A whirlwind of holiday celebrations

On Thursday, Todd and I cooked our own Thanksgiving dinner for the first time. The past two years we've potlucked with friends in California, and all we've had to make were the rolls. This year, we did it all:

Turkey.
Mashed potatoes.
Stuffing.
Rolls.
Pumpkin pie.

It was a feast, and we were thrilled that it all turned out well. I told my sister Emily over the phone that none of it was really that hard by itself, but it was super tricky to have it all finish at the same time. It was nice for the two of us to spend the afternoon talking about all the things we have been blessed with.

On Friday, we bought a Christmas tree. When we were newlyweds, we were at an Army Christmas dinner and they gave out free Christmas trees to everyone who was there. That was cool. We bought a couple strings of lights to decorate it with. It overtook the teeny living room in our Provo apartment. But the past two years in California, we didn't get a tree because we would be spending the holidays in Utah with our families.

When we moved into the townhouse here, and it actually felt like a home, one of the first things I envisioned for our living room was the perfect place to put a Christmas tree. I have known we would have one this year since July. ;)

So Friday we picked out the perfect tree. Douglas fir. Seven feet tall. Smells heavenly. Perfect cone shape. After we brought it home and set it up, we went out and bought decorations. Real Christmas tree decorations. Married three years and still didn't have any!


We are so delighted with our tree. We love to turn off the living room light and bask in the tree glow. It is so romantic and classy. It makes me very happy. I love to smell the pine and vacuum up the needles that fall off. I love to just stare at it. Christmas is here!