Favorite thing #3...My Tree

I Look forward to setting up my tree every year for Christmas. There are rules however, that must be enforced...

Rule #1: The house has to be 100% clean

Rule #2: I'm the only one that gets to fluff the tree ( I hate that part, but I really am the best at it ;D)

Rule #3: We can't turn on the tree lights until the decorating is complete.

And Rule #4: It is a must to listen to Christmas music while doing this.

Our tree honestly may not be much to look at and really it's pretty wimpy and sort of awkward, but I love it anyway.

Thankful for Thanksgiving!

Our Thanksgiving this year was AWESOME! I mean it too. Luke and I were excited to venture on up to Wyoming for the Allred family Thanksgiving. So at 2:30 we hopped in the car and headed out. Next stop- Grandma Wiggles house....

Or so we thought. Our next stop was actually a rest stop in Weber Canyon where Luke had to change our flat tire in the snow and cold. Shortly after we found ourselves at the Hinds station where the guys told us that our tire was no good and we needed a new one. Bummer. Looks like we weren't going up to Wiggles house anymore.

Our baby getting looked at...poor thing.

After many many phone calls to family and dealerships, we were finally able to find a perfect fit for the Subee in Odgen. Even though it looks like I'm not so happy in this picture, Luke and I were sort of laughing at this whole misfortune.

We decided to try to go up to Grandmas tonight after all. We didn't want to miss Thanksgiving even if it took us all night to get there...which it did. After 5 long, slow and boring hours we made it.

Did I mention it was freezing? The closer and closer we got to Grandmas, the colder and colder it got.

The next morning we were ready for the day. Trent and Amy organized a 5K Thanksgiving morning...shirts included and we were all excited to participate.

Did we mention that it was cold? -16 to be exact when we started running that morning.

Needless to say we were freezing!

How awesome are my in-laws...seriously!


Holly was the support crew back home where she watched all 9 kids.

She really is an amazing Grandma!

Sadly, I don't have anymore pictures of Thanksgiving. We had a really good dinner with many of the Allreds and then finished off the day with some Dodge ball and lightning before we ventured home.

I'm happy to report that we didn't have a single problem driving back.

The rest of the weekend was full of shopping, spending time with my little family and enjoying the long weekend.

Favorite thing #2...Parties!

Day 2 of my Fave things about Christmas has got to be Parties. We had a cookie/White Elephant gift exchange and it was pretty awesome. Although I have no idea what I'm going to do with all these cookies...prob eat them all by myself like I did last year...

After gathering our plates, trays and even bins of cookies, we settled around in a circle, drew numbers and picked/stole gifts.

As you can see, I got 2nd...which is crappy, but I was happy when the tables turned and I got to pick second to last in the final round. I ended up with 2 pink flamingos. Please don't steal them off my lawn when you see them out there this spring.

And here is what everyone else got. I have to say that I was a little sad that I didn't get the KY Jelly and Handcuffs...Just kidding...sort of.

And here is the best picture of the night. Thanks ladies for such a fun night and a special thanks to our host for letting us all party in her house.

My favorite things!

I love this time of year. I especially love Christmas and Christmas Spirit that most people have. I love to decorate my home. I love hearing Christmas music on the radio. I love all the Christmas parties and get togethers with family and friends. I love buying gifts for my family and friends. I love wrapping those gift anticipating the looks on said family and friends faces. The food...cookies...snow...hot cocoa...movies....I can go on and on. So this Month I will dedicate a post each day to my favorite things about the holidays.

Today's post will be on Christmas Cards. I can't wait to start getting them in the mail and filling up my little holiday rack with cute photos of everyone. I also can't wait to send out our own. This year, I found out about a little promotion going on with http://www.shutterfly.com/ If you make a post about their holiday cards and all the fun gifts and products they have to offer, they send you a coupon for 50 free cards! How awesome are they?

Hopefully in a few weeks, you may be seeing your Christmas card from us in the mail...It may look like this...

Like this...

Or even like this...

The best thing about getting your cards though www.Shutterfly.com, is that they have tons and tons of different cards to choose from so you're not just limited to a few styles. They have from simple cards to elegant and fancy and many in between. Click here to check them out.

I'm also one to forget to get the Christmas party invites out until the very last minute. So here is a reminder to get it done. Look how cute these are...

With Cards like these, You're sure to get a good turn out, right?

One of my very most favorite things that Shutterfly has to offer are these books. Who wouldn't love a book like this for Christmas? I'm thinking Grandparents, school teachers and friends...eh?

Well, that about does it. I think I'll go sip some hot chocolate out of something like this...

While possibly putting something like this together...

But I better hurry before I run out of time and need to order a new one of these....

House sitting

Oliver and I got home today from house sitting for Lester the Dog and Archie the cat. This is what I looked like walking into my house after being gone for 5 days...

I think next time I'll pack a suit case.

Proof!

Although Oliver may not look like me {just about everyone says he looks just like Luke and even other people, just not me}, Here is proof that he is in fact, my child...

Oliver has never been much of a movie watcher, but one day Oliver was being especially stubborn {another trait of mine} and Luke had had enough. He was at his wits end with this boy and so on the off chance that he would actually like watching something, he popped in the movie "Singing in the Rain". Oliver froze. And there you have it people. Proof that he really is mine.

After I snapped this shot. I froze too and like a couple of fools, Oliver and I stood in the middle of the living room enjoying possibly one of the best movies of all time.

November

Happy November!