It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I had some fun avoiding real life for an hour by putting together this new blog layout today. I hope it helps you to feel a little more festive! We've been busy decking the halls and rocking around the Christmas tree. Our tree is 12 feet tall so it's kind of a pain to set up and decorate but once it's done, it's gorgeous. One of the biggest challenges was keeping the kids off the ladder. Aside from multiple ladder incidents, the kids had a great time decorating the tree last night. I had to make a few adjustments--four ornaments hanging on one branch is not going to work and neither are six red balls right next to each other. I just wait to fix it until the kids are snoozing and thenthey never notice. There are still a few odd placements but I think they add to the charm of the tree.

This weekend should be a lot of fun. On Friday, my favorite, Katherine, arrives from Brazil to stay for a few days with her girls. That evening we will enjoy a delicious dinner and dancing at a wedding. On Saturday, we are hosting the ward high priest dinner at our house. This year, it's going to be less formal than last year and I'm having people bring more of the food so it should be a bit easier than last year. I'm trying to get excited about it. . . I actually love hosting parties, just not dinners. There are just so many details to worry about. Things like drinks, salt and pepper shakers, tablecloths and paperware always end up being last minute things that I haven't considered and then they stress me out right before the party's about to begin. I'm sure it will turn out great. . . at least I hope so!