All Things Holiday....

This has been a fun holiday season for Mike and I as this is the first one in our own house, doing all the things we have always looked forward to doing as a family. We opted to do Thanksgiving by ourselves this year given my short time off of work and the lovely (very snowy) Colorado weather. We wanted a time to just be together, hone our cooking skills before the whole gang gets here for Christmas and to reflect on how truly thankful we are to have one another during this season. Last year was such a hard holiday season and we wanted to spend some time being grateful for one more year together and praying for our family members that were lost just one year ago. This time of year will forever be tender in my heart...
Thanksgiving was wonderful and my food turned out really well! I was so excited to have things really taste good as I am still learning how to cook from scratch and make things as natural as possible. The rosemary turkey with bay leaf and onion was amazing and I will do it again for Christmas and my (not so natural but very tasty and easy) pumpkin pie cheesecake was delicious.
I am a big advocate for NOT starting the Christmas celebrations until after Thanksgiving is OVER! I love Turkey Day so much and a lot of its thunder is stolen by premature Christmas celebrations. That being said, once Thanksgiving is done, I am in full speed Christmas mode. I have been wanting the Willow Tree nativity set for a few years now. I love its simplicity and humble stillness that I think is exactly what the nativity represents. Mike surprised me by getting me the basic set as we were out shopping as a way to build on it each year. It is my favorite thing in our home and it takes center stage on our mantle. We had a lovely weekend just shopping, cooking, laughing and decorating... I am so lucky to have someone I love so much and have so much fun with. We also wanted to continue our tradition of going out to cut down our own tree. As we didn't really celebrate the holidays last year, this was our first opportunity to do it here in CO... hahaha what a difference! Colorado tree farms are just someone's land that you walk out and see if you can find a bush that somewhat resembles a tree. It was hilarious! We finally gave in and went to a nursery for ours and it turned out beautifully. Mike worked extremely hard putting up our outside lights this year and I am really proud of him as they turned out really well! So here are the pictures of our holiday adventures- we have had a few really lovely weekends together getting our cute little house in the Christmas spirit. Happy Holidays everyone!

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