Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve with the Te Family:

Hope everyone has a fabulous  New Years Eve today!

Dirty Santa

We hosted our 2nd annual Dirty Santa Party this year. It was on Saturday, December 18th. We were pleasantly surprised that almost everyone we invited was able to make it!

The food:

We had three dips (bruschetta, white bean, and Italian layer) with salad, bread sticks, spaghetti with marinara and meatballs. For desert, there was shortbread jam cookies, key lime cheese ball and Mississippi mud cake.

The Bar: 

The Party: 

  

  

  

  

It was so much fun. Lots of laughs, three shake weights, a giant gummy bear, a bottle of vodka, and a brownie pan. I really wanted that brownie pan. Roopali stole it from Nelson and I stole it from her. Then at the last minute, Linda stole it from me. Darn her! Oh well, I got one later from my mom for Christmas, so no worries. I can't wait to see what next years party brings!

Christmas Decor

Here are some pictures of our Christmas Decor this year.

Mantle:

Bookshelf:

Front Door:

Living Room Tree:

Kitchen Tree:

I love decorating for Christmas. If only I could hire someone to come and pack it all up for me. Then it would be perfect!

New Neighbors

Our new neighborhood is full of sweet and welcoming people. We got cookies and a neighborhood directory from the welcoming committee. Our neighbors across the street came over and introduced themselves and gave us all their contact information in case we needed anything. Our neighbor next door did something super sweet. We found this on our doorstep:

It is such a cute wreath. The most surprising part is that our neighbor is a guy!

New Floors!

Day 1

Day 2

 Day 3

Day 4

This has definitely been a trial, but I think in the end it worked out for the best. Our new floors are beautiful and a better quality than the ones we had. Now we can finally start decorating for Christmas!

Charles and Holly

Holly is the first pet Charles has ever had. We have decided that it is probably a good thing he didn't have a dog when he was a little boy because he really likes to harass her now. I can't imagine what he would have done to her as a kid.

Here a just a couple of examples:

Holly in a box

He tried to put the lid on it and she totally freaked out.

And one of Charles' favorite activities, carrying Holly around.

You can tell she really enjoys this

Thank goodness he isn't a 10 year old boy anymore (for many reasons). Who knows what he would have done to her!

Stupid Squirrels

One of the best and worst things about our new neighborhood is all the trees. Best because they are beautiful and worst because they are the homes to pesky squirrels. I never had a problem with squirrels until this year.

This year, they attacked my pumpkins!

It started with just a little nibble

 And then they got down to business

If anyone has a suggestion on how to prevent this next year, I would really appreciate it!