OH Christmas tree.

We forgo the HEB tradition (kinda didnt like breaking a tradition...but really? it doesnt matter. Laura, it.doesn't. matter. OH THAT FEELS GOOD.) and went to Lowe's to buy our Christmas tree.

I love ambiance in everything and dreamy scenarios.  

Vacations, resturants, dates, dinners at home, parties, being a mom and wife... 

PERFECTIONISM is my enemy.

With that being said, I had of course dreamed of the perfect Christmas Tree night.  

Greg would be home as soon as possible, we would all be thrilled with delight to drive an hour in the wagon to the tree farm, listening to Christmas music.  We would drink hot chocolate and find the perfect tree.  My manly husband would chop it down while my son looked at his father in amazement.  We would take incredible pictures.  We would put our Christmas tree on top of the car, because that is cute and makes for a great picture.  We would continue to listen to Christmas music on the way home and grab a bite to eat quickly so we could get home and start decorating.  So excited!

And at home?  Oh just some friends, cookies, more hot chocolate and Christmas music.  Everyone is happy and Christmasy and festive and having the time of their lives frolicking around the toasty house.

This is really what goes through my head.  And I REALLY had this expectation. 

BUT.  This is how the dreamy night went:

Greg got home late because of a meeting.  No time to drive to the farm. okay.

Lets do Lowes. Thats more tree farmish than HEB.  :)  I dont remember if we listened to Christmas music and Lowes did not offer us any hot chocolate. 

We get our tree and hurried home because the Jones' were sitting outside our house waiting for us.  

Tree goes up.  And well, we hung out. It was fun.  Made some breakfast for dinner. Took some pics and put Oak to bed.

Greg starts putting the lights on the tree and gets frustrated.  A strand goes out.  Has to start over.  Hits his head on the deer head 3 times.  The next time he hit it, it fell of the wall and exposed the not so good hanging job I did. :(

He made a not so excited grunt and walked away.  

I told him to retire and go to bed. 

He fell asleep on the couch.

I finished the tree into the wee hours and decided to hang an ornament creation above the couch. 

Above greg.  

With thumb tacks.

And it looked good. 

Until I walked into the room to the sight of the whole string falling on Gregs face (so thankful I didn't miss this moment), waking him up to ornaments galore.  

It was priceless and hilarious.  

Like, Christmas Vacation scene worthy.

He was mad and a bit ticked off.  

But after me laughing for a good 5 minutes, he gave in and laughed too.

We feel asleep laughing.

It turned out to be a great night.  Not at all what I had dreamt up, but a great night indeed.  

The aftermath of the string of ornaments:

Checkin' everything out the next morning:

thanksgiving 2011.

Thanksgiving started with Annie and Pops coming to Waco for the OU/Baylor game.  We had a great weekend, Oak went to his first OU game.  And well, Baylor had the time of their lives. :)  It was a lot of fun.  

 Pops snagged just a few free pizzas on the way out.

We then went to Martins Mill for the first half of Thanksgiving.  So thankful for Gregs full week off!

A few pics from our Christmas Card photo shoot...Greg drew a design for our card this year and Amy made it look amazing...i'm excited to see them!

We played in Dallas one day with the great grandmas before Mema fell and spent the rest of the week in Martins Mill! :(

A PERFECT Mema picture:

Highland Park Village and Mi Cocina:

Surprisingly not a dryer sheet, but a dog bone stuck to gregs bottom.

While taking this picture I was overwhelmed and reminded how thankful I am for dad's recovery.  Seeing him play on the floor with Oak is such a sweet blessing.  I'm totally okay with never getting over the fact that his life was spared in June.  This year, I have learned about true thankfulness. 

Thank you, Lord.

Have I mentioned dad is a bit different since June?  I don't know how to describe it... a bit looser, more relaxed, more bold...

going to pick brother up from the airport

 At Mama's Thanksgiving day:

He is HEEEERRRRREEE!!!!

Thanksgiving evening we headed to Oklahoma.  We went to Nowata on Friday to spend a day with Nanet and the Hopkins clan.

AND Nanet gave us Papa Denz' car!!!  We are so thankful!  A specific prayer answered!  It is a plum purple 92 Ford Taurus Station Wagon and its AMAZING. whoohooo!

It was hard for sweet Nanet to see it go...but she'll never know what a blessing it is to us!

More Christmas Card photo shoots!

I am reading (and have been for the past few months) "Grace for the Good Girl" by Emily Freeman.  Probably the most impacting book I've ever read.  God is speaking to me so much through this book.  I feel like the author has taken my life and mind and thoughts and feelings and put them all to words in a book.  This is good, very vulnerable, and pretty ugly.  God is showing me so much of my sin but even more of His Grace and my NEED for a Savior, which I honestly did not know before this year.

(okay I'm gonna STOP and save my life long testimony for another post :) )

All that to say, in this book, Emily says that Satan's biggest, most effective weapon for many "good girls"(this is explained more in the book.) is forgetfulness.  I can completely relate.  Life is crazy, and I can easily forget what God had done.  When the truth of who I am and who Christ is doesn't FEEL true, I easily FORGET and feel more safe and comfortable behind my control mask of fear and failure.  I have found re-reading my journals and this blog helps me to remember where I have been and what God has done.  SO, in an effort to document and remember what I am thankful for I took pics of our thankful tree when I took it down this year.  Because I want to REMEMBER what I was thankful for in 2011.