Just in Time!

I finished decorating our tree this evening - which is good because Carl and Estelle arrive tomorrow. They're staying with us while in town for Audrey's wedding on Saturday. Every year, by the time we get it home and in the stand, I think we could have gotten a bigger tree. NOT THIS YEAR!!!! We scraped the ceiling getting it up! Yay! Finally a big, tall, fat, LIVE tree --we got it from the same farm off Todds Rd, we've gone there for three years in a row now. I don't know the man's name, but his black lab that greets you as you walk around the field is Oscar. They offer to let you cut the tree yourself, but I'd just as soon someone with more experience wield the chainsaw.

In other news, we had friends over Sunday evening for a Gingerbread House decorating party, and had a really good time. Emily and I had a structurally unsound rooftop that earned our house the award for Best Hurricane Katrina Recreation:

Everyone else had better success, with Best House Awards going to Rachael/Sylvain and John/Megan...Tabitha's house was another beauty with extra points for landscaping, and Mike and Pete's house was a top contender with its rose window, chimney, satellite dish, car, and koi pond. --I feel it necessary to point out that Mike is an architect.

I was really impressed with everyone's decorating ideas, especially when you think of what we started with:

So that's what we've been up to - hope you're having fun preparing for the holidays wherever you are!