I'll be doing some posts from 2010 that I just can't get out of my 'need to blog it' mindset. So Christmas is the first.
The first few photos are of a Christmas thank you dinner of sorts that we did. It's always nice to be able to reuse the ol' wedding decorations (vases, twigs & falling berries) and feel resourceful! We really enjoyed this & it added to the spirit of Christmas.
My first try at Tirimisu (Mormon style, which means Pero & grape juice substitutes for the usual coffee & rum). I was pretty proud of myself to be honest.
(Whenever I hear or say the phrase 'to be honest', all I can think of is how my old boss told us commission only designers/salesmen not to use that phrase because it implies that at other times you're not being honest. So I guess you can take this blog post & assume I am not being honest with you the rest of the time. So really, we did not do a nice Christmas dinner, and those were not my wedding decorations. Now you make up the real story for me ...
We were able to include various family traditions such as the meat dish, Rouladen, a Johnson family New Year's tradition. And I loved being able to use my recently-found-again vintage goblets; a keepsake of mine from my Grandma & Grandpa on my dad's side.
Now I just want to share some of our Christmas decorations & the photos I had fun taking of them. I love being at home at Christmas time.
My sister was paid this year to decorate an office lobby for the holidays ... I think that would be so fun.
I love this painting below that we gifted ourselves in Christmas 2009; 'Jesus Washing Peter's Feet', by Ford Brown. We bought the poster print & Paul cut it out with an exacto knife & shellacked it onto a 1.5" thick piece of MDF/wood.
I straight out stole this photo idea from Jana's blog. You did after all, tell us how to do it right Jana?
Ikea & Target ornaments (child proof too!) collected over a couple of different Christmases can still pull off a nice tree : )
This piece has meaning to me because my parents gave it to me years before I was even married. They bought it on a special tour to Jerusalem & Egypt. Though I would love to somehow collect the rest of a nativity set to go with it. Maybe I'll just have to make it to Jerusalem myself one day : )
Who needs fancy shmancy wrapping paper when you can have princess wrapping paper?! ....
I'm like the rest of the trendy world & still love all things birds.
That little painting above my kitchen table Christmas center piece is indeed of Taya if that's what you were wondering. Paul painted that a year or so ago, inspired by the style of this artist that we've come to like.
Can't go wrong with cranberries in a vase of Trader Joe's Christmas flowers (well maybe you can if it's all starting to get old, and this one was in fact, ... but still, i'n't it perty?)
This photo below isn't Christmasy, but it was in my Christmas photo mix, and in loving memory of Taya's fish named 'Nemo Fishy', I am posting it. He lived from her 2nd birthday past her 3rd Christmas.
(According to my earlier blurb, maybe even this could be a lie though, what do you think?)
Taya's first reactions to her Christmas stocking, including her first true bike from Santa.
(I'm actually a little lacking on Christmas pictures of Taya & Dyllan due to a combination of being too involved to stop & take pictures, as well as having been sick on Christmas, boo hoo).
Quick learner. Proud dad.
And to cap it off, check out this spectacularly crafty Nativity puppet set that Paul's sisters made & gave to us this year. It's a great way to tell the Nativity story with little kids, and carries the tradition on from years past when Paul & his siblings used their own Nativity puppet set made by their talented mom.
It was a great Christmas. I soaked up every day of it being in our own home that we've worked so hard on over the years, knowing it was our last here. Plus, having Taya be so thoroughly into it this year because of her age made me realize just how much I like Christmas as a mom. Busy - YES. But also complete with happy, happy memories? YES.
**I feel like this post was kinda braggy; if so - well yikes, I apologize.**
10 comments:
I loved all of the Christmas photos. Your camera makes it more magical:)
That dinner looks soooooo yummy!!!! Nice post -- not braggy at all! Looks like Christmas was awesome at your house! Maybe it will be even more magical next year, without being sick! :)
Being braggy = AWESOME!!!!
very fun to see all the pictures. Very talented photographer!! I want to see more pictures of Dyllan. That one of Taya is so precious
I love the pictures! They are so good! The food was even better. Thanks for hosting an awesome party!
those pics are really good, that's fun to purposely (to use your word) go around taking pictures of the details.
would love to make a nativity set like that, as a group RS activity or something.
And did I take those first few pictures? because they're slightly crooked because I'm usually sloppy like that and plan to straighten in ps later. oops.
Thanks all my ladies :)
Jana - yes, those dinner pictures were taken by you, which is why they look better than all the rest :) And I tackily included them in my mix & hope you don't mind.
And yeah, the Nativity puppet thing would be a good RS activity. Good call. Now when you move up in ranks again from YW president to RS President, you can make it happen. Fortunately you should have some time before this happens (Erin T. - 'pheeewwww')
i must have missed this post! i love your vintage goblets! and so much better that they were your grandparents. that would be SO fun to do a dinner/party together. who knows when it would work out to do it, but we'll just have to keep it in the back of our minds for when we all happen to be in the same state together! :)
wow - awesome pix! Loved the reaction you got of your daughter when she saw her bike. I love all things bird too!
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