holidaze.

and...back to normal.

last year, our thanksgiving went a little something like this:

drive

show up with nothing more than an empty belly

parade

eat

dog show

sleep

football

drive

eat

movies

sleep

pie

drive

sleep

however, this year, with thanks to paul's gracious family, we hosted our first thanksgiving.

instead of the normal rat race, there was one meal large enough to accomodate both our families.

the night before i helped whip up some pies, a mound of sweet potato casserole, dough for the bread,

and cook thee turkey.

the food was delish, but the sense of accomplishment was pretty tasty, too.

it has been wonderful converting this house into a home.

to our home.

i love the chaos.

the kids running around, completely disengaged from reality.

the conversations.

the belly laughs.

each chair we own being utilized.

the doors opening and closing and hellos and goodbyes.

of course, the calm after the storm is nice, too.

me and paul laying on the couch...

digesting food and love,

thinking about what just happened

 and how good it feels not

to have spent the entire day driving and dividing time.

but how much better it feels to quite literally be surrounded by people you love.

happy sleep is so very deep.

friday was early rising followed by focused shopping.

...successful shopping

((minus the shop vac that sold out immediately)),

followed by male bonding time.

meets office space...

 

saturday morning marked my third year participating in the

boekell family tree harvest.

now, i have always been a let's put the tree together girl.

my mom and i would lay out the branches according to their color code,

sometimes guessing at the faded dots,

and snap 'em in place.

it was a fun tradition, mostly just being with my mom.

but that tree has since passed.

and i am thoroughly enjoying the process of picking out a live tree:

packing into one large car, the nippy air, the searching and surveying, the smells,

the sweet sap, the feel of the branches, the families walking around just a few rows over,

the excitement, the tradition, the small labor of love, the Christmas music on the drive,

imagining and pretending and visualizing and making memories.

& taking silly photos.

 

tree hug-n-kisser.

sweaters with the sister-in-love

AND i love decorating for Christmas.

my soul shines and melts when the living room twinkles.

sharing my home, my heart, and my tree with the love of my life...

everything feels right. simple. pure. happy.

our ornaments are starting to have stories.

we laugh as we unwrap and remember.

my favorite being the snurtle ornament from our honyemoon.

((snurtle: when one is too excited to say snorkeling with sea turtles so instead blurts out snurtling))

we've ate, loved, talked, entertained, hosted,

danced, cried, and slept very little.

now, back to "everyday" life.

but i am not motivated.

there is too much turkey in my veins.

:)