Christmas Spirit

This is the gift I, and my brother, made for my dad this year for Christmas. I cross stitched of all my family's names, and put them into a crossword pattern. My dad, step-mom, my sister and her hubby, my brothers and their wives, my kids and all my nieces and nephews. All the families are color coded also. My family is dark blue, Jason's light blue, Kent's is yellow, Karen's is green, Brian's is pink, Brent's is purple, and Dad and Terry are red. I was very pleased with how it turned out. Kent handmade the frame out of quaker wood (good job Kent). I was not there when dad received it, but I did hear he thought it was awesome.....Just the reaction I was hoping for.
I Love You Dad!!!!

My mom gave me her Christmas village this year. I was so excited to put it up. It looks great in my house (thanks mom). It is a big hit with the kids too. They have done good so far not to play with it either (good job boys).

Our Christmas tree this year. It is not real, but looks good. Tim did the usual, put lights on (he got away with it easy...pre-lit). All the boys put the ornaments on as I took them out of the box and handed them out. It was kinda fun to see them look at their own, whether it was one given to them or one they have made. A great looking tree, I think!!

While in Idaho this Thanksgiving I really wanted to cut down our own tree. With new restrictions, you had to have a tree cutting permit. We did not buy one. That and Tim thought it would not be a good idea to drive 800 miles with a tree bungee corded to the top of the car. So........while we were out searching for Kent's tree, he did have a permit and only 75 miles, I was joking about all the cute little sprouts were coming up. "Oh that one is cute, that one would look cute on my end table, Oh that one is cute too". My brother was so kind and cut this "sprout" for me. It is only 2 1/2 feet tall, and fits perfectly on my end table. Tim was ingenious and made the stand for it out of some spare wood, a bowl, and hot glue(good job babe).

So there you have it. The beginning of the Christmas spirit in the Howard Home.