Christmas Time Is Here!

Here is some more of Austin and I's wonderful Christmas Resort at our own little home! :) Here is the completed Christmas tree--and it even has a few presents under there already! :)

This is what I look at everyday...a Christmas wonderland!!! :) I believe that the Santa blanket on the chair came from a wonderful Momma last year! :)

This is another retainer from my BYU-Idaho years...Santa night light! :) He just looks so cheerful, I try and turn on the night light for a little bit each night.

Since Austin likes the Tree of Life represented in our home, this tree is another (smaller) representation, complete with beautiful white and silver ornaments and little lights! :) We turn this on every night without fail along with the big Christmas tree, and my BYU-I little mini Christmas tree. :) The Christmas carols book and little framed picture are from my Momma, as well as the lovely Merry Christmas linen! :) Thank you!

Along with the cute, official stockings that Austin hung, here are some more Christmas stockings we decided to hang up. They are from the Christmases that Austin sent me presents from Colorado...I'm so glad that this year we get to wake up to Christmas morning together and enjoy the happiness that Christmas morning always brings!!! :)

This is the first of some close-ups of the fun Christmas decorations we have on the piano. The "Merry Christmas" blocks and the nativity on the far right are from my sweet mother-in-law, and this is the Nativity that Leah gave me last year. Austin and I are so blessed!!! :)

This is a Nativity set we got for our wedding this past June. We love it, especially the shepherd on the bottom...and the fact that it's a music box playing the tune of "O Little Town of Bethlehem."

Here is a jolly Santa Claus that currently holds our yummy candy canes...however, at the rate I'm eating these candy canes, I'm betting they don't last all the way till Christmas! :)

This this basket is a exceptional favorite in our household! Every time Austin and I had gone Christmas shopping for Nativities this year, we ALWAYS happened to pass marvelous-smelling cinnamon-scented pinecones. Finally, one time at Wal-Mart Austin turned to me and asked sheepishly-"Melissa, you know those pinecones that smell so good?" I looked at him in surprise and said yes, which led to his inquiry, "Do you think we could get some?" At this I officially had to tell him how sweet he was for even asking, and that OF COURSE we could get some, because after all it was the Christmas season! :) We were both so happy, we went through ALL the bags of scented pinecones, and settled for the one perfect bag--then went home and promptly put them into a basket to add to our decorations! :) Now every time we walk past them, we can smell anew that wondeful smell that we both love! :)

Now, the other day Austin came home with this beauty--if you look close you can see the leaves are more pinkish, with beautiful sparkles all over them. WOW, was I ever surprised! :) I love flowers, and this was a special treat for him to bring me some! :) Apparently his work had handed out these poinsettas to everyone at work. While all his fellow employees had quickly settled them on their desks, Austin had thought to himself, "I bet Love would be so happy to have these brightening up our home. I think I will take them to her instead of leaving them here at work." Isn't that so sweet? I think he is my personal guardian angel, because he is so good to me. I love you sweetie! :)

Here is a top shot of that beautiful poinsetta. Now we have two beautiful bundles of poinsettas! :) "'Tis the season to be jolly...." Merry Christmas, everyone! Christmas day will soon be upon us!!! :)

It's Beginning To Feel A Lot Like Christmas...

This Christmas is not like all the rest of the Chrismases I have experienced in the past. This Christmas is extra special because THIS Christmas, I get to spend the joyous season with my sweetheart, my one and only, my wonderful husband AUSTIN!!! :) We were so excited to start the Christmas season together, our first one ever, as well as our first Christmas as a married couple, that we pulled out those decorations bright and early--well, nice and early, anyways. :) This is what our apartment looked like the Monday night of Family Home Evening, November 29, 2010. We were all a-bustle with trying to make our new little home ready to welcome the season of happiness and giving!

Here is Austin, my sweet husband, decorating our very own first Christmas tree! Hooray! We were SO happy!!! :) Austin wanted to decorate with white ornaments in remembrance of the fruits of the gospel given to us by Christ the Lord, so here is the work in progress. :)

Right before this, Austin asked me, "Am I doing this right?" He had never put garland on a Christmas tree before! I happily assured him he was doing a great job. :) What a wonderful tree-decorater he is! The garland just makes our Christmas tree look so cheerful! I'm glad that I got it last year when all the Christmas items went on sale. :)

Austin's dad makes beautiful Christmas stockings for everyone in the family. Since Austin loves his snowman stocking, and I like snowmen too, we got matching Mr. and Mrs. Snowmen stockings this year to hang on our "mantle". :) Hopefully Santa will find us in our new apartment! :)

I made a wreath for the fall holidays a while back, which gave me the idea to make a Christmas wreath, too! When Austin and I were at the store picking out things to decorate our home with for Christmas, I managed to snag some pretty ribbon, red jingle bells (originally on a door hanging decoration), and some beautiful and sparkly (fake) poinsetta flowers! Twist and twine these into a $4.50 pine wreath from Hobby Lobby, and *woila!* you get a cheery Christmas wreath! This was so fun, and makes it especially Chrismas-y over here. :)

This little tree brings back happy memories of decorating for Christmas at college. Momma sent this to me my freshman year at BYU-Idaho, and it has been with me ever since! If you make the picture bigger, you might be able to see that instead of hanging the nativity ornaments, I have arranged them around the tree like a regular nativity.

And here is my wonderful (early) Christmas present from Austin this year. A nativity set of our very own to display! And thanks to the beautiful furniture from a kind friend, we even have a fancy coffee table to display it on! I LOVE this nativity. Austin and I looked and looked for something that wasn't too expensive, but had all the pieces we were looking for. Austin especially likes that baby Jesus comes out of his manger, because the people in France have a tradition of waiting to put baby Jesus in the manger until Christmas eve to celebrate His birth. :)

This pretty poinsetta couldn't be left out! Momma and Daddy gave it to Austin and I to display in our home after the Carrollton Community Nativity display was over. We love it!!!! Thank you, Momma and Daddy!

I just love this Nativity so much, Austin wanted to take my picture with it. Nativity sets are so beautiful because they glorify the reason that we celebrate this season...and the reason that we can be joyful. Even with all the excitement of gifts and decorating and baking, the joy of the Christmas season really comes down to one of the most important events this world has ever seen--the birth of a Savior to redeem mankind. I can only imagine the joy of that first Chrismas, when the angels proclaimed the birth of a newborn child who would someday save us all, and allow us the chance to return to our Father in Heaven someday.

And lastly I wanted to show the beautiful piano that is my pride and joy, sporting its holiday decorations. Between the Merry Christmas blocks is the absolute first nativity I have received--I got it last year at Christmas, from my best friend, Leah. :) Thank you!

Merry Christmas to all! I hope that you are enjoying the Christmas season, and the true reason for its happy celebration!!! :)

Christmas Amazement!

Okay, so I really have been meaning to do a Christmas post about Austin's and my first Christmas together being married. But we came across these two AMAZING videos, and I just HAD to post them! WOW!!!!!!!!! This is a MUST WATCH!!!

Beautiful Home Furniture!

Thanks to the most wonderful neighbor in the world, Austin and I are now the proud owners of the most beautiful home furniture!!! It took us a few minutes to decide how we wanted to arrange the end table and the coffee table, but once we were finished, it looked just right! Plus, now we feel like we have an official living room, just perfect for receiving guests! :)

Here is the coffee table in our living room where my pink chair used to be, and some blue tubs that we are storing things in currently. Doesn't this look so much nicer??? :) I did a little arranging with our little lamps, and the pretty needle work that Austin's grandma gave us for our wedding. We LOVE it!!! :)

Here is the more full shot of our living room (I'm sitting in the glider in the corner of the room to take this picture). So tell us...what do YOU think? I hope you like our new "look"! :) We sure do!

Camping Part IV: The Lake

I wanted to dub the lake swimming area "The Beach" since that is exactly what it seemed like. The beach front you can see behind Austin is one of the larger parts...the other large sandy part just like this is on our left (they're both connected though)...it was a BIG swimming area, and so much fun! :) We spent most of our Saturday here after hiking, and Austin proclaimed it his very favorite part of the park! :) It was REALLY fun, and the weather was even warm enough to swim! We didn't take any pictures of us swimming out there because we didn't want the camera getting sand in it. However, the water was WARM!!! It was a lovely day swimming. (And I'm not that big of a lake swimmer even!) :)

We didn't have our campfire anymore, so we cooked up the last of the hot dogs on our camp stove (Austin's pride and joy). There was a great playground right next to the lake...I mean, after all, this place has it all! :)

It was slightly difficult roasting hot dogs on the camp stove...but, Austin knew just what to do. :) Here he is with our roasters, roasting away on the hot dog. Isn't he so smart? :)

Above all, the sunset was GORGEOUS. We specifically chose our picnic table to face right towards this beautiful scene, and ate as we watched everyone playing around in the lake before the sun set. I love nature!

This picture was taken not too long afterwards. What a wonderful end to a wonderful trip! I hope you liked the pictures as much as we liked out campout! :)

If you enlarge the picture you can see the sign we saw as we drove out of the park--"Y'ALL COME BACK." Since we had such a wonderful time, I have to agree...I can't wait to come back! :)

I think we just might too...Austin bribed me (not with Fruit Stripe gum but with a state park pass) to swim out to the buoy and back with him. I did it! :) I will most always respond to the right kind of bribery after all. Hurray!!! State park camping, keep a lookout for us, we won't be gone long!!! :)

Camping Part III: The Hike

We were finally able to pack everything up and take it back to the car. It only took 2 trips! :) Here is Austin at our campsite with the last of our camping things...we loved you, little camp!

This was the trail by the Headquarters station we saw after checking out for the day. It's called the "Lost Pines Trail." It is a short loop that intersects with a long, LONG trail going all around the south side of the lake (Isle Du Bois--the southern part of Ray Roberts Lake State Park...also known as the part of the State Park we went to). Needless to say, we decided to take the shorter loop, rather than hiking the 3.5 mile trail.

Here is Austin at the start of the Lost Pines Trail next to a--what? You said it...Pine Tree! :)

I'm here too! We were both ready to get hiking, and enjoy some more beautiful sites in the state park. :) Here we go!

Here we are as we started the trail. You can see just how wooded and hilly it was here. I give it two thumbs up!

This is a picture we took along the trail in one of the more open spots. Pretty flowers, and a fun-loving husband! :) Hooray for camping! :)

This nature trail had some different facts about early settlers along the Lost Pines (nature) Trail. This spot was a settlement built in the late 1800s that was occupied until around 1948! Can you imagine? This is the original chimney before the rest of the house was knocked down.

I took this picture of a beautiful plant along our trail for Momma, since she is the picture-taking queen! I thought this was one of my better up-close nature pictures! :)

And of course, Austin had to pretend to eat the berry bush. He is so silly! :) That's okay, I still love him. :)

Remember how I said we were taking the SHORT trail??? Yep...we definitely veered onto the longer loop at the intersection of the trails accidentally...without even knowing it! We probably walked about 1.5 miles before we turned back around. However, the longer trail came close to the lake, and what a beautiful sight it was!

This is what we saw, so of course we had to document it! :)

Isn't it pretty? We loved hiking, even if we hiked longer than we were expecting to! :)

Camping Part II: The Campsite Panorama

This is the trail that lead down to a better lookout over the lake. This is what you saw when you walked past our fire pit and picnic table. So pretty!

This is was the view from behind our tent, off to the right side.

This was the view from our picnic bench. If you look carefully, you can see the little trail off the main path that we took that leads to our particular campsite. Its the little trail between the big tree closest on the left, and another tree on the right...if that makes any sense with so many trees all around. :)

Closer shot of that trail...and this was the left side of our campsite. Beautiful, wouldn't you say?

This was further left than the picture right before this, and shows the lantern pole provided for our tent site. We would have brought the lantern we got, but we unfortunately found it didn't have a handle, so we're working on that one. :)

This is off to the right from our picnic bench, but without the neighbor's tent in the shot. Trees, trees, everywhere!!! I LOVED it!!! :) We will definitely be coming back here!

The nice thing about these particular sites is the fact that they are the least expensive (but I like all the close-up nature without the gravel needed to park your car in, as well). :) I was a little unsure about the "hike in" to set up the tent, but the trail wasn't a trail so much as it was a path where sand had been brought in to make it easier to walk. This also made it easier to see in the dark, by the way. :) Fortunately no close overhanging trees konked us over the head. :) The trail that you hike in to your campsite is anywhere from 1/8 mile to 1/4 mile (for the 40 sites in this area)...but we got a site about halfway out, and it wasn't a big deal like I thought it might be. The bathrooms were a short walk away, as was the water spicket between the camps. Very enjoyable, very clean, and a must see! :) If you ever want to relax feeling like you're alone in nature (while being protected by Park Rangers), here is the place to go! :)

Camping Part I: Starting Out

This weekend was quite the exciting one for Austin and I. We both needed a break that included plenty of nature in it--so we decided to go camping!!! :) Nothing huge, just a little overnight at the local Ray Roberts Lake State Park where we could roast some marshmallows and hot dogs, go swimming and hiking, and see the beautiful stars at night. Fortunately, this was a great state park, and so we got to do all of these things, and enjoy relaxing in the fresh outdoor air!

Here is a picture of our camping spot! :) We stayed at campsite 34A, and loved it!!! :) You had to hike a ways in to get to the site, but it looked right over the lake. Also, we went camping in the "primitive" tent site areas, so the water was a little walk away, but nothing too far. :) What a wonderful treat! Everything was beautiful, and everyone that we met who worked there was very friendly and helpful. :)

I love this picture because it illustrates so well how excited both Austin and I both were to get to go camping this past Friday! :) Even though we were in the "primitive" camping area, the site still had a picnic table, fire pit, and a pole for hanging a lantern on. All in all, not bad I thought!

This is the view looking out to the lake. This is what we saw when we woke with the sunrise (sort of). :) The state park here was beautiful, with tons of trees, and lots of little critters. In fact, the night we stayed there, a little animal came creeping right up next to our tent! We never figured out what it was, but from the footsteps, it sure sounded like a deer. :) Before we went I read all up about the different types of animals here at the state park, and it did say that white-tailed deer were spotted around here. Hurray! :)

This campsite was divided into two spots: 34A and 34B. These were our friendly neighbors next door at 34B in the orange tent. We didn't really get to meet them since we got in so late, but they seemed like a nice little family, with the parents there with their son and daughter (probably around 9 and 11).

Here is Austin building our fire in the morning. We got to the state park too late to buy firewood there, so when I went shopping at the store for some camping food (those healthy hot dogs, buns, and marshmallows), I checked to see if the store was selling firewood yet. We were in luck! Only $4 for a nice big bundle, so that we had enough firewood for a big night fire, and another fire in the morning! :) Luckily the weather was just cool enough that a fire was a treat (but not too cold so that a fire was an absolute necessary to stay warm). Austin was our fire person in charge of building and maintaining so that we could enjoy the fire as long as we wanted. :)

This is actually so you can take a closer look at the tent that we set up in the dark (with the help of a flashlight) around 9pm Friday night. The rain fly is so nice, if it was hot or rainy you could sit underneath and stay cool and dry. :) Here you can see we put our camping chairs underneath the fly for the night. Then in the morning when we woke up, we could sit in them and put our shoes on! Pretty nifty, we thought. :)

This picture is to show the inside of our tent a little. Here Austin in on our air mattress huddled up in his sleeping bag being silly. :) It was the perfect weather for camping...not too cold at night, and just right during the day!

Austin has been dying to try out the camp stove we got for our wedding this past June. Here he is cooking the breakfast sausage that we ate with our scrambled eggs. Yum yum! :) Everything is even more delicious when you're camping.

Here I am, eating the delicious breakfast! The camping chairs we also got from our wedding, and made the camping trip MUCH easier, and a great place for our water bottles to rest. :)

Austin, in his element poking the fire. Ever the eagle scout! :)

We were in the middle of packing up after breakfast, since checkout is at 2 ( we wanted to hike and swim without worrying about getting out in time). Austin looked so cute as he packed his backpacking camping backpack so seriously. :) I just had to grab the camera and take an action shot! :)

This was pretty much one of the nicest, cleanest state parks I have ever been to. Austin and I loved it, and can't wait to go back for more camping! :) Stay tuned for the next segment of our camping trip!!!! :)