We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

WHAT! Only a few days till Christmas?!?

We better stop playing around and get some things done!!

We'll put up some festive decorations like: the ULTRA cute sign that I bought this year (Ryan wasn't too thrilled) and the home made wreath that Brenda made (I have been the lucky recipient of her homemade floral arrangements ALL year long!)
And put up the Christmas tree!! Meet Evelyn the Evergreen. For those who are new to us: each year we name our tree alternating between male & female names (we tried peeking under the boughs, but we couldn't see much) WE LOVE Evelyn!! Wilbur was great last year, but a bit too bushy, Evelyn is juuuuust right!
This will be the last year that we can decorate the tree down to the bottom!

Start making Christmas treats!! I went to my first cookie exchange this year. Sadly the cookies didn't turn out the way I wanted them to. Don't worry Cookie Swap Ladies after the new year I will make my Chocolate Chip Pretzel cookies again and you'll see what an awesome cookie it is when it's done right. As you can see Brigs has really become interested in food!

We had to see Santa!! Brigham did very well and didn't cry at all. He even boldly tugged on the "old guys" beard. There must be a reason he felt so comfortable....ya better look twice at Santa he looks oddly familiar!

This year I decided to be frugal and send out Postcards instead of cards, letters & envelopes. So far they have been a hit! I need to make sure to get more next year- we've run out already!!

Merry Christmas to all of you! We have truely had a very blessed year. Our sweet little Brigham brings us more joy than we could even imagine. We thank our Heavenly Father for him daily. We are thankful for our home, Ryan's job, church callings that keep us on our toes and of course our Family & Friends!!

Thank you for being a part of our lives. We hope that you have a peaceful Winter,

a Merry Christmas & a very Happy New Year!!

My Oatmeal Souffle Recipe

I shared my Oatmeal Souffle recipe on She Said today! Make sure to click over there and check it out!

The Mormon at the Catholic Christmas Bazaar in the Baptist Church

Burns doesn't have alot. We are a pretty rural place....well really rural, we are two hours from any big shopping (i.e. Target, Wal Mart, Costco, etc). But there is one time of year that it's really quite fun to be in Burns and that is Christmas Bazaar time. There are three major bazaars that happen here: The Golf Course, The Catholic Church & The Fair Grounds (there are a few other smaller ones, but we'll focus on the top three). The Golf Course bazaar happens before Thanksgiving and has a lot of really cute, nice stuff - however it's really pricy (sorry, that clutch purse is really cute, but it's not worth $24). The Catholic Church Christmas bazaar has been around FOREVER and is really the fore-runner of the bazaars. Everyone goes and you get a really nice range of crafts from really cute and cheap, to really cute and expensive, to totally ugly & tacky. I've had alot of friends do this bazaar and I love going every year. The Fair Grounds bazaar is the same weekend as the Catholic Church and honestly I only went once, they cater heavily to cowboy country themed crafts and as one friend kindly put it some tables looked like personal yard sales.

Well this year I was going to be crafty, this year I was going to make some moolah, this year I was going to do the bazaar!! So after sorting through lots of craft ideas I settled on my tie-onesies:

And my friend, Leah, showed me these cute kid super hero capes! I was surprised at how easy they were to do and quite fun too! (that wasn't intended to rhyme)


(As you can see I had a really cute model for the capes!)

My partner-in-crime, Candace, joined me in the fun and made some really cute headbands and bows (I own a few of her creations myself!) Now back up a few weeks before the bazaar. Sadly a juvenile who didn't have much to do decided to set the Catholic churches Parish Hall on fire. It burnt down to the ground. Luckily no one was hurt and the Catholic churches chapel wasn't damaged, but where would the Christmas Bazaar be? The Faith Baptist Church, just across from ours, offered their building and the Catholic Christmas Bazaar was saved!!!

So after furiously sewing days ahead of the bazaar (because I'm that good at procrastination) and setting up a really cute table; Candace and I were ready for business (not in the slutty way)

I have to admit I had alot of fun with Candace and seeing everyone, but quite dissapointed in my sales. I didn't make as much as I thought I was and didn't think I was asking too much for a good, quality item. I did get alot of compliments, but just not enough people that were buying things for kids or baby boys (I kinda had some specific merchandise). I have to admit defeat to the "it" thing this year: Cow Skin purses.....yep that's what I said, Cow Skin Purses....with Rinestones no less!!

The humiliation. To be out sold by something so......ugly?tacky?rediculous? (if you are looking at these items and thinking they are cute, please keep that opinion to yourself)

I guess it's just the demographic. Maybe if my onesies were cow skin with rhinestones they might have gone faster.....mmmmmmm....

Anywho, it was fun to do. I'm glad that I did it, but I don't think that I will be doing it again.

I still have capes and onesies that I would like to sell so if you are interested just let me know!