Christmas Tree Excitement

I love having a Christmas tree. If I could have only one Christmas decoration (aside from a nativity scene since I feel that's the most important decoration to remind us of what Christmas is all about), I would choose a Christmas tree. It just doesn't feel like Christmastime until the tree goes up. I think Olivia would have to agree...

As I was fluffing the branches of the tree, stepping back to see what holes needed to be filled, then working on fluffing again, I noticed Olivia was copying me. It was so cute to see her "fluff" the tree branches then step back to analyze the situation. After the fluffing was done, Olivia was standing beside the tree chatting away to me. When I plugged the lights in, she immediately fell silent and stared in awe at the tree. I asked, "Is the tree pretty?" Olivia responded with big eyes saying, "Yeah!" while walking up to the tree and hugging it. She stood there hugging the tree for

a solid 10 seconds. It was so adorable. She continues to get excited and happy each day I turn the lights on.

We decided not to put ornaments on the tree this year so that we wouldn't have to worry if Olivia would pull any off and/or break them. It's a little sad to not have ornaments, but it's a lot less stressful.

Standing in awe of the Christmas tree

Posing in front of the tree

I decided to dust after putting the tree up and Olivia decided she wanted to help. She always wants to help us clean and fix things. I can't wait until she really can help because I'll let her do all the chores she wants :) Although I'm sure when the time comes that she can help, she won't want to anymore. I'll keep my fingers crossed. FYI: She was wearing pants, but they were too big and she literally walked right out of them. I hadn't gotten around to putting different ones on her yet.

And here are some pictures we took the day before Thanksgiving. Paul swept the porch and Olivia decided she wanted to sweep too. I told you she always wants to clean!

Thanksgiving

Paul and I thought it was just going to be the three of us for Thanksgiving, but it turned out we were able to spend it with family after all. Carrie (Paul's sister) came to visit us in Atlanta with

her family, which consists of her husband, Rich, and her 5 kids: Braden, Brooke, Emma, Colton,
and Seth. And yes, they all stayed in our 2-bedroom apartment with us.

We had lots of great food and enjoyed being around each other. Olivia especially loved playing with her cousins. She was so happy to have constant companions around for a few days.

Paul swinging the kids on the porch

The porch was the hot hangout spot for the kids

Paul and Seth taking a snooze together

Colton being cute

Olivia loved playing with all her cousins, but she adored Braden and Brooke...

...especially Braden. She would crawl into his lap and cuddle with him

Giggling and playing under the blanket

I tried hard to catch Seth's smiles, but I never did. He still has a cute face in this one though.

Cousins! Colton, Braden holding Seth, Olivia, Emma, Brooke

Family Picture

Paul and Rich played in the church Turkey Bowl the morning of Thanksgiving while Carrie and I prepared our feast. They had fun playing, but they were sore and hurting the next day.

Carrie and I decided to be crazy and go shopping at Target at midnight for Black Friday. We didn't have anything really specific in mind to get - we just wanted to see what was on sale and hope to find some Christmas gifts for great prices...and we did! We were pleasantly surprised at how nice the employees were. One guy walked us halfway across the store to show us where something was even though we told him he didn't have to. We were also surprised at how cordial the other shoppers were. Everyone was saying, "Excuse me," and apologizing while moving out of each other's way if they were blocking the isle. We were not expecting that at all but were happy that that's what we got! Maybe we just got lucky and were at a good Target.

Carrie and I waiting to get into Target (not the best pic, but oh well)

Jayne and Elizabeth (Paul's mom and other sister) came into town on Friday afternoon. And no, they didn't stay in the apartment with us. A hotel was much more comfortable for them rather than squishing themselves into our apartment that was already housing 4 adults and 6 kids ages 8 and under. We hung out and then enjoyed a yummy dinner and dessert at the Cheesecake

Factory.

Carrie's family left early Saturday morning, so we said our goodbyes to our half-asleep nieces and nephews. Jayne, Elizabeth, Olivia, and I went to Ikea and met Paul there when he got off work. We had lots of fun checking things out and even ate lunch there. We really enjoyed each other's company and were sad when they had to head back to SC later that day.

Hanging out with Grandma on the swing

Sleeping with Aunt Elizabeth in Ikea

I love holidays and the fun times spent with family.

Bathtime

Olivia LOVES taking a bath. Here's a video showing exactly how excited she gets every single time we turn the water on to fill up the tub. It cracks me up when I hear her squeals of delight.

Full of Thanks: The Remaining Days

Okay, so as I said in the previous post, I fell behind with this and I'm finding it hard to catch up. I don't know why I thought I'd be able to keep up with this...I should know myself well enough that I would get behind. Oh well. I don't want to "quit," so I'm just going to say that I'm going to sum up what I feel is the most important thing to be grateful for.

November 20 - November 30

I am so grateful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It brings me so much joy, peace, and comfort to my life. I am thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, who atoned for not only my sins and weaknesses, but also all the pain and suffering I have and will experience in my life. It gives me great comfort to know the He is there for me and will be able to help me overcome all things through the atonement. I am also grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who has provided a way for us to live with Him again, along with our family. I don't know where I'd be in life it I didn't have the ture gospel of Jesus Christ in my life...well, I could take a pretty good guess, but I don't like it one bit! If you are not a member of this church and would like to know more, please know that you can always ask me and that I will always be willing to share my beliefs.