Merry Christmas and Happy 2012!

What a wonderful week!  We celebrated, enjoyed each other, worshipped, played, laughed, and relaxed!  Couldn't ask for more.  We are all back to school and work.  Not an easy transition but it is ok to 'move on'.  Christmas gift giving was kept pretty simple this year.  Steve did not cooperate, however, and gave me a Kindle Fire!!  I wasn't expecting it as the agreement was 'not to buy anything big for each other'.  He said he never agreed to that but I'm pretty sure he did.  Oh well.  It's over and done and I love it!  Perfect little gadget for reading blogs.  What a great guy. :)

  

A pretty package from me to my mother-in-law...

I love the way the presents look under the tree!

The boys loved their posters!  Simple and fun.  It's easy to see who they belong to...each of their personalities is reflected!

This one is Ben's and I want it.  Best band ever!

And look what sweet Emily made for us!  She painted a favorite quote of ours onto a canvas.  I love it!

Christmas table centerpiece...

I picked up these reindeer at TJ Maxx and love them on the table.  Dollar store ornaments in glass look very pretty.

I exchanged the brown runner for white placemats and packed away the reindeer for our New Year's centerpiece.

Nothing fancy...

Cozy evening light...

It's been so great having Ben home from college.  This is one of his favorite spots...next to the Christmas tree with his laptop!

Happy Thanksgiving

I looked through my favorite blogs trying to find a beautiful Thanksgiving quote or an amazing image to share.  Didn't find what I was looking for.  So, I'm sharing an amazing image from our yard.  This rose, "Hope for Humanity", grows near our patio.  I have to admit that it isn't my favorite and I've considered moving this plant to another location as it takes up a prime spot!  But it's a lot of work to properly move a mature plant (it's about 5 years old) and so my laziness earned this rose another season in it's current location.  As the summer progressed, this rose grew at a surprising rate.  By Fall, it had doubled in size from the previous summer!  The stem in the photo is almost 6' tall and was covered with blooms--amazing!  It continued to bloom into November!   On the morning that I took this photo, frost covered our yard and the roses as they continued to bloom and thrive.  So, "Hope for Humanity" may get to stay right where it is.  Moral of the story?  ...be lazy (just kidding) ...be patient :)

I'm thankful for our beautiful world that is endlessly mysterious...

*Happy Thanksgiving*