Christmas 2010

This was a landmark Christmas for us at the Bell household. It was so exciting, we had to include it on our holiday cards: we got a REAL Christmas tree!

I guess since last year was not so great (if you'll remember I was working open-close every day from mid-December on; plus we both had the flu, and the heater at my store was out) and we didn't get to see any family except Mike and Terri who stopped by for less than an hour to avoid getting sick- we really got into the spirit of things with decor.

Here is Bean getting started on the tree:

We watched the Wizard of Oz and I decorated the mantle. A few days later, we had this lovely dinner, which I came up with at the grocery store. Spreadable cheese, crackers, smoked salmon, caramel corn, and champagne. I will miss the random dinners like this (or different flavors of popcorn, or icecream, or spinach dip and bread) when we have kids and I feel like I have to make a vegetable every day. We have been lighting a fire almost every day. Love it!
We got a new fireplace screen (it was only $30!), and all of the mantle decorations are new, as are my favorite thing- the stockings! They are from etsy, and I saw them last year about 2 days before Christmas, so there obviously wasn't enough time to order them. But I was on the ball this year and requested 4 that are not all exactly the same but use red/gray/white.

I can't remember whose is whose, but I think Brooklyn is Red, I am light gray, Bean is dark gray, and Eucie is white.

The mantle can use a little more work, aka money, to look really good but I'm happy with it for now. I wanted it to be silver/red/shiny with a little bit of rustic thrown in (that's where the berries come from). And finally....our REAL tree!!With a new tree skirt that doesn't fit beautifully over the stand. My favorite ornaments are the non-generic ones, which means basically any ornament that was given to us. The ones we bought our first year to put on our first fake tree are cute and all, but I like the random ones.
We travelled all around the world this Christmas, starting in Houston, then to Baton Rouge for a couple of nights, then back to Houston, home, then to Bogata and finally back home. It was fun and exhausting. We decided that we are tired of spending all day Christmas Day driving around to see everyone, so effective 2011, we will alternate Thanksgiving and Christmas.
And to make it easy, we are basing our schedule off of my mom's work schedule since her holidays alternate. That means next Thanksgiving we will be in Houston, and next Christmas we will be in Bogata or Baton Rouge. (That doesn't mean we won't be in Houston at all, but maybe just a week earlier or something).
We wouldn't want Brooklyn and Sissy to miss their playtime!