre-occupied with the business of candy-collecting?

Dr. Maren...

We let the girls stay up while we played a round of cards. I think they expended all of their energy...and experienced quite the sugar crash at the end of the evening.

Halloween 2012 was lots of fun...I love how simple traditions can become so special with time. And now we welcome November! {Today we got to meet our new nephew...more about our sweet visit with him tomorrow!}