3 More Days...

It's not beginning to look a lot like Christmas yet and it's taken me much longer to get in the Christmas spirit this year, but here are the latest goings-on from our December.

Just a few pictures of my simple Christmas decorating this year:

And this is the sweetest little advent calendar my mother let me borrow.

I couldn't resist snapping this photo of Maylie diving into her cupcake at the ward Christmas party.

For her birthday, Colie and Natalie gave Maylie an art kit. She loves to work on masterpieces while I get ready in the morning.

New overalls from Grandma Johnson.

And one morning, when I looked out my window I saw a magnificent sight.

Last Saturday I spent the afternoon wrapping up all the presents. I was so pleased with how they turned out. I absolutely love the wrapping paper I found this year.

The view from above.

Nestled safely under the tree.

Merry Christmas!

December Bits

I'm loving December this year.

I have the whole month penciled in with amazing family activities, traditions, and memories to share.

I also checked off two projects I've been meaning to do for the past 3+ years.

I made my sweeties Christmas pillowcases (Maylie is using my old one and it was in the wash when I took this picture...)

With the help of my mother-in-law, I was able to sew and embellish our family's first beautiful stockings. {Can you guess whose are whose?}

Two Sundays ago I was privileged to attend our tabernacle's 100th birthday celebration.

I can't even say how tearful this made me.

We are so blessed to attend church every single week in this magnificent building.

The stained glass windows, the old doors and brick....The speakers talked of how this great building came to be and all the treasured memories it has seen over the past 100 years.

There was a time several years ago when we almost lost the building in favor of a newer, more updated building...but because of the prayers and faith of the people, the Lord allowed miracles to renovate this glorious structure and continue as a meetinghouse for our stake.

The Spirit was so incredibly strong during the meeting and during the last song, when I stood up with all the youth leaders and youth from our stake to sing the last verse of The Spirit of God, I couldn't keep the tears from spilling out everywhere.

Oh how I love this glorious tabernacle. It is a dedicated house of the Lord and I love it with my whole heart.

Here are some yummy FHE treats we whipped up one day {and I am proud to say that they are almost entirely organic. They were delicious!!}

Maylie insisted on wearing her party dress and scarf one day and danced the day away.

On Thanksgiving I was blessed to make an apple pie. This picture is so special to me as it represents my heritage--{Do you see my mother's painstakingly handwritten recipe there?} Everything about this dessert brings back beloved memories to me.

The day after Thanksgiving we went on our annual Christmas tree excursion...

And lastly, our last day of the month home teaching and visiting teaching treats we delivered last Sunday. These little gingerbread snowflakes were so time-consuming but turned out darling I think!

Picking our Tree {and the Decorating.}

Two days after Thanksgiving we piled into the car and drove to a little farm out in the middle of nowhere (which is exactly where I love to be).

We walked through the rows of trees and finally picked the tallest one we could find--a 9 foot Fraser.

That afternoon we decorated the tree and the boys loved finding all of their ornaments amidst the boxes.  It was a like a treasure hunt.

After the tree was done, Patrick and the three littles retreated upstairs to watch a game and I had an hour to decorate the rest of the house.  It was soothing and calming and something I've missed.  Ever since moving here, I've resisted the urge to decorate much because I've been waiting for my living room to be perfect.  Well, it's not quite perfect, but it's pretty close and I threw myself headlong into the festivity.

And just a few days after the decorating, our family pictures arrived in a huge box.  It was the icing on the cake for me.

Below are the ones we set on our shelf.  I have lots more pictures in my bedroom, just waiting to be hung, but for now these are all I need.

I love you with all my heart Patrick, Easton, Tate, and Maylie!