home for the holidays

I helped Mom and Dad get ready for Christmas yesterday. Dad put up the lights outside while I shopped and mom cleaned. Then we had a delicious dinner at the Wedgwood Broiler :) and got our tree at Hunter’s, the neighborhood tree farm. We are pretty picky when it comes to our Christmas trees and this year was no different. We just could not find a Douglas Fir that we liked, so we decided to get a different kind of tree for the first time -- a Turkish Fir! This is special because Megan will be spending Christmas in Turkey and we are going to miss her so much. We took the tree home and started to decorate, drank hot chocolate and did some wrapping. I love Christmastime!!

Megan's room has turned into the Christmas box room...

Our new kind of tree -- A Turkish Fir!!

There is a real reindeer at the tree farm

Pretty lights!!

deck the halls

Decorating for Christmas is one of my favorite things to do!! Libby and I got our tree last weekend and over the last week, we have turned out apartment into our own little Santa’s Workshop.

giving thanks

Terry's beautiful table

Mom and Dad mashing the potatoes and stirring the gravy A perfect turkey :) Yum!
Before:After:
Relaxing...
And a pretty tree we saw on our after dinner walk

So much to be thankful for!!

the duchess

For the last five or six years my Seattle friends and I have had a fun tradition of going to the Duchess on the night before Thanksgiving.

gobble! gobble!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, my favorite day of the year! I am am so excited to hang out with my family, eat all the traditional foods and just relax, thinking about all the things I have to be thankful for this year. And I can't wait for my mom's pumpkin pie!! This year it will be a small gathering - just me, my mom, my dad, Terry, Gram and Papa. We will be thinking about all our family members that are too far away to celebrate with us and will miss them lots.

it’s beginning to look a lot like…

CHRISTMAS!!

Last night Megan and I went out to dinner with some friends and then walked over to the Cinerama theater to see the new James Bond movie, only to find out that it was sold out! We thought about checking out the movie times at other theaters, but ended up deciding to just rent a movie and watch it at home.

As we walked back to the Queen Anne Blockbuster we saw this beautiful Christmas tree at the Seattle Center. It's a little hard to tell from the picture, but it was huge and so pretty!!

another happy birthday!!

Today is my sister's 23rd birthday!! As you know, she is in Turkey and I wish more than anything that I was there to celebrate with her! I cannot believe that my little sister is already 23. She is quite the adventure – much more so than me. I am so proud of her and take every opportunity I get to brag about her.

I love you, Megan, and I miss you so so much!!