My Beautiful Day

This past weekend we celebrated Christmas with my extended family.  We had lots of food, lots of people and lots of noise radiating through our home!  During our present exchange, I asked my amazing daughter, Claire, to capture some of the action on our camera.  The pictures that she took weren't necessarily what I had intended, but they make me smile, nonetheless!  I decided that I had to share our Christmas through my daughter's eyes:   Isn't it funny how the picture of her is the only one that's centered and the entire subject is captured? That's because my niece was operating the camera for that one!! :)   Not necessarily my best angle! :) So, she certainly had her own unique way of photographing the event!! :)  I just love that girl! I couldn't resist sharing a couple of photos of Ethan enjoying his new Buzz Lightyear car!  He just LOVES this gift - thanks Uncle Martin and Aunt Tanya! Have you ever seen the movi...

This past weekend was everything that I had dreamed it to be.  All of my anticipations, excitement and thoughts about the weekend were met to the fullest.  You see, this past Friday, my husband and I left our children in the incredibly capable hands of our favorite babysitter/nanny and we headed to the little town of Manhattan Beach, Minnesota. Never heard of it?  I hadn't either.  However, this little town (and when I say little, I truly mean tiny) is the home of the Manhattan Beach Lodge, where my husband and I would spend the entire weekend celebrating our 3rd anniversary (which was this past Tuesday). Image courtesy of mblodge.com Our suite was amazing.  The view over the lake was gorgeous.  The food in their restaurant was divine (I had the prime rib ... twice!).  The lodge, itself, was cute and quaint.  Upon reading the history of the lodge, we came to learn that it has housed many varieties of people, from families on vacation to Holly...

We recently had our family pictures taken by the AMAZING Michelle Lund of Lund Studios .  The picture taking itself went well, but we were beyond thrilled when we received the pictures!  As we were looking through them, one picture in particular stood out to Monte and me: This picture so perfectly captures every-day life in our family!  While Monte and I may be focused on the task at hand, there's usually something going on among our children that keeps them distracted and preoccupied.   I love this photo.   I mean I love, love, LOVE it.  It so perfectly captures us just how we roll.

Each year for Christmas Monte and I buy the kids one big thing.  We then give them the money to shop for everybody else in the family (with a price limit, of course!).  This has been a wonderful way for us to teach them about giving and to turn the focus of Christmas from Santa (where it was a few years ago) to the miracle of Jesus' birth and to the greatness of giving instead of always wanting to get something. This lesson has been nothing short of amazing. So, last night, my three big boys (Iain, Ellis and Colin) and I headed out to do some Christmas shopping.  We decided to settle on going to Dick's Sporting Goods, as that is a place that we all enjoy and can easily find things that we love.  The boys knew who was on their list to shop for, and I was included on that list.  They knew their price limit and I told them that I would do my best to not notice anything that they were buying for me (which didn't work out in the end, but that's okay!). As we we...

I won't lie, normally the Christmas season has my head spinning.  I almost always am feeling overwhelmed about everything: Did we get all the presents we needed to?  When do we need to leave to make it on time to this celebration?  Do all of our kids have dress clothes that fit them?  Which Christmas Eve service are we going to at church?  Do I have all of the food that I need?  The list of things rolling through my head seems to go on and on and on (which, for the record, is VERY unusual for me, as I am one who's mind generally doesn't run on and on and on). This year, though, something is different. We don't have any less celebrations to attend (as we are hosting gatherings with my family, with a couple of Kelley's sisters and having our own celebration with our kids), we don't have any less presents to buy, we don't have any less children to properly clothe and we don't have any less food to prepare. What's the deal?!  Why am I not freaking ...

There once was a woman who fell in love with a man. They spent time getting to know one another. They spent hours on the phone, late into the night. This man found himself also having fallen in love with that woman. They spent time together, figuring out how to operate as a family with four kids in tow. She loved him.  He loved her.  She loved his kids.  They, too, loved her. He proposed.  She said yes. They were married three years ago today. And those three years have been the best three years of her life, and she's looking forward to many more to come! Happy 3rd Anniversary, Monte!  I love you more and more every single day.

I can't lie, it's been awhile since I've participated in this fun little blog party/blog hop (whatever you really want to call it!) on the correct day, but today is the day that I make up for that!  YES!  So, if you'd like to join in on the fun, visit Mama M's Blog  and get your question party on! :) 1.  What is your favorite Christmas decoration in your house? I would have to say it's a tie.  I love this crazy snowman that we always hang on the hook by our door.  It's cute as pie (is pie even cute?!) and a little bit mismatched and odd, too!  One of it's legs hangs longer than the other, and it rarely ever hangs exactly straight.  I think that's what I like so much about it! The other one that I really love is not really a decoration by us, but it is the assortment of Christmas cards that we hang on our kitchen cabinets (note that I didn't say "cupboards", honey?!).  I love receiving Christmas cards from people and seeing how much ...

Hospitality is totally my thing; I love having people in my home for big gatherings and huge meals.  Naturally, when the Thanksgiving and Christmas season comes around, I am quick to jump at the opportunity of having many of these gatherings in my home or to help coordinate these gatherings in my extended family's homes.  This is my absolute favorite time of year!  It's a time for family to get together to enjoy meals, to play games, to have conversation, to relax, to be stressed out and to fight. Wait ... what?!  To be stressed out?  To fight? Unfortunately this has been known to be the case in the past.  Having people I so dearly love under one roof for an extended period of time has been known to cause stress and fighting.  Considering the fact that the holiday season is the  very last  place that I want to be fighting, my family came up with some ideas, and knowing how difficult it can be to make it through celebrating holidays wi...