Christmas Cheer!

Christmas is my absolute favorite time of the year! I love the decorations, the music, the lights, the hustle and bustle and the holiday spirit that fills the air. While I love every minute of it, for the last several years Christmas has meant BUSY days at work and a little less time for the things I love about the season. Not only did we get to celebrate our first Christmas with a little one, but I got to savor every moment this year.

 

The first item on the Christmas to-do list was to pick out the perfect tree. We decided to branch out from the usual Home Depot tree excursion and shop local at Green Lake Elementary. Addison wasn't all that into it this year (she loved her nap on the walk!) but something tells me she will be leading the charge soon enough. I think we have a new Christmas tree tradition!

The one!

 

Clearly Addison was very opinionated about her favorite...

Our Christmas decorating dinner -- french onion soup and a yummy salad!
Thanks Grammy for sending Addison her very own tree.

Addison getting into the Christmas spirit (and Christmas jammies!)

Addison was (and is still) OBSESSED with the lights on the tree...
She sat in the Ergo carrier and arched her back so she could see!

Decorating the tree!

And the finishing touch - the star! Well, much like our lights,
our star burned out so we switched it up and now have an angel on the tree



As anyone who has been to our house during the Christmas season can attest, we have a LOT of decorations. In a small condo it basically looks like Christmas threw up, but with a bit more space to spread out, its not quite as overwhelming. I will say I have abstained from buying any new decor this year, but we may have room for a few more things down the road...



The finished product!

And the stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

A few Santas from the collection...

Our card tree which is MUCH fuller now...

Nutcrackers fit PERFECTLY on the picture rail in the dining room!

And to top things off, Bob spent a WET afternoon on the roof hanging our Christmas lights. We had many discussions about what we wanted our lights to look like and Bob was determined to have rows of straight, white lights. After years of practicing at my dad and Robie's house in Bend, Bob ventured onto the roof with his strands of lights, shingle hooks and tie downs in hand. It being December in Seattle, dry weather was not quite in the forecast so Bob strapped himself to the roof and got to work. 

Casa de Kehrli by day...

Casa de Kehrli by night!

On December 6th my client, Pantone, announced the color of the year for 2013 - EMERALD. What is traditionally a very hectic week for me, was pretty laid back. I watched the great coverage the team secured and took photos of Addison in her Emerald pants and Seattle onesie (paying homage to the Emerald city) to send to my team. While I had her dressed and camera ready, we snapped a few 10 week shots too! Mama needs to find this little one some more Emerald ensembles ;)

 

Addison and I made our way downtown on December 14th for lunch with Bob and found the perfect Santa! I had quite the debate about which Santa to go to (pathetic I know), but we found a great one. He and his elves tried their hardest to get the little miss to smile, but she wasn't having it and remained stoic for about 10 pictures! At least this wasn't the year of screaming... we will save that for next year!

Yes, we are aware that the photo we chose for our xmas card looks like
Addison has a spear coming out of her head. We were too focused on finding a
picture of the three of us to notice the background.
To clarify, it is a ski at Santa's photo spot. Whoops!

Posing in front of the Westlake Center Christmas tree!

Kenai always seems to work his way into the weekly photo shoots.
This week he was extra interested :)