It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I can't stress enough that I LOVE the holiday season! We have had such a good one this year! Thanksgiving was at our house, and I think it was one of my favorite Thanksgivings of all time. Bryant really worked hard and made it so much fun and such a success. He cooked two turkeys-one smoked, one brined and baked, made the  mashed potatoes and gravy, and rigged up this massive table that fit all of us! I think there were 17 people total. I was able to make a roasted root vegetable stuffing and help with the decorations. I also attempted to make a bourbon pecan pie, and without going into too many details, the middle came out raw and I took a bite and the pie went directly into the garbage. New recipe next year please? Yes thank you. We were blessed to have all my parents and siblings come, along with Grandma Gibbons, Steve and Denise, and Morgan and John. We also saw Kevin and Pat and Jasper and Polina later that night. I feel so blessed to have a husband who loves me enough to put on a thanksgiving for 17 of my family members. I am one lucky lady! Maybe next year we can do it for his family. :)

 The Christmas spirit has been strong in the Jones household! There has been lots of baking, present wrapping, and watching of late night, cheesy Christmas movies. My mom, gandma and I took the boys to the Festival of Trees and we all had a great time:

 The boys showing me their favorite "knome themed" tree:

 This is my kids' idea of how a tree should be decorated (serious blackmail pic of Tripp):

 This is my idea of how a tree should be decorated:

 I bought this train from Trudy's shop this Labor Day weekend, and put it on my piano. I put gold tuelle and white lights under it and it is MAGICAL. Seriously. I feel like Martha Stewart every time I look at it. I also added gold tuelle to the tree and it looks fabulous as well. I may be bragging a little bit.

 I was able to attend Pat's annual ladies' Christmas brunch. We made wreaths in the shape of the first initial of our last name. It was so fun to see everyone!

The time is growing short-Christmas is a few days away. The advent calander candy is almost gone, Tripp's preschool class sung Christmas carols to the parents today, Bryant has had the Christmas lights on the house for a month already, Santa's cookies are baked, presents are purchased and wrapped, and the puppy has been purchased! That's right, we are getting a baby black lab for Christmas! I will post pics after Christmas. Bryant is also making the boys a bunk bed with built in dressers and I cannot wait to see it. We still have three more Christmas parties to attend as well!

I feel that our family has been so blessed this holiday season and I am grateful. I am thankful for our Savior and that we can celebrate his birth and what his life and Atomement mean to our family. Because of him, our family can be together forever. This is a great time of year to reflect on those blessings and to cherish those we love.