It's that time of year again

There are only fifteen days until Christmas. Amazing isn't it? There is no snow on the ground so it's doesn't feel very Christmas-y around here. However, it has been bitterly cold and dry.  I haven't been stressed this holiday season like I usually am.  Probably because the older the kids get, the more they want that one expensive item so it makes it a lot easier to shop.  I am pretty much done Christmas shopping and that is a good feeling.

Thanksgiving came and went without much notice. Cortland was with his dad, Callie stayed with me because she was very sick. Mason spent Thanksgiving with Dayne, and the rest of my side of the family so the holiday felt sort of empty.  We put our Christmas decor up over the Thanksgiving weekend. Every year I dread getting the decorations out a little more. It's so much work.

Tony mentioned that his mom had decided to sell a Christmas tree that she had only used for a few years on KSL.  Julie was selling the tree fully decorated and I had coveted the tree because the rust colors she had used to decorate it matched my house perfectly.  I told Tony to call his Mom immediately and tell her we wanted, nay needed that tree.  Julie was kind enough to sell it to us for a less than she wanted because we are family, so we bought it for eighty dollars and they even delivered it to our house. I was so excited my small heart grew three sizes that day.  Here is a picture of the tree minutes after they had delivered it.  Isn't it B.E.A.UTIFUL!?

Every time I see it, my heart feels happy. I love having a tree in the family room and it fits perfectly in the corner by our fire place.

I am sure Julie spent a ton of money decorating it, the ornaments are all from Tai Pan so I feel like I've been blessed with a Christmas miracle. Though I do question the wisdom of having to decorate and store two full size Christmas trees from now on. Here is a picture with the lights on.

On my mantel, I hung (with glee) the beloved Christmas stockings that Gay handmade for each of my kids many, many years ago.

The tree we put in the formal living room is heavy, huge and a pain to put up. We've had the tree for years, so many of the branches are broken and about 90% of the lights don't work so we always have to string on more lights. I am really beginning to hate it, though it does look pretty once it's assembled and decorated (7 hours later).  

Over the Thanksgiving break Callie and I watched A LOT of movies because she was so sick that is all she really could do. One of the movies we watched was the Grinch with Jim Carrey.  I love that movie, I could watch it over and over. Anywho, we were watching the Grinch for the thousandth time and I got a wonderfully awful idea.  I decided that I wanted to try to make a terrible Christmas sweater like the one Jim Carrey wears in the movie, complete with lights.

Thus my quest for the ugly sweater, parts and battery operated lights began.  The quest in and of itself was fun.  Callie and I hunted through racks of sweaters and terrible Christmas crafts at thrift and the dollar stores and we ended up making some delightfully tacky sweaters which we will debut at our ugly Christmas sweater party we are having on December 23rd.   Here is a peek at what you can expect to see...

Steve, Sophia and Abbey came over and made a sweater too.

Here is Callie and Abbey working away while Steven looks (texts) on;

We made quite a mess but it was super fun! 

It looks like Mason is going to be moving to Chuluota, Florida in January to finish college;

Chuluota is just outside of Orlando and he will be living with Jim and Emily in their beautiful new home they purchased in August.

Jimbo, I Googled your address and found a picture of your house on the internet. At least, Google said this was your house?!?
Mason will be leaving within the next few weeks.  I knew this time was coming, my kids are getting older and they are going to start leaving the nest. I wondered what that would feel like but in this case, I think it's going to be a great learning experience for Mason and hopefully a good change, so I am excited for him.  Florida is far away, and I will miss him but I know with Jim there he will be taken care of and he will have love and support so that makes it easier to let go.  Of course I say that now, ask me again how I feel about it in a few weeks.