Christmas 2013

The finished product...

And the this is where it came from.  Thank you Devin for helping up pick out, chop down, haul home and set up one of my favorite Christmas trees.  

We cut it down the day after Thanksgiving and it stayed nice and fresh all the way through New Years.

The sad part was that it didn't have that freshly cut pine tree scent.  

We missed that, but it was a full, beautiful tree.

When Devin came back home for Christmas break we went up to Baker to ski.  It was pretty icy, but we had a good day anyway.

These guys just can't get enough ski time!

Christmas day started a little later than usual with no young un's at home.  The sun was waaay up in the sky, haha!

Digging in his stocking for goodies.

Oh ya, it's gonna be a fun day...

now that Dad is geared up too,

let the mayhem begin!

This large package had been secretly put behind the tree for me.  It was an automatic garage door opener!  Hurray, I'm livin the good life now! Also, this year Keith and I found this beautiful picture of Christ at Deseret Book and made it an early Christmas present to one another. 

A Seahawks jersey.  Perfect, since this year we ended up winning the Superbowl!

Best part of Christmas day, skyping with our missionary!

Doesn't he just radiate happiness?  He is doing such a good job in New York City, and it was revealed in our "White Envelope" gift from the kids that they are all helping to "hasten the work" and described the many ways they are contributing to missionary work: donating money, feeding missionaries, inviting others to activities, and Eric has been teaching some friends back home via skype some missionary lessons.  Cool!  Our kids are amazing.

 We skyped a bit with these two cuties as well! 

Christmas day at moms.  It always looks so magical the way she decorates.

A little teasing.

Handsome young men and some delicious looking food.

We drew names to determine which table we would be sitting at.

Cute family!

Present time.

Wes was pleased and not in the mood for sharing, haha!

Michael couldn't wait to get the legos built!

A few days after Christmas Diane and Dennis came up from Eatonville.

Our ski day with them had much better snow, and we all had a blast.

Diane especially was happy to be home and enjoying the mountains!

Gingerbread House Builders Association Team Meeting

With the parts and pieces ready, this building team was ready to roll some cute homes off the assembly line. 

And the first to complete the project, Richard, with a sturdy-looking front entrance on his single family dwelling.  

A fancy porch overhang and tidy landscaping make it especially appealing. It looks like a gummy bear family rolling into town is ready to take advantage of this beauty.

Next we have a lovely country cottage, crafted by Diana. The tidy shingled roof is classic.   Love those front columns and the colorful window.

Gingy and frosty are a welcoming pair here. 

And last but not least, the bears are lining up to visit this wonderful home built by Michael.  (I hear they're giving away candy inside).

The prize for best Christmas tree and door wreath goes to Michael!!!

Thanks for another great Association meeting, Anderson family. Your superior craftsmanship does our team proud.

And we all love Richard.

Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving at home, such a fun time to plan a feast for family and friends.  Now that we have a large room we can invite as many as we want to!  I love it! And I love decorating. With Fall colors.

Just a peak at my beginning chalkboarding attempts.

For starters, how about this fabulous dessert table?

This is where the feasting took place. Devin and I had fun creating some fun centerpieces.

One word sums this up, YUM!

Paul made this awesome mince pie.  I think this is code for 60th Thanksgiving he's celebrated.

Some of our fabulous cooks enjoying their hard work.

We had Devin, Rod, Theresa, her granddaughter Aliana, Wes (check him out the mirror above) Paul, Grandma Hart, Grandma Schenk, and 4 missionaries!  It was a fun house full!

Good food, and fun times with family.  After dinner we had lots of visiting and then some seriously fun card games.  This year I focused mainly on entertaining, so the picture quality suffered a bit, but you get the idea!