Merry Christmas in STL

Ah, the holidays are upon us and we are back in the states to see the family. Our first stop was to STL, to see Mike's family. Oh what fun we had, minus the last minute shopping we had to do.

Mike and I celebrated our Christmas on Christmas eve morning, since was the only time we would have. Mike said I was getting a joint Christmas/Birthday present, but only had 1 gift for me on the eve and said "once you get this you will know what your birthday present is" So I open up my gift to find an I-pad cover. Mike found quite enjoyment in this. I had to wait until my birthday to open the I-pad, can you believe it. I decided on a new rule, joint gifts come on Christmas!

We had a lovely Christmas day with the family and here a few favorites of Owen as he opened his gifts...The jumping balloon, he wants to sit on

Checking out the trumpet

Now its his turn to play...

While in STL, Mike started enjoying his vacation by reading, resting, and getting scruffy!

Off to ELP for more Christmas time

Holiday Sewing project

In addition to the party, I needed some holiday decorations. This year I decided to make Mike and I stockings as last years, were, well, cheap, and rough looking. I think I bought them at the 100yen store just to have something.

My tutorial book had excellent instructions, so to the sewing machine I went. here are the finished products, along with the finished snowmen. I had to add scarves to the snowmen to make it more festive.



happy decorating to you!

Ladies Christmas Cheer

I love the holidays, just don't love the extra poundage that comes with it. Mike had to leave for a business trip, so I figured it would be a good time to throw a ladies holiday party.

Saturday afternoon was the perfect time, unfortunately, I was battling some sort of sickness, so I had to make sure I didn't cough on any of the goodies.

Here's a serious a pictures from the party:
The table of goodies


The wonderful ladies, whom are my friends here in Tokyo




It was a nice party and a great way to start off the holiday season. As an added treat, I sent home each lady with a ribboned pictured frame with hanging bells and acorns, for them to hang on their doors. yay for holidays.