Ugly Sweaters, Festive Centerpieces, and Kids Nativity (or Christmas Parties at Church)

Kaleb and Noé went to a stake youth dance with an "Ugly Christmas Sweaters" theme.  Lucky for them, our cousins Brad & Rachel passed down their ugly Christmas sweaters to them.

The youth had so much fun at the stake dance that they decided to wear their sweaters to the ward Christmas dinner as well.  Noé's sweater didn't survive the washing machine, so we just cut out hearts and stars in lots of colors of felt and voila! another ugly sweater!

We had a wonderful Christmas service project at our church for all of the primary girls, young women, and Relief Society sisters.  We had a lovely luncheon at the end with these darling centerpieces.

The decorations were so cute that they were used again for our ward Christmas dinner.

The primary kids acted out the nativity story at our ward Christmas dinner.  Gavin was one of the narrators and a shepherd, Teague and Hiram were sheep, and Ali was an angel.  All of the kids were so cute!!  I love when my kids get to participate in the nativity story!

We got to celebrate Christmas many ways at church this year.  Besides the three events talked about above, we also went to the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional broadcast with the stake social beforehand; went to the stake music fireside; went to the 43rd annual stake outdoor nativity pageant; went to a party at the Stake President's house for all the stake leaders and their spouses; and the youth also went to a party at the Young Women President's house.  There will be more parties to share about at school, work, friends' houses, and our own home.  This time of year is busy, but that's part of the magic!

Please Vote for Macy's Ornament

Every year I buy a new Hallmark ornament symbolic of the past year to add to our collection.  Except when it's a Baby's First Christmas year, then I buy two.  I buy one for us to keep and one for the baby to keep to take with them when they leave the nest.  I never buy the same ornament (that's too boring, and would be too easy, ha ha!), but this year I'm stumped as to which one we should keep in our family collection and which one to give to Macy for her own collection.

The first is this darling Polar Bear.  Part of me wants to keep this one because her stocking also has a polar bear on it.

The second one is this darling Baby Ducky.  Part of me wants to keep this one because Hiram and Ali's ornaments are similar stuffed animal toys (Hiram's is a lamb and Ali's is a deer).

Please help me decide!  There is no winning or losing ornament, I just need help deciding which ornament for me to keep and which ornament to give to Macy.  Please leave a comment with your vote.  Thank you!

Dressing the House

I love decorating for Christmas!  It takes me days as we have some decor on every floor of our house (although I don't have decor in every room, like I have in the past).  Our home will never be featured in a decor magazine and that is just fine with me.  I buy those magazines and the rooms are gorgeous.  However, they are always impersonal and that makes them feel somewhat cold to me.  Everything about our decor is personal and sentimental and that is why I love it so!

Our main tree all decked out in red, gold, and green.  I love adding our new Hallmark ornament every year (please read the next post and vote for Macy's new ornament!).

Besides ornaments, I have two other favorite Christmas collections- our nativity scenes and our Santas.  Here are a few new nativities.  I had these exact same figurines without the buildings.  When I discovered the buildings I had to buy the new set.  I love how the pieces fit inside the buildings like puzzle pieces.

This mismatched nativity is so adorable to me as I love the story book that comes with it.

We bought this nativity set while we lived in India, but this is the first year we were able to display it.

We sadly lost our monthly holiday/seasonal Little People sets in our move back from India.  We couldn't replace them all, but we had to replace our two Christmas ones.  Thank you Amazon for letting me find these treasures.

Of course, the characters in these sets are different than our original ones, but we are so happy to have another Little People Nativity scene and Santa village.  My kids play with these every single day of the Christmas season. 

I didn't buy any new Santas this year, except for...

...this advent calendar one.  Since we lost ours I was on the hunt for a new one, but found two!  I loved this one that we counted down the days until Christmas with.

I also loved this one where we added a mini-ornament to the tree each day.

I love Jim Shore's creations!

I also love mini-ornaments!

It's crazy to think that next year we'll have a new banister to hang ornaments from!

These carolers were a childhood favorite of mine, and one year my mom gave them to me.  I think they're the cutest! 

Nine stockings!!  Our mantel is too small!  Although, you can't even see our fireplace as it's hidden by the coffee table from the living room that was moved into the family room to make room for the tree.

Every year I hang the Christmas cards we receive up and down our hallway.  This is the card and photo we sent out this year.  You can read the newsletter HERE.

One day we will have Christmas lights on our house.  For now, I love the ornaments and wreaths we hang over our front porch and garage.

Our Winter Wonderland tree in our master bedroom.

"let it SNOW"

"some of my best friends are FLAKES"

Our Candyland tree in our basement.

With some friends from the North and South poles.

Many things I make don't turn out as well as I'd like, but I think these three guys turned out pretty cute!

Look at the joy on her face.

This is why I decorate!

Macy @ 11 months

Look how long Macy is getting!

And she's so hungry she could eat a foot!

Or maybe some cheese, ha ha!

This little girl is getting big.  At 11 months old, Macy is laughing all the time!  She can shake her head "no" but she prefers to give big kisses.  She can also strike this new pose with her arms behind her head.

Thank you Macy for coming to our family!  We love you so much!

Furniture Contests

In December, I entered two furniture contests.  The first was from The Brick.  To enter the contest we had to take pictures of our furniture from The Brick and upload them to Instagram for the chance to win a design consultation from Kortney Wilson and a $36,000 shopping spree at The Brick.

 

We bought our couch, loveseat, coffee table (not pictured- we move it for Christmas), and two end tables from The Brick back in 2009 when we first moved into this home.  They're still in good condition, but I'm hoping to get new furniture when we move to our new house.

We also bought our bed, nightstands,...

...dresser and mirror from The Brick at that time.

With Macy joining our family we needed bunk-beds to fit all 3 girls in one room.

Of course, the boys then wanted bunk-beds too.

We were able to get all of the bunk-beds from The Brick, but we did not win their contest.

The second contest was from La-Z-Boy.  La-Z-Boy asked 8 designers to style a room that would then be voted upon by the public.  A winning designer would be chosen by public votes, then one of the voters would win that room of furniture.  This is the photo I voted for, but alas this room did not win and neither did I.  I still hope we'll be able to buy some new furniture when we move to our new house!