It's been a while!

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder.... if that's true, you probably all love me by now!  I've been MIA for a good while now, but hopefully that won't happen again any time soon.

Life has been busy!  Thanksgiving was fabulous - I went with the kids to Savannah on Tuesday night, and had a great time with Garrett's family.  Garrett worked all week, then joined us on Friday night.  He also took Monday and Tuesday of the next week off, so he still had a nice little break despite working through the holiday.  On Saturday we had a girls' trip downtown to see the Nutcracker, which was fun.  I took Abby and we had a good time.  Afterwards we met up with all the husbands and kids and the 16 of us ate dinner at a restaurant down on River Street

Sunday was Church, of course, and on Monday we just hung out at the house.  On Tuesday I went shopping with my MIL and 2 sisters-in-law while the husbands stayed home with the kids (and racked up more hours playing Super Smash Brothers on the Wii).  We got home late Tuesday night and it's continued to be busy ever since!

Over the last week...... My friend and I did craft show on Friday and Saturday, we bought a Christmas tree and decorated it, we celebrated a friends' birthday, we went to the park, we watched BYU football, set up some giveaways on my food storage blog, caught up on Biggest Loser episodes, made a quilt top, sewed a throw pillow cover, ordered gifts online, took Abby to the doctor, made a big trip to Sam's club, went to play group, made 2 batches of bread, worked out a handful of times, and caught a mouse in the house (ugh).

So, we've been busy!  I feel a little guilty that I didn't post more about gratitude during the month of November - I really love Thanksgiving and all that it represents, but I just never got around to posting about it.

But, sure are enjoying the Christmas season.  The Pandora Christmas station is definitely a staple at our house, and the girls are starting to sing along to many of the more popular Christmas songs.  I made a Christmas-y smelling "brew" to simmer on the stove (cinnamon sticks, cranberries, orange peels, and cloves), and our Christmas tree gives off the perfect amount of that yummy Christmas tree smell.  We are loving it!!  Now if only we could have some snow...... maybe just for one day?  It's 78 degrees here... gorgeous, yes, but not exactly what I experienced growing up.

And finally, some pictures.  I recently finished four quilts for my etsy shop:

Sometimes I really hate posting my quilts in the shop... I hate to see them go!