Christmas Rush!

To say that the past three months have been some of the busiest for me would be a huge understatement! I feel like I have been going 150 miles per hour since before Halloween. I guess that is why I STILL cant believe that Christmas is here. I am sitting down tonight to blog and it is so good to not have anything to do at the present moment. The past two weeks have been a blur, planning for Connors party, parties at work, putting up Christmas decor (my own and other houses) and the other stuff that comes with the Christmas rush... you know shopping, baking, etc. I would love to have time to just invite some friends over for hot cocoa and just catch up- in my dreams! I love the season and everything that comes with it, but I would be lying if I said that I didnt wish that it could all be without the hectic holiday chores! My mother continues to remind me that I brought this on myself by having a child born exactly a week before Christmas Day! She told me that Brad and I need to stay away from each other during the month of March so this NEVER happens again! Ha! I cant believe how many November and December birthdays we have in our family! I didnt really realize it until this year. November- Amanda and my Dads birthday... December- Brad's birthday, Betty's birthday (like family!!), my Grandmothers birthday, Connor's birthday, my Aunt Janice's birthday, Hillary's birthday, Brad's cousin Matthews birthday and dont forget the most important- JESUS's birthday!!! Wow!

So last week in the middle of my planning for Connors party I got a phone call from a sweet lady and relative, Anneal. Funny story is that I decorated her tree about 3 years ago and in the spring while at a family reunion realized that I was actually related to her! AnNEAL... she was named that because her mothers maiden name was Neal! Who would have thought... She was my Pawpaw's first cousin, which would make her my 3rd cousin I guess. She is the sweetest, kindest lady. I just fell in love with her even before I knew we were kin folk! She just recently had leg surgery and is not able to be on her feet much so decorating her tree was not possible. She asked me if I would be willing to do it and I told her that I couldnt get to it until today. I had such a good time catching up with her and spending time at her beautiful home. She has amazing taste and the decorating in her home is just beautiful. I think her tree turned out pretty good. It was so much fun to do! Here are some pics of her house and a few of mine as well... ( it isnt hard to tell the difference between my tree and hers- mine is significantly smaller!)

Anneal's tree

I loved her tree topper!

She thought that her tree looked sparse and was going to get a new one for next year and I told her that the ribbon would make a huge difference. Her husband told me that I just saved him a whole bunch of money! LOL

Her mantle...

Ok, so this is where my house starts, as if you cant already tell (actually I just noticed that we have exactly the same mantle! Ha!...

I added ribbon to my tree this year and think it adds lots of color to it.

These are my two Christmas displays in memory of Aunt Susie. Both of the sleighs were hers and I loved adding them to my Christmas decor this year!