Christmas Tree Search

The annual hunt for the best tree was today.  We went to our usual favorite farm Lake Forest Gardens to take a tractor ride & begin our search.  The competition for trees was fierce as they had many beautiful Fur & Spruce trees, but when Jessie & Daddy saw this lovely Canadia Fir, that was it.  Michael set to work cutting our tree down.  He was wise this year & brought his own saw as the loner saws the farm provides tend to be dull.  We had previously attended church to begin the Advent season & then went to our favorite brunch place prior to our tree search.  Although, a big & somewhat tiring job.  I'm happy to say the tree is up & decorated.  Thanks to Michael for always prioritizing family time & for doing all the heavy lifting today.  This has become one of my favorite family traditions as I love the beauty of the tree farm & doing this together as a family.  I may be 32 weeks preggo & admittedly very tired, but I didn't let it stop me :)

It begins....

And so here I am a few days after Thanksgiving, almost 8 months preggo & actually having time to add to the old blog.  My favorite time of year is upon us, Christmas!!  The girls have many beautiful dresses hanging in their closets, but I always like to get them something matching or coordinating to visit Santa.  We chose red sparkle dresses this year & they girls both look darling in them.  I wish Jessica would have let me style her hair a bit more for these, but it was just a few quick shots anyway, it kind of captures her where she's at right now in terms of trying to do everything herself, but really still needing some guidance.  Can you tell, Jessica is a ham?  She loves to show her 2 missing front teeth :)  Ella, on the other hand, poses so nice & always wants to look her best.  They are so different some times.  This year is a huge year for Christmas at our new house, Michael was busy being Clark yesterday & spent almost all day doing some exterior illumination, while the girls & I decorated the inside.  It's both fun & frustrating to find new locations for our well-loved Christmas decorations.  The season is upon us & I've already put up 4 artificial trees, the baby even has a small one this year, the girls insisted!  We go get our big live tree at the farm tomorrow, so we are keeping it low key today & finishing up some decorating/cleaning.  Hope everyone is enjoying their Thanksgiving break & the start of the Christmas season!

School pictures 2016

School pictures 2016 were a success with each girl picking out their dress & accessories.  The girls were very excited & told me they gave "pretty smiles" at school for their pictures.  I think they did great.  Another year for the record books :)

 Kindergarten 2016--5 & 1/2 years old

1st grade 2016--6 & 1/2 years old