Very Merry

Christmas time is my favorite time of year and definitely the busiest! It kicks off with a Christmas Eve Eve @ the Alders! We gather for a delicious dinner and good company then we showcase our many talents ;) and then the "traditional" Christmas story. We get all dressed up in Cheryl's fabulous fur coats and sequined vests to portray the 3 "pimps", "asses", Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus! And yes, you heard me right, 3 pimps. this is what goes on behind closed doors at the Alders! :)

we also get pj's that night which is such a fun tradition!

Thanks Alder fam for making our Christmas Eve Eve so bright!

Christmas Eve found us with the Candland Clan! Every year we join together and celebrate a different nationality. This year was our Indian Christmas! We devoured Indian Tacos and frybread! It was delish! 

After dinner i read an indian christmas book to the kiddos

then it was time for presents! All of us kids got the parents a "night in". It was such a hit! they got a blanket, dinner and hollywood video gift certificates and a whole truck load of firewood! You should have seen the look on my dad's face! Just like a little kid on Christmas morning! His eyes lit up when he saw all that firewood he gets to burn to his hearts content! 

Later that evening we visited Karen's parents, watched them open up presents and enjoyed each others company!

Christmas morning found us sleeping in till 9am then we headed over to Starbucks for our new christmas tradition of sipping on carmel apple cider while opening presents. Well seeing as only 1 starbucks in the town of Gilbert was open, i had to wait 1/2 hour for our beloved drinks. Hubby wasn't too thrilled but i was adamant about this delicious tradition! he quickly got over it though and we scurried home to open our presents! Hubby did good this year with surprising me with a sewing machine, i got my cherished vintage Holga camera {yes, it is a FILM camera and yes i adore it} and a many other lovely gifts! 

 

    

then its off to the Alders for molasses pancakes and presents. little did i know, hubby had a surprise waiting for me in the Alder's garage. a new {but vintage looking} beach cruiser absolutely won my heart! I have been lusting over this baby for quite some time now and although i thought hubby forgot, like always, he didn't let me down and i couldn't be more thrilled! 

We had a blast opening presents and spending the day with family! Later we went to see Marley and Me and although it was soo good, i definitely wouldn't recommend it to those with puppies {SUE} i cried my eyes out the second we got to the car {i refuse to cry in movie theaters so i wait till i get to the car}! when we got home we had a serious conversation with puppy and made him promise us he will never leave! 

Other then that sad event, we had a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and hope you all did too!

Anthropologie

you never let me down! 

here are a few of the sweet ornaments i picked up today {along with a new belt and coat} hurray for sales at Anthro! they make it possible for me to be stylish!

merry christmas to me!

Homemade Holiday

This Christmas found me making most of the decor for our humble abode. None of the stores {except the beloved Anthropolgie} could quite get my style right! So i picked up some yarn and put my fingers to work. Martha.....watch out!

Now i'm off to Anthropologie to devour their sweet sale on all the ornaments i've been eyeing all winter long!

Christmas is HERE!

and i put up the tree ALL by myself!

{i will post the finished masterpiece later}

then we treated ourselves to hot carmel apple cider {my obsession this time of year} and temple lights!