We took most of October and went to Italy with some friends! Two days in Rome, then ten days cruising, and several more we spent literally zig-zagging all over Italy. I took over 5,000 photos. So, obviously THOSE are going to take some time to get through. So, here are a couple of teasers in the meantime.
This is what looking down is like in Italy:
We lost ten pounds just before the trip—and found them again in Italy:
This year, Irie is old enough to receive an Advent Calendar so she can count the days until either cousins come into town or until Christmas day. It's up to her.
The girls in Utah count down the days until we get to see each other, and that's fun.
The blue tree matches the Christmas decorations at Irie's house and the red tree matches the holiday decor at Zuki, Malaika and Zania's house. I enjoyed making two different calendars but it probably won't happen every year. (It's twice the materials! A detail that I hadn't consciously considered.)
The trees were a little tricky. As easy as drilling a hole
is, I couldn't seem to manage a perfectly horizontal one. ALL the
branches ended up tipping a little to the right and drove me crazy. But I don't think Irie will mind—she was more focused on the "ball" on top.
The pouches are made from PAPER NAPKINS! I cut them and sewed them up just like one would do with fabric. Now they can be ripped into when the time is right. (And now I have the remaining holiday napkins to don my table for the next 6 years.)
I created a tutorial for the trees here.
Another date for the books: We have a train station just a few blocks away from the house. Passengers can be delivered to the doorstep of Harvest Hall in Grapevine. It's a good looking building. The architectural details are reminiscent of a train station, only modernized. It houses several restaurants in a sort of open cafeteria setting and the food is great.
We both ordered from the Chick and Biscuit and look! Gorgeous food right?
We traveled up to Mom and Dad's house this summer for quick get-away. We didn't plan well, Michael and Hayden had their own trip already booked. We'll do better next time.) Dwynne brought her best friend, Kelly, we went to the race track in Placerville, I golfed for the first time EVER, visited tide-pools and the boardwalk.
