Christmas 2013 in Review

Hello again!  Sorry I fell off of the blogging wagon for a while.  I know this post is about a month too late, but I wanted to document our Christmas this year.

During 2013, I was definitely dreaming of a white Christmas.  First I transformed our living room with board and batten (more on that soon!) then I went and bought a flocked tree for the first time since I was a little girl.

The flocked tree was absolutely gorgeous!  Especially during the day.

Our ornaments are a mishmash of memories with special meaning and stories.

My most cherished ornaments were a gift from my Uncle Jim years ago. They are my “Cinderella” ornaments, each one representing a different character from the show.  The one below is the fairy Godmother.

The Cinderella story has a special place in my heart because I played “Cinderella” in my high school production.  During the show, I felt like a real princess when my Uncle Jim flew all the way from Chicago to Salt Lake City to see me in the leading role.  A few weeks later a box arrived on my doorstep with the most beautiful ornaments I had ever seen.  Thank you Uncle Jim!

And what tree is complete without a train underneath?

Mantel complete with feather trees and homemade stockings.

Feather Trees (Hobby Lobby), Anthropology vase, and our newest addition “Hubert” the Christmas owl.

Now onto our favorite family tradition… decorating gingerbread houses.

Every year I spend a couple of days making the gingerbread and assembling the houses.  It is a big project, but the kids love it so much and the house smells AMAZING all week long.

We all have pretty strong opinions, so each person gets their very own house to decorate to their heart’s content.

Isaac went a little crazy with the candy floor this year.

Hubby’s roof turned out pretty cool.

And last, but not least, we had a fancy candlelit dinner on Christmas Eve.  Complete with English crackers and paper crowns.

After our bellies were full, I surprised the family with our first ever matching jammies! I know they are so cheesy, but they made me crazy happy 🙂

Happy New Year!