i heart the holidays

it has been a little while since i have posted about what is going on in our lives.  we had a fabulous thanksgiving weekend spent with family and friends.  josh and i were both fortunate enough to get off work the days after turkey day so we headed to murray wednesday night and stayed till sunday afternoon.  it was so nice to be able to enjoy our time there and not have to run around frantically trying to fit everyone in.  josh's aunt and grandparents were in town from california and it was fun to be able to hang out with them (and play lots of games).  thanksgiving day was also my dad's birthday (happy birthday again dad!!!)   so we had thanksgiving dinner with his side of the family.  my extended family sure knows how to put on a great meal!  especially the homemade rolls... amazing!  laura and i have been doing a "no sugar" deal for the past month but we decided to give ourselves a free day and i definitely took advantage of it.  pumpkin pie, banana cream pie, and lemon cream pie.  yep, that's right, all in one sitting.  and i could have eaten more.  we are so blessed and i am so grateful to have such an amazing family (both mine and josh's and our extended families) and friends who i love to death!

that night we decided to see twilight because it's has been all the rage lately.  i've read the books and didn't really have any expectations for the movie, but seriously i thought it was lame.  i felt that the actors were terrible and it felt like it dragged on and on.  i know some of you chicas out there will disagree with me, but honestly i don't even know if i'll netflix it once it comes out.  and that's sayin a lot. but it was fun hanging out with laura and spencer, the romeros, and the lovells.  our friends seriously crack me up.

friday was round 2 of thanksgiving dinner with josh's family.  kristi made a yummy meal including ham (josh's fav) and pumpkin pie (yay!).  we were able to hang out all day playing games and talking.  josh's dad busted out some of those metal puzzle games where you have to figure out how to get certain pieces on and off (is anyone following me?)  anyway, they are so frustrating and i am never able to figure them out.  but that day i was bound and determined to figure out the hardest puzzle and after about an hour and a half, i accomplished it!  i was so excited i kept showing everyone.  it got to the point that i was able to solve it twice in less than a minute.  seriously, so awesome!

the rest of the weekend was spent hanging out with our friends, playing lots of games, eating plenty of food, taking naps, and me doing homework (stupid finals).   we had a great time and we are so grateful to our wonderful families who spoil us every time we come down!

so tonight instead of studying for my final tomorrow, i wanted to put up our christmas tree!  my wonderful dad bought it for us and it is perfect!  it's a pre-lit slim tree (because we don't have much room) but it is the perfect size for us!  decorating the tree is always a sentimental time because while growing up, my mom had us pick out an ornament every year from hallmark.  we've been getting them ever since we were born so my collection is more than 24.  since we're married my mom gave me all of my ornaments so we have a pretty decent amount to fill up a tree.  i definitely want to continue this tradition because it is so fun to unpack each of my ornaments every year and reminisce about when i went and picked it out.  it's funny to see the phases that i went through and remember what was going on in my life when i picked each ornament out.  josh's mom also gave us some of his ornaments so we have quite the collection started up!  between all of our personal ornaments, the ribbon, and the gold/silver balls, our tree is completely full!

this is josh's "smore-man" playing the guitar
on josh's last day in alaska last summer, we took a float plane ride to taku lodge.  while hanging out there we picked out an ornament for our future tree.  i was so excited to finally get it out!  it will help us remember our crazy, rainy days in juneau.
this ornament is one of my favorites.  i absolutely love slippers... i wear them all the time... and these cute things even light up!  they couldn't have been more perfect!

i decided to put up the few christmas decorations i have.  i made this wreath last year.  

and this was my one christmas craft for christmas.  (lindsey, this is what yours looks like)