Christmas 2011.

christmas 2011 was such a great holiday with family. justin and i were extra excited because we had some big surprises planned.

Christmas morning with the 10 of us, plus my cousin Luke who came too! oh goodness, these dogs were so fun...but tough to get a good picture of us all.

cooper, my brother's puppy, didn't know what to think of the baby dog.

then breakfast, reading the story of Jesus' birth and presents.

justin wrapped presents all by himself...can you tell?!

mom and dad surprised us with two special presents: one practical and one sentimental. a gas grill and my grandma's (who passed away while i was in college) sewing box.

we immediately hopped in the car for our biggest surprise. justin's mom, stepdad and little sister all thought we were coming on the 26th, but we surprised them with their puppy on Christmas night! they live in virginia, so we had a 9 hour road trip up there...praise God for light traffic and an open waffle house along the way.

but it was so worth it. lexi was totally surprised. she loves her little puppy. now the challenge is trying to pick out the perfect name for her.

great reminder.

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we had a blessed and beautiful Christmas with family.

more of an update to come.

merry day after Christmas!

merry Christmas

may we remember the reason today is an important holiday.

our most important and beautiful gift is the gift of Jesus and His perfect sacrifice.

here is a cute little video a friend posted on my facebook wall.

hope you have a great day with family and friends!

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

(Luke 2:10-12 ESV)

pre Christmas week insta-friday.

precious ear warmers/headbands i ordered from pick your plum. love that site.

meet the new puppy.

we adopted her from the animal shelter.

she is a surprise Christmas present for Justin's little sister.

eeeeek, can't wait for her reaction.

millie has been strange all week. i don't think she likes the baby dog.

she definitely doesn't like her howling cries at night.

neither do i, but i have a fantastic husband who takes care of the pup at night.

can't get over her sweetness.

i bought myself an early Christmas present.

i've wanted a tripod for a couple of months.

i'm already in love.

so, our week has consisted of puppy training and watching, last minute Christmas shopping and preparing for a big road trip.

merry Christmas!

merry Christmas to our neighbors.

justin and i wanted to do something a little special for our neighbors this Christmas.

printable found here.

i mixed up a hot cocoa mix. of course i can't remember where i got the recipe, but it was unsweetened cocoa powder, sugar and a little bit of salt. 

just 2 tablespoons of mix to 1 cup of warm milk.

i made a homemade version of thin mints too.

we got the mugs at wal-mart and filled a bag with some hot chocolate mix and homemade cookies.

less than a week to Christmas! woo-hoo!

Christmas cards.

first off, i love our simple Christmas cards this year. Millie didn't make the cut, she can be a pain in family pictures...

[it's hard to take a picture of a picture, it looks much better in real life]

this year i wanted to make something a little special to hang our Christmas cards.
this is a 18x24 canvas with burlap stapled to it. don't worry about the wrinkles, your cards will cover them. (i'm not a perfectionist and that's what i tell myself)

i picked up a pack of these brads at the craft store and used them to pierce the burlap. they are just for decoration, use as many or few as you want.

almost finished.

take string, twine or anything and wrap it around the canvas. this is where you are doing to pin up the beautiful cards you receive in the mail.

the color is a little bit lighter than this picture makes it look. this whole day light savings thing is messing with me, why does it have to get dark before 5:00?

oh christmas tree.

justin and i were so excited to get our first Christmas tree as a married couple. so we decided to go with a real one, even though we were both used to have artificial ones.

i love it. i wish it was socially appropriate to have a Christmas tree up year round....is that weird?

isn't she so cute??!

we lost most of our Christmas decorations in the tornado, it was looking a little pitiful until a friend from church gave us a bunch of her Christmas stuff. so thankful for her wreaths, ornaments and more!

gasp, i don't have a tree topper.

i will be looking for inspiration this season for sure.

our first ornament, thankful to have this special one.

styrofoam christmas trees in the foyer.

i bought cheap pre-lit garland at the store and threw in some of the limbs we cut off our tree.

then a beautiful wreath hung over our foyer mirror.

see how we are our Christmas card display.

now i've got to get back to my christmas to-do list.

linking up with:

thrifty decor chick

the nester

jennifer rizzo

the inspired room

kelly's korner

our pre-Christmas to-do list.

due to the nature of our job, we have a significant Christmas break...which we are pumped about! we will be traveling to visit family right before and after Christmas, so we have lots of time to get crafts and projects done at our house now.

we are putting together a few treats to bless our neighbors. i want to come up with a really cute printable to put with those goodies. any suggestions? :)


these feather Christmas trees are to die for. i think i want to make some like them!

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homemade Christmas stockings like these?

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naaaah, probably not.

a non-Christmas-y thing i need to finish.

making our bookshelves look like built-ins.

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seeing Christmas tree skirts like this totally motivate me.

hot glue and burlap? i'm in.

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another non-Christmasy inspiration are these fabric coasters.

can never have too many coasters in our house...

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what crafts or projects do you want to finish before Christmas?

Christmas party.

monday night we had a Christmas party for people to bring their international friends. many of these students studying in the states haven't been in an american home, so we try to open our home to them often!

just the girls!

justin shared the story of Christmas and that we give gifts to one another because Jesus was God's gift to the world!

then we played charades. i'm still laughing....

[...can't remember what mami was doing]

[stephanie driving a car]

[catherine was being a basketball player]

[kelsey, catherine, sol, audrey, me]

[sara and i]

sara and audrey lead a Bible study for international girls. it has been a huge blessing to hear what God is doing through them in the lives of these girls!