holly and jolly

I have been a bad blogger lately, but with the end of school and Christmas break (finally here!!) There just hasn't been much time. Zach and I have been spending a lot of time with family,

which we love, but it has kept us full.

I am officially done with my Christmas shopping. I did it early this year and took my time, which was really nice! No hustle and bustle at the end.

I have also had more time to rest and play.

Besides the shopping, one of my favorite parts of Christmas is the gift wrap. I found my wrapping paper at Pier One this year, and love it! The paper and ribbon were very affordable, double love! This is what our paper theme looks like this year. (see Max is the background? :)

I also, got all of our Christmas cards sent. This is another one of my favorite parts of the season. I wish that I could send one to everybody, maybe one day :) I was happy with how they turned out. Kodak Gallery always seems to do a great job! I have gotten some super cute ones from Shutterfly though. This is how ours turned out!

front: I am in love with these colors right now, moss greens, burnt oranges, and browns.

back: Max wishing everyone a Happy New Year, ha! :)

On the inside I put the bible verses Luke 2:10-14. The reason for the season :)

The angel said to them,

"Do not be afraid, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

Besides getting ready for Christmas, whenever I have the chance, I want to scoot over to my sisters houses to hug and kiss on the cute new babies. Olivia and Janie are simply precious. Their Mommy's are doing a great job too! They don't know it yet, but they will be the best of friends very soon ;)

We kept little Gavin a week or two ago and had so much fun. He is so well behaved and has the best manners :) I could just eat him up! We played with stamps, watched Toy Story, ate Oreos, took a long bath, went to the park, and much more!

Here are a couple shots from the fun weekend.

posing for a quick pick, before Gavin has to get back to a game of catch with Zach :)

Cutest boys headed to the park

And I have to tell you about this, too! Last week, one of my best friends ever, sent me a book in the mail for Christmas. One, I LOVE getting mail (who doesn't?) and two, my New Years resolution is to read more books! Perfect! She is so sweet to send me a Christmas gift and I am so happy that she did because I just can't seem to put the book down! I crawled into bed at 8:30 two nights last week just so I could read for a couple hours.

It is called bittersweet by Shauna Niequist. The theme of the book is thoughts on change, grace, and learning the hard way. At this point in my life I feel like I am ready for a change, but know that I need to be content and enjoy this phase to the fullest. This book has really been awesome and I have been able to relate so much to the author. She pulls everything in her life back to our Lord and finds peace and brilliance in bittersweet situations.

Shauna Niequist has also written a book called, cold tangerines. My friend has been telling me for months that she loves these books and I knew I had to read them, and now that I am, I want everyone else to read them too!

I hope you have a very Merry Christmas break, eat lots of sweets, and hug lots of friends!