i like my tree, i do, i do....

I was just about ready to "pat myself on the back"....

cuz i was liking my decorated tree this year,

(as opposed to other years)

and then,

boom........ 6 balls down!!!

but,

remember our "family word wall" in our old house,

well, I didn't have a wall to do with it again,

so,

I took the black words and spray-painted them white,

and put them up on my tree, it gives it a nice little "pop".

we bought some new ribbon at Tai Pan Trading Co. and decided to go with new colors of

red, lime green and white,

everything else was from last year,

with just a few simple changes.....

and wahla.......

i like my tree,

i do, i really do!

tree lovers...

For Family Home Evening tonight,

we watched the kids as they put all their ornaments on the

"kids tree".

as parents...

its fun to see 20 years of little ornaments and school memories

as kids...

they are proud to display there own treasures of memories.

4 kids plus 20 years = a tree chuck full o' love!

(and of course, even Sadie has her own little ornament!)

Another year of Thanks....

From our family to your....

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

I am so grateful for days like today!!!!

it has got to be one of my favorites days

it seems like everything is how it should be...

FAMILY.

my family is home together,

I love my family.

the weather took a chill last night and it feels so good,

the house is warm

I love the Christmas music softly playing,

the little ones are playing games,

I love the smell and lights of the tree,

I set up one of my Christmas trees earlier this week,

I started a new tradition this year,

I'm doing 3 trees,

the big one in the front room,

the kids tree upstairs

and

my new tree,

I did a tree of Christmas cards from past years,

I love receiving family Christmas cards but I can never throw them away,

there always too sweet....

so

now you all are on my tree,

so

send me this year's cards so I can add you to my tree,

it's so fun to see you all up there

and especially from year to year....

can you find yourself???

I love making the turkey and after all these years living in Texas,

Kurt and I have it down to perfection....

the turkey smells delicious,

I just love the feel of today...

I love taking a nap after lunch,

and I love watching all the fun movies that come on tv,

I love that it's just a 'family day'

a day for families,

with nothing else happening,

nothing else on the 'to do list'

a day of just being together

happy together.....

.....that's what I'm thankful for.

.

.

and

I love to hear the girls laughing and just being sisters.

My "funky" tree is starting to grow on me!

The stockings are hung...

I enjoy decorating....I started early this year,

everything went well except the little mishap of the Christmas mice !

meaning; eating all my stuff !

I always do something different each year, this year I did a few things differently.

I stuck Kurt's pheasant feathers in my wreath and it actually works!

and I added new funky things to my tree, it works too, I think it's beautiful, and with Christmas Tree that's okay cuz it's just what ever YOU like !

I read in a Christmas magazine to throw some unexpected things in your decorating to make it unique and surprising---which I did!

We decorated more outside this year too.

We did two trees, one downstairs and the kids tree upstairs,

I tried to take pictures of my beautiful trees but they just don't do it justice!

*We're planning to do the 'cookie exchange' on the 18th .....

mark your calenders...

more details to follow !