Christmas at Home (both of them)

First up are a few shots from the last few days of my two week trip back to Wisconsin. I was scheduled to leave on a Sunday night, but the flight ended up being cancelled. Teeny airport, a bit of snow, one flight a day, and some mumbo jumbo about a tail flap meant I was staying an extra night. So, Mom and I took advantage of the extra time and decided to do Christmas early! Here's us in the Christmas sweaters we gifted each other (we have such great taste) and a few shots of the snow I got to enjoy seeing because of the delay. Previously we hadn't had much at all yet in Wisconsin, so I couldn't resist taking a few shots of it.

Then, when I finally got back (home) to Seattle, we hit Christmas head on. We got our tree, decorated, wrapped gifts, and thoroughly got into the holiday spirit. It's tradition to get a real tree. No, not just tradition. A must. Ideally I would like to cut our own, like we always did when I was a kid. Unfortunately, things are a bit different in the Seattle area and apparently you can't cut your own tree without paying an arm and a leg. At least not that I've found. So, we settled for a pre-cut one. But we got it a tree farm, so that counts for something. As is also tradition - at least for Kevin and me - is making sure we get one that's small enough to shove in the back of our car. Once we got it home, we got straight to decorating. I got out the usual vintage bulbs that I got for a pittance at a garage sale one summer (remember that Lindsey??). I still love pulling them out and putting them on the tree every year.  This year there were a few new additions as well.  Two ornaments that were my Dad's as a kid. See the pretty red bird and the elf? So special. Other new additions included some new pillowcases I made from an oversized Christmas sweater we found at a thrift store awhile back and a somewhat newly thrifted Tom and Jerry's set.  This set is extra perfect for us because it's made by Homer Laughlin. Along we being the original maker of my absolute favorite Fiestaware, they also make lots of wonderful other dinnerware, which we've taken to collecting. Especially their classic restaurant / diner dishes.