So very very happy to be home!

After getting home and spending an evening with some of the family (I love getting tackle hugs from Mack), on Thursday morning my dad and I went and bought the most beautiful Christmas tree - perfect shape, and perfect branch-density.

I decorated it all day. I had to start over three times, because I underestimated the amount of lights we needed, so I ended up having to string together four different kinds of lights. And I was trying to mix them up so that our tree didn't have four distinct sections of light.

This is probably our biggest tree ever. And for the first time ever, our tree is downstairs in the rec-room instead of upstairs in the living room. Happily, we need more room for present-opening and family gathering, because our family keeps growing! This tree is, like, 7 feet tall.

The only person that helped me decorate it was Mack, who helped me through encouragement ("You're doing a good job, Aunt Bess," from a 2.5 year-old lifts your spirits like you wouldn't believe), and by telling me which Christmas light colors were his favorite (green and red).

I took a break from the tree when Mack came up to me with one of our tree clippings. "I have my own tree, Aunt Bess." Well, we had to decorate his tree. Then we put it on the mantle with our other Christmas decorations. Beautiful!

Also, my mom (of the storied Boob Cookies) made another Christmas Cookie Memory, she accidentally put two mouse cookies too close together on the baking pan. This is the cookie, post-decorating:

I. Died. So funny.

Favorite things that I have done since being home:

1. Having jump contests with brother Nate, and Mack. Mack always wins.

2. Wrapping Christmas gifts (I love wrapping, and my mom hates it, so I wrap everyone's gifts except the ones for me).

3. Petting Toastie, my parent's cat, and listening to him purr.

4. Laughing at Toastie when he looks disgruntled.

5. Getting tackled by Mack.

6. Watching Mack help Uncle Rick move tree clippings in the yard. He even throws them on the pile just like Uncle Rick, while wearing his little red-checked lumberjack coat and his dad's stocking cap.

7. Shopping with Mom.

8. Practicing knitting, and seeing Paris enjoy my work (as tug-of-war toys).

9. Lighting a fire log in the fireplace.

10. Seeing my family and friends, who I have missed SO MUCH!