A Colorado Christmas

Instead of going home to Alaska this Christmas, my entire family came to Colorado. I've never hosted a family holiday before, so I wanted to do everything I could to make my place Christmas-y and homey for everyone.

I redecorated my guest room....

... and I set out the Christmas village my Grandma gave me...

Magnolia and I already had a stocking, but I thought it would be nice if the rest of my family had one, too. So I decided to forget that I'm a non-crafty accountant for an afternoon and decorated stockings for everyone. I was really surprised how cute they turned out!

(The fact that my cat has her own stocking doesn't make me a sad cat lady, right?)

It was like a Christmas explosion in my living room!

I also baked sugar cookies with frosting from scratch, which I'd never done before.

All this has led me to realize that not only am I crafty, but I like to bake. A domestic goddess was lurking within me all these years, and I didn't even know it. It's a Christmas Miracle!!

On Christmas Eve, I picked everyone up from the airport. We were back at my place in time for dinner, so I got to show off my new found homemaking skills by serving a home-cooked meal. Afterwards, we watched Christmas Vacation and played Cranium.

Cranium is always good for some funny pictures.

My dad and I had to act out "Time Machine" which is the most ridiculous clue I've ever heard. No one guessed it in time. Shocker.

Christmas Day was really nice. We all got up early and ate my homemade coffee cake (and I'll be damned if it wasn't delicious. Who knew I could make coffee cake?! Actually, it's Amy's mom's recipe, so thank you Ernst family!). And of course we opened presents....

Santa Claus brought me blinds. I've been needing them since I moved in last year. In place of actual blinds I had been tacking up a blue blanket as well as stacking pillows up to cover the windows. Classy, I know. Here's the before shot:

And the after. Much better.

I also got a pretty scarf from my grandma, aunt, and cousins:

My dad did a fantastic job modeling the jacket I gave him:

After presents, we loaded up in my car and headed to my grandparents' house.

It's such a beautiful drive to Salida.

It's always really relaxing and low key when we visit Salida. We play a lot of games... (that's Grandma and my cousin David along with Mom, Adam, and Leane)

(I wore that shirt as a joke, by the way. It was well worth the $10 I spent considering it's battery powered and blinks every time I breathe.)

Along with game-playing, I usually do a lot of reading. Although I'm a big reader, Adam has NEVER read a book outside of school.... no exaggeration. So when I heard he'd brought a book for the trip, it was definitely a shocker. And definitely picture worthy.
We were driving around in Salida when we passed this house:
There were at least 15 Christmas blow-up decorations in their front yard. It was pretty ridiculous, but you have to admire their Christmas spirit.
Downtown Salida is really cute, so we walked around and did a little shopping.
On Sunday, my parents, Adam, and Leane went to Breckenridge and I stayed in Salida with my grandparents. It was nice spending time with them - they took me out to lunch and then we went to the cemetery. Yes, that's right. The cemetery. And it wasn't the first time they took me there, either!

Let me explain...

There's a cemetery a couple miles from their house, and we always spot deer there. So we like to drive around and see if any deer are hanging out. Here are a few we spotted.

On Monday, we came back to Denver. Over the next few days we did a lot of eating and shopping. We also went down to the Air Force Academy to show Leane where we used to live. A lot has changed in the 12 years since we've been gone, but the chapel on the Academy is just as beautiful as I'd remembered it.

The soon-to-be newlyweds....

All too soon the week had passed, and it was time for everyone to head back to Alaska. I hope Leane enjoyed her first trip to Colorado, and I can't wait to see everyone again in May!