Wrapping up Pre-Christmas Activities . . .

December really is a fun and wonderful month. I'm going to miss it for sure. 

The birthday boy on his 17th birthday. Dang he's getting old.

Miles came home! He was originally to drive to my parents' home on Thursday and then take the train to Junction on Friday, where I would pick him up. However, Miles finished up earlier than expected, so he arrived at the train station in Junction on Thursday morning. We kept it a secret from everyone and so it was fun when they came home to find him here a day early. :)

Miles rocked his first semester of college. He got a 4.0 and on many occasions had the high-score on a test - be it in biology, physics or even statistics. Proud of this boy!!!

Jonas and his "new-to-him" Jeep. Sigh. This kid. He sold his truck (Ben's truck that he sold to Jonas . . . and which Jonas like literally drove into the ground. Jonas was afraid the truck would croak at any moment and so he wanted to sell it before it did . . . ). The paint job is pretty bad on the Jeep (Jonas agrees), but overall it seems like a decent car for a kid. If he doesn't drive it into the ground . . . which at the moment doesn't seem too likely . . . 

Gingerbread Sunday!!

Miles' fun home.

Ben struggled this year . . . and at one point started all over, haha. His home turned out lovely and festive.

I branched out this year and made mine pink. Plus I saw some cute idea to use rosemary and we had some in our garden and so. Done.

Emmy's snowy Christmasy home.

Jonas' . . . cabin? Not sure. The porch overhang was a cool idea. But by the time he finished with it, he was mentally done working on his house. Haha. It's still cool, though!

Lucy's adorable Elf house/Candy cane forest.

It's hard to see how cute these reindeer are, but take my word: they are too cute. Ben made them for me on his birthday. (He had the day off!) Ben made a total of four reindeer and ended up giving two of them to his co-worker. I think he showed her what I wanted and she said something like, "Oh make me some, too!" Kind of joking . . . but also not, right? :) So Emmy and Miles dropped them off at her home in Ridgway the following day. The co-worker (Stephanie) loves them so much - her dogs, not so much (they just bark and bark at them, haha). In fact, Stephanie posted on Facebook that besides from her family, this was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her. Nice job Ben.

Ben asked/paid Emmy to make donuts for his work. Emmy and I had experimented with a different donut recipe and it was a thousand times better! Sooooo good (which says a lot coming from me, a non-donut lover). We also added peppermint extract and crushed candy canes to the glaze. Seriously, amazing.

Cutest donut maker ever.

Lucy's best friend Lila, who moved to Utah last August, was spending the week in Montrose with her dad. So Lila and Holly came with my girls and we spent the afternoon in Ouray. I want to retire to Ouray (in fact, I would move there now if I could!). But only if Ben and I become millionaires . . . I do have an idea to develop and patent so ya never know . . . 

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year . . . (except for those moments where it sucks, but those moments still exist even in December).