Take Joy My King: November 2011

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Christmas Frosting

Wreath

I need more cards for my little ribbon.

Christmas Tree Canvas

the tree (minus the tree skirt - pardon us!)

just some little book page Christmas trees

the Reason for the season!

frosted...just the way it should be:)

One of the very best parts of being a dual citizen is that we get to celebrate Thanksgiving twice a year! Ever since I was little we celebrated Thanksgiving both in October as well as November...which really, can you ever have too much turkey - or be thankful for too much?

Becca was able to come up for an extra long weekend to celebrate with us - for that we were thankful!

Preparing the feast.

our Thanksgiving meal

Becca and I did some crafting that evening with a thrift store plate, some paint and stencils:)

Matt with his home-made apple pie - it was DELICIOUS!!!

In our house, the Christmas season begins on the Friday after Thanksgiving Thursday.

Out came the Christmas decorations and the fun continued on.

That evening we watched ELF (as per the Kaminski household tradition).

Saturday morning we woke and had cinnamon bun brunch!

And Saturday night we headed out to a Christmas concert - complete with a full choir and orchestra!

I love this time of year - so good to celebrate with family - so much to be thankful for!

More Crafting!

ohhh the crafting/creating that has been happening in our household:)

1. PILLOWS!

I am slowly trying to learn the fine art of sewing...I started with throw pillows. I had some old pillows that were looking a little worn to say the least. Off to the discount bin at the fabric store and bingo bango the pillows have new life!

Here is a 'before' shot of our living room...

A more current shot of the room....so much crafting has been done!

2. WREATHS

I had some ladies over for a wreath making party.

my final product!

3. BAKING

Matt has been on a bit of a baking kick. Within 24 hours he had made no bake chocolate cookies, an apple pie & a German chocolate cake!

isn't it pretty?!

mmm mmm

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Welcome...

Since being married Matt and I have made our own "welcome" sign for our house - figure it might as well be us welcoming you here instead of just the words:) Here is our latest attempt to fill the welcome frame:)

Oh How The Years Go By...

Last week I met two girlfriends for lunch in Langley...what a treat! Sarah, Denise and myself met almost 10 years ago during our first week at university - can't believe that it is almost 10 years ago?! The three of us lived through four years of nursing school - following graduation Denise moved out East and Sarah spent a year working in Hawaii and of course my story you know:) Everyone is now back within a 30 min distance from each other - married - some expecting:) and of course all still being fantastic nurses! Denise is done her Master's and his working as a clinical instructor at TWU - she has come full circle! Sarah is working ER and taking her Master's as well! What a treat to see these two and catch up - it's like no time was lost! 10 years....crazy!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Weekend with the sibs!

I had a fantastic weekend with my brother and sister!!! On Thursday night, Becca and I (Matt had to stay in Abby to coach volleyball), flew down to LA to hang out with our brother for the weekend! Nathan spoiled us rotten all weekend - he is a great tour guide and it was, as always, so good to spend time together!

Nathan got us a swanky hotel to stay in...The Fairmont in Newport Beach - complete with a bedroom, living room and 2 bathrooms!!!

one of the bathrooms...don't worry we used both the tub and the shower - in fact one morning Becca used the tub and then the shower in the same setting!

On Friday, Nathan took us to take part in one of his favorite hobbies...shooting! Becca and I had never done this - Nathan was a good teacher!

I got a little excited - Nathan is yelling at me while the pic is being taken not to turn around with a loaded gun in my hand:)

the professional!

not to bad for my first go at it!

he has done this before

E for effort:)

after the shooting range we headed back to the hotel for a board game afternoon (another one of Nathan's favorite things!)

that evening we headed out to the Melting Pot Resturant!!!

such a fun place - there is a burner in the middle of the table where the melting pot sits - we dipped a cheese course, meat course & of course a chocolate dessert course!

the meat course...steak, shrimp, tuna, chicken & beef tenderloin

after supper we headed over to the swankest movie theatre I have ever been too - stole this pic from the internet, but this is what the theatre looked like. We sat in lazy boy recliners - had complimentary blankets, pillows and popcorn - there were waiters too - just in case we needed anything - we could just push a button on our table and they would come tend to us.

Saturday morning we slept in and then had a brunch on our patio at the hotel:)

Hot chocolate in wine glasses - we had to make due with what we had:)

and then our Saturday...we went to the happiest place on earth...Disneyland!

and much to our delight they were taping the very Merry Christmas Parade (which - in the Morgan household - is a Christmas tradition to watch)

Mainstreet USA

3D Rides

the spinning tea cups

fun times!

and to top it all off - the band OneRepublic was at Disney doing a free 'concert' for the taping of the Christmas special.

and then in the evening, when it was dark, they taped their segment of the Dick Clark's Rocking New Years Eve...they sang the song "Good Life" with the castle lit up behind them and then Disney fireworks shooting off during the song - it was magical! strange though to be in November and experience Christmas and New Year's in the same day...TV is all on strings!