Christman Explosion

A few weeks ago we joined another couple for our weekly date and they drove us to a house where, as she described it, Christmas exploded. They explained that the owner of this house starts decorating his house in October, and it is amazing. Lights, characters, snowmen playing soldiers in a game of football, and a flashing arrow directing traffic through his driveway. Awesome. Well, I too began Christmas preparation in October and had about 98% of it finished just after Thanksgiving. A few errands here and there last week and I declared myself ready for Christmas. I wanted to avoid the chaos and stress of last minute shopping. Well, yesterday afternoon my husband showed up with a few lists for families who needed some help with Christmas. So despite my careful planning, I found myself out doing last minute shopping - and it was wonderful! Our ward at church has been so generous this year, you wouldn't believe we are in economic hard times. Besides the piles of donated gifts, there were also many money donations that we were able to use last night. We came home with more piles of gifts to wrap, and Isaac and I stayed up way too late wrapping them. When we were done, we looked around, and indeed we had a Christmas explosion at our house too!

The Hunt

The ONLY picture of all 7 of us!

Miss Mia

Lucas (aka Wyld Plum)


Trevor the tree hunter

The Frosty twins ( Joshua blue, Joseph yellow)

Oh Christmas Tree!

Every year but two, since we've been married, we've gone up in the mountains to cut down our Christmas tree. It's our tradition. This year was no exception despite having two little babies to take out into the cold Wyoming winter. Thankfully, the freezing temperatures let up for the Saturday we went, so it was a lovely day and a wonderful time. Our tree is now up and decorated and smelling like Christmas time. The babies won't leave it alone so the ornaments and lights are slowly making their way farther up the tree. Lucas keeps taking his ornaments off to sneak off and play with them, while Mia and Trevor are try to make him understand they are not toys, just decorations. I love it. I love it all. The chaos and noise, the secret planning and gift wrapping kid style. I love the calm of night after the babes are all sleeping and the lights are off except those on the tree. I love that during the darkest time of year we celebrate our Savior's birth with service and love and light! Lots of light!