I'll be home for Christmas

We went to my parents house in Nevada this year for Christmas (Husbands parents are coming to Utah for New Year, makes the first year of splitting the holidays a little easier). I love going home for the holidays - so much good food, good company, and my Mom's house is like living in a Christmas movie. She lives in a log cabin...which is always cute, but just adorable at Christmas time!

I always love looking at Mom's nativity. It was the most exciting thing to put out and I always loved when I unwrapped the baby Jesus and got to put him in the manger. Uncle Virgil made this (yes, he made this....my whole family is ridiculously talented). And Sister made the calligraphy that goes above it. 

Mom keeps adding stocking - she decided that just the people that come for Christmas get a stocking hung, otherwise she wouldn't have room for the three dog stockings (yes, she made my Stella puppy a stocking!). 

I guess villages used to be a HUGE deal - Mom got one and decided she liked just the one. There is a woman that lives near us that has a village that takes over her whole house! Her motto is that you can never over-decorate...she has a tree in every room of her house! I'm on the border of being shocked and wanting to emulate. 

I made that stupid looking snowman in second grade...it still goes up every single year. Mom has plenty of nice stuff, but she has crap  made by her kids, grand kids, and piano students all over her house...I love that about her. 

My grandparents brought this back from Jerusalem. It's made from olive wood. One of my favorite pieces. 

I love this window sill - the wooden toys and blocks - makes me feel like it's Santa's work bench. I want me a wooden train like that. 

I also made this for Mom - much better than my second grade creation. I made this while on my LDS mission in Alaska. 

Every Christmas Mom decorates the whole house, but leaves the tree for us to do. Over time she's gotten us ornaments that represent us. So why there isn't a noticeable theme to our tree, it is 100% us. 

Every ornament has a story and husband got to sit and hear them all this year! 

There's Pinhead the Pine Tree (left) for the story my aunt wrote as a kid and made my dad be Pinhead. There's the blue sled with runners (right) from our favorite, most quoted Christmas book. 

There are ornaments that mean something like my Alaska gloves (left...if you couldn't figure that out) from my mission and a fish (right) for my dad's first year as a pet store owner. 

Then there are our favorites! The ginger bread woman (left) that Sister thought needed a skirt and rosy cheeks when she was little. Or the Santa (center) that I made Dad in third grade that weighs five pounds and has to be hung on a sturdy low branch, by the base of the tree. And the wreath (right) Sister made in elementary school that she swears she didn't make and some other kid stole her good one. We have a lot of ornaments so they don't all make it on the tree every year...but these ones ALWAYS make it!