Early Celebration...

Since we were vacationing for 9 days over Christmas, my dad and step mom drove down for an early celebration. I think the only other Christmas that I didn't spend with my dad was my Senior year in high school when my mom and I traveled to Hawaii. I was cheering in the half time show of the 1994 Hula Bowl...was tough to be away from the rest of our family but it was certainly warm and exciting to explore the islands!

The girls loved having dad and Anna here for a quick visit and lots of snuggle time.

 Since dad built his own life-sized Cobra a few years back he has been collecting models of them...can you tell he's thrilled? Ha!

 Izzy's face doesn't tell how excited she was. This holiday all she wanted was kits to make her own jewelry (as if she needs more accessories!). We made bracelets the rest of the weekend...and they turned out so cute!

 Mike and I exchanged a few presents before we left and I had framed the instructions of a model boat my grandfather started building many years back. When my Nana and Grandfather moved out of their house and into a retirement community a few years ago we all were able to save a piece of their lives...which was such an honor and so special that we had this opportunity. Mike jumped on the opportunity to salvage some of my grandfather's model boats he was building and we have them on display in our front "boat themed" room of our house. When we moved into our new house we unpacked a box of all the books on boats that came with the models and tucked inside one of them were the instructions for the "Sea Witch"...I immediately knew I wanted to frame it.

 Dad is holding the start of the Sea Witch that Grandfather built. Love having this piece of Grandfather's history.

 And as for Laney, all she wanted this year was a Baby Wanna Walk. She asked Santa when we met him. She begged Coca (our elf on the shelf) for him nightly. Thankfully dad surprised her with the little walking, talking beauty...and she has been pushing her around (in a new stroller, thanks to Jaim!) and walking her ever since.

Thanks to Dad & Anna for coming down to spend special time celebrating the holiday early with us...love you guys!

Reflections of...

These sisters...

 ...are dripping with cuteness.

 And this will be the last year...

 ...that they'll be taking sister photos together at school.

 So I find myself staring...

 ...and pondering...

...and burning these images into my memory.

I don't want to forget how stinkin' cute they are. How incredibly funny they are. How much they love to snuggle (and ask to do so all the time). How they are as different as night and day (even though they're dressed alike). And mostly, how much they have enriched our lives.

Hugging them extra tight. Telling them more than ever how much they mean to us. How special they are. And how proud we are of them. Because they should know. Now...and always.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

..Christmas!!! It's here. December. Pretty much one of my favorite months of the year. Digging out all the seasonal boxes from the basement. Reminiscing with every ornament we hang. Holiday music in every room. Ugh...I just love it.

Our house is looking more and more festive each day. The Sunday after Thanksgiving is when we put up our tree(s) and the decor starts flowing throughout the house in the days that follow. Both girls love to help and it's fun to see how their eyes light up when I hand them an ornament and they say, "I remember this one!"

 I let each girl decorate a tree for their rooms and then we have two others upstairs. All four trees are decorated with ornaments they've received over the years or they've made.

 The girls had fun playing and dancing in the stockings...

 Mike decorated our pillars out front

 Mini tree in our entry. Still looking for a mini-skirt.

 Love having the house lit up each night

 Festive mantel

 What little decor I do put out always includes a Nutcracker

 And this idea was stolen from Pinterest...

 Another Pinterest idea...making use of our large collection of wine corks. My neighbor laughed saying her front door wreath screamed country flair while our screamed come drink with us. Truth.

The girls & their buddy Maggie went to visit Santa last weekend...

 Can you tell how excited they were to see him? They all got to share with Santa what they wanted for Christmas (Izzy wanted a jewelry making kit while Laney wanted a walkin' baby doll). As they exited Santa's little house, Laney immediately started crying, "But he didn't give me my baby doll!" Had to explain that Santa's elves had to go and make it now and will deliver it at Christmas. Was really sweet.

They even got to meet a real, live reindeer!

And we've been counting down the days until Christmas. Izzy says, "Christmas is the 2 and the 5." And then she follows it up with, "Disney is the 2 and the 6!" While Mike and I keep saying, "We leave for Florida on the 2 and the 1."

Let the countdown begin!