Bring on the Holidays!

Maybe it's the cozy mountain setting in which we now live?  But I'm ready to get crafty, snuggle by the fire, eat turkey, sing Christmas carols, and drink hot cocoa!

Without going into much detail, many family members will be receiving homemade gifts by me this Christmas.  Hopefully I haven't bitten off more than I can chew, but I'm enjoying myself for now.  I have a list of scrapbooking and sewing projects to get working on.  The hardest part so far is that the crafty stores are all at least 30 minutes away (at least the ones I know of).  So, I start working on a project and realize I don't have one thing to finish it. :(  I have discovered some great etsy shops to help me out, but I still have to wait for them to be shipped to me.  I wish I could  have one entire day to myself to shop and load up on supplies from several different stores, but that isn't in the cards right now!  So, for now I'm working with what I have.

This last weekend, we had our first housewarming party and it was a lot of fun.  Sadly, most of our friends from Union City couldn't make it out.  Just one of those bad days, but we were super excited to have the Tuitavukis come out.  The kids have been having friend withdrawals, so they loved having Malia and Eliza over to play.  We already can't wait for their next visit. ;)  We also invited a few families from our new ward and had fun getting to know them a little better.  For some reason having guests over made the house seem more homey.  I think it set a good tone for the holiday season.

From here on out we're starting into our holiday season with house guests and fun activities.
*This coming weekend we have some more great friends, the Ochsners, coming over for an overnight visit.  *Also on Saturday I'm helping out with a baby shower for my cute new neighbor Salina.  She's due in February with her first little girl.
*After that Kelsie's 2nd birthday is coming up!  It's hard to believe she's going to be 2 already.  We're celebrating with most of Kurt's family while they are here for Thanksgiving.  (We already bought her a play kitchen that is hiding in the garage - she's going to love it!)
*Then we're hosting our first Thanksgiving every with all of Kurt's family, except his sister Rachelle who will be too far along in her pregnancy to travel.  Everyone will be here for almost an entire week, so it should be crazy but a lot of fun.
*December brings a baby shower for my brother and Anissa's first son, Holiday lights at Six Flags, possible holiday train ride, Christmas in Cameron Park, and then 3 days in Disneyland!  (I think I'm just as excited for Disneyland as the kids!)

Bring on the Holidays!