Decorating for Christmas!

We have our annual Christmas party at our house on Saturday so we had to take down Thanksgiving and get Christmas up right away!!!!! I LOVE DECORATING the house for Christmas and this year we had a whole new space to play with:) We found a HUGE tree and she is absolutely beautiful and smells divine! So far Dillan has been a CHAMP with all the decorations and hasn't broken anything:) However, it is only December 2nd, so I will let you know in a couple of weeks how that is going. Dillan LOVES the nativity scene the best and always wants to give baby Jesus a kiss and tell him "Happy Birthday." After all, that is the real reason to celebrate:)

Dillan helping Daddy put up lights

Picking out our tree

It was COLD out so Dillan had to wear his cool

hat from Auntie Les

My little man

Decorating our tree...she's tall this year:)

I had to make sure my belly

didn't knock the tree over:)

In all her glory

Nativity Set

Stockings....had to improvise this year with

no fireplace:(

Dillan inspecting the tree while mommy says,

"No touching Dillan. Just looking."

His face after mommy telling him not to touch!

My cutie patootie!

Give Thanks

Thanksgiving is such a wonderful time of year. It is a great reminder to take "stock" of everything in my life that I have to be thankful for. A time to sit and reflect (which doesn't happen a lot these days) on the things in my life that make me "full." There are so many things and some of them may seem cliche, but they make everyday life so enjoyable! This year I was especially thankful for our new home. What started out as a hard thing (deciding to short sale our home), God ended up turning into a huge blessing. We have so much more space and are in a home that allows us to entertain and fit our growing family:) I am so thankful for God's provision during that season. Having a sick kid the last few weeks has also reminded me how grateful I am for Dillan's health. He has really only been sick a couple of times in his life and for that I AM SO GRATEFUL! Seeing your child sick is so hard and DRAINING:) I am also very thankful for the chance to grow our family. I am so excited to bring Connor Charles into this world and watch our family grow from three to four. This year was a pretty tough year for a lot of people with the economy taking a dive. Although it was a hard year for Dusty, he got up every day and kept hitting the pavement. He works so hard to provide for our family. We are so grateful for his job at Federated and the security he has there. We are also so grateful for our family and friends that surround us and walk through life with us. Their loyalty and support are unwavering!

I had a great word spoken to me during my quiet time the other day about being thankful for our suffering. It was out of the Message in Phillipians 1 "There's far more to this life than trusting in Christ. There's also suffering for him. And the suffering is as much a gift as the trusting." And so although it is hard, I am learning to be thankful for suffering and praying that God uses it to shape and mold me into the the woman He has designed me to be.

This year we hosted our first Thanksgiving and cooked our first Turkey! Her name was Matilda and she tasted oh so good! We had 20 Olson's over and it was really fun to look in magazines for creative ideas on table settings, decorations, and recipes. The day was a great success! Food was yummy, being with family was awesome, and Oly's bucket games were in full effect.

We then headed up to Pasadena and had a Davis Thanksgiving on Friday. My mom and dad pretty much cook the ENTIRE meal on their own and it always tastes SOOOOO good! Everything is homemade with love and care and for that I am so grateful! We had extended family with us this year as well which is always fun. And of course the babies make EVERYTHING better (even when they are sick).

Thanksgiving is over and we are now entering into Christmas! We are celebrating the fact that Christ was born in the most humble way and became man so he could know us that much more intimately. So here is to celebrating the real reason for the season!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Food Table

EAT!

Table Setting

Place setting

Game time!

My handsome boy

Andy and Pattie

All the cousins!

Dust, Kim Dillan, Tobin, Braden, Lexy, Ryan,

Ashlyn, Tessa, Charlie, Chrissy, and Boe

Papa getting ready to carve the Turkey

YUM!

The Spread

Pretty table

The Davis Gang

28 weeks

Hello 3rd trimester.....is that really you already? I am not so sure I am ready to meet you yet! I keep telling people that everytime I walk by Connor's room to be I just keep closing the door, as if somehow the fact that it needs to be worked on will just disappear if I keep the door closed. Well, the harsh reality that I need to get my butt in gear has set in. I think I finally found bedding I like, we are going to paint, and I even got the crib I am borrowing for Dillan until he is ready for a big boy bed. So we are making BABY steps! My goal is to have the room painted before we go to Seattle. Let's see if that happens. I went to my 28 week appointment and received all the registration paperwork for the hospital, which is making this WHOLE thing seem much more real. In three SHORT months I will be holding CONNOR CHARLES in my arms. I am feeling good for the most part, but getting tired pretty easily. I feel like I am FALLING into bed at 8:30 every night and the baby is not even here. HELP! Praying that God protects my energy and sanity this last stretch. Happy Turkey Day everyone!

Shorts and tank top last month and

sweater and boots this month:)

Shout out to Shutterfly

How can it be that Christmas will be here next month? Time is truly flying. Our family is taking our Christmas Card picture in a week and you can bet your bottom dollar that I will be using a Shutterfly Christmas Card. This will be the 3rd year in a row that we have used Shutterfly. Their designs are so cute and they have several styles to choose from. I love that I always have a unique card and not the same one as everyone else! I am jumping on the bandwagon and letting everyone know about an awesome deal that Shutterfly has going on right now for the holidays. They are giving away 50 holiday cards for FREE. If you have a blog and would like to pass on the great news then to go: http://bit.ly/sfly2010 and answer a few questions.

My favorite holiday gift to give to my family at Christmas time is a Shutterfly Calendar. They have added several new templates to choose from and they are so cute. A personalized calendar with pictures of the family is the PERFECT gift....especially for grandparents:) So go ahead and visit Shutterfly's website and shop around for the perfect holiday card and perfect gift for your families!

Girls Weekend Getaway in Morro Bay

The boys take a trip every summer to the hot, sweaty desert to play lots of golf, drink beer, and do whatever else boys do when they get together. I figured we were WAY over due for a girls trip! My parents really good friends, the Watson's, have a gorgeous home up north in Morro Bay that they opened up for us girls. We left the babes and road tripped it up the beautiful coast. We had the MOST AMAZING TIME! The weather was perfect (crisp, cool, and clear)....we even got to wear our boots and scarves, which was awesome since when we left OC, it was 100 degrees! We went to the farmer's market in SLO, cooked fabulous meals, went for beautiful walks, had lots of laughter, and watched more chick flicks then I can count! I consider myself so incredibly blessed by the girls I do life with. They encourage me in my faith, push me to be a better wife and mom, and provide an unwavering love and loyalty that I can always hang my hat on. Love these girls! Thanks to our hubbies for watching our kiddos and blessing us with this time:)

Fresh produce....YES PLEASE!

Farmer's Market in SLO

The Garden Gallery

YUM! Salt Water Taffey! So good

The girls by the rock:

Les, Steph, Mich, Jord, Kar, Kim, and Car

We are a pretty goofy group

Me and Lester

Post dinner shenanigans

Another candy shop? Don't mind

if we do!

Les' boyfriend....clearly Team Edward

My cool sister in law, Danski

My bestie, Roonie

Our Christmas card pic....gotta love

the self timer:)

Morro Bay 2010!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was so incredibly fun this year! I swear I choked up like 5 times watching Dillan trick or treat:) He brought so much joy and it made me so happy to be a mommy. Watching Dillan grow up and become more and more independent is such a gift. We had so much fun at our annual pumpkin carving and chili potluck. We love to see all the kids dress up and have fun together. We spent Halloween night with the Bettino's, Davis', and Gardiner's. We had a yummy dinner and then took the kiddos trick or treating in Ladera. I even made Dust throw on his Buzz costume and think I peed my pants from laughing so hard seeing him and Dillan in their matching costumes....it was PRICELESS!!!!!! We are just so blessed to have the friends and family we have to celebrate silly little holidays. We just love an excuse to have a party and celebrate life!

Ready for the party! Have I mentioned

we LOVE our new house!

Opening his Halloween bag

from Papa and Yaya

Buzz and the Tiger!

James and Dilly

Group Shot!

Caden, Gavin, Caleb, James, Dillan, Jack,

Madison, Emery, and Charlie

My two Buzz's!

To Infinity and Beyond!

Teaching Dillan the ways of Buzz

FLYING!

Ready for Trick or Treating!

Beebs, Dillan, Jack, and Bennett

Hitting up his first house....what a stud!

All worn out and time to go home!