December 2020 Highlights

 Bye bye 2020! HELLO 2021! SO GOOD TO SEE YOU! Here's what we were up to last month in December 2020:

Finishing up our last virtual school session before winter break!

We got this flamingos pulling Santa's sleigh lawn decoration from Wayfair. I know it's probably made for those who live in more tropical climates, but I think it's funny. They're like "get me outta this snow and back to Florida!" Plus, they're pink :)

It's snowed more than I remember it snowing in Decembers past, but in between snowfalls it's warm and sunny and I love to go on two mile walks around the neighborhood to soak in the views and sunshine. Being outside is so good for my mental health.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

There's downtown Denver in the distance.

I couldn't find Rachel one evening - I searched high and low and in all her usual places. When I was becoming more frantic by the minute I called her name and heard her meow. She was right in front of me, hidden on the pillows. It's now become one of her regular spots. She's so funny. It sure does look comfy so I can understand why she loves it!

Top left: Another one of Rachel's favorite spots is by this vent where the warm air comes out. Throughout the month there were a lot of home improvement projects going on with supplies everywhere but she still managed to wiggle her way into this favorite spot. Top right: Can you see her eyeballing that cut file? She grabbed it with her paw and almost mangled it but I caught her in time. Silly kitty. Bottom left: This is when I first discovered her on the pillows after searching for her for 20 minutes. She looks mighty proud of herself! Bottom right: I took a nap on the couch and who should join me but my furry best feline friend? Love my Rachel!

The Christmas lights show happened again at Cherry Hills Church so we made a reservation for early December and loved driving through seeing all the lights.

Wowow! So fun and festive!

Gorgeous display of merriment at the Park Meadows Mall.

The last meal from our Citrus Pear frozen dinners. Pesto = yum!

Have you ever played the card game Sleeping Queens? It's a hoot. We play it often.

Cuteness overload!

We watched many-a-Christmas movie together. I think our very favorite is Klaus on Netflix. It's funny, engaging, a great story, so good all around. PS - I spy the top of Rachel's head.

Hi Fox!

I try to avoid going to the post office during the holidays at all costs because of the lines, but sometimes it must be done.

There are three December birthdays in the local Evans families so we gathered at Tom & Margi's one night to celebrate. Tom & Margi had just returned from Florida with all kinds of amazing seashells and the kiddos loved hot gluing them into shaped mythical creatures.

Yay for date night!

Indoor dining was shut down before Thanksgiving but eating in tents was okay so we made a reservation at Perry's Steakhouse. It.was.so.good.

Oh hi! Once in awhile I put on make-up and real clothes. Pics or it didn't happen!

I watched the live video of the first person receiving the covid vaccine here in Colorado. You can see Governor Polis' smile through his eyes. He is very optimistic and says this is the beginning of the end. I sure hope so!

We loved going to the Gaylord Rockies Hotel last year for the ICE exhibit and this year was a different theme so we booked tickets again.

Waiting in line shenanigans.

The theme this year was I Heart Christmas Movies and there were a bunch of sets straight out of Christmas movies that we were guided through. First up, Elf.

It's like we were right in the movie!

A Christmas Story!

Classic.

Inside the Polar Express.

From National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

We do heart Christmas movies!

Peanuts characters were at the hotel taking pictures! I was so stoked because of the Charlie Brown Christmas cut file I had designed and no photos to go with it yet. Definitely had pictures now!

Then we went snow tubing - such a rush to go that fast!

Lastly, we went ice skating as a family for the first time!

We had tons of fun, can't wait to go ice skating again.

Inside the Gaylord Rockies Hotel.

Hi Joey! He's such a cute dog.

We're going to redo our kitchen starting at the end February so we're in the process of making lots of decisions.

Here's a look at the entryway from when we first moved in (technically it's from the photos we saw on Redfin as we were house hunting) and what it looks like now. We've replaced the floors, replaced the carpet, painted the walls, replaced the chandelier and sconces, and replaced the balusters.

Old chandelier and sconces on the left, new ones on the right. I'm still deciding if the chandelier is too modern for our traditional house.

Our fridge died so we picked a new one on Black Friday and it was delivered in December.

Since we decided mid project to not do wood on the stairs but the carpet had already been partially torn off, we decided to just re-carpet the whole upstairs and the stairs. We ordered the carpet in November and had a date for installation the weekend before Christmas. We wanted to fix a super squeaky sound in our bedroom which caused a delay and couldn't even get fixed. We slept on the floor for 5 nights and set up the TV on buckets and baskets so I could still fall asleep watching Friends as usual.

The 5 days of displacement seemed like an eternity, but now that it's all better, I realize I just need to CHILL. So much easier said than done though right? :)

We made a reservation to visit Santa at the mall! The waiting line was filled with photo ops which we took full advantage of.

Official Christmas photo with Santa! Darlings!

This was our 3rd year in a row visiting the epic Gingerbread House. I will never tire of seeing all these lights!

We started a new tradition - on Christmas Adam (the night before Christmas Eve) my dad gave each of his 3 kids some moola to buy the family dinner which we all ate together virtually with cameras on. All of us kids got Cafe Rio while Malm & Dald got pizza, but I'm sure they would have gotten Cafe Rio had they been close to one. Then we read from the Coming of Christ book. Very special and memorable.

On Christmas Eve we went to Target and got each other a gift to open at night.

Jane got a plushie, Fox got some Pokemon cards, Chris got a cell phone holder for his car, and I got a set of frying pans.

Chris made a delicious Christmas Eve dinner.

At night we went over to Tom & Margi's for the Nativity in the Barn.

Kylie let me hold her! Ahhh she's so cute!

Back at home we stuffed stockings, I hid clues for the treasure hunts, and then we ended the night by watching the X-Files episode How the Ghosts Stole Christmas. It's tradition :)

Christmas morning! Fox woke us up at 3:45am. Then again at 5. Finally at 5:50am we got up and opened presents. 

Like a kid on Christmas morning! :)

Merry Christmas 2020!

Christmas night we went back to Tom & Margi's for dinner. I brought crockpot carrots that I intended to bake entirely myself, but Chris ended up making the topping mix. I added the mix on top at the end though lol. Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is to learn how to cook!

New Year's Eve we went to sleep at 9pm as usual. I haven't stayed up until midnight voluntarily since I was a teenager, true story :)

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On the scrappy front! My desk was covered in December Daily goodies the entire month. It's my favorite project of the year!

I shared 8 scrappy projects in December:
So Cold Layout // Punched & Layered Butterflies Layout // Snowflakes Background Layout // Merry Christmas Layout
Warm & Cozy Cover Layout // Fussy Cut Flowers Layout // Favorite Sweet Holiday Treat Layout // December Daily

Ain't this the truth lol:

My Top 9 of 2020 feels like a good representation of what I love most too! Lots of bright colors, scrapbooking, mini albums, new collections, giveaways, my happy place, etc. I love this fun variety of photos!

I am a contributor to Meghann Andrew's Scrapbooking 101: Better than the Basics Class with Scrapbook & Cards Today! It's a year-long virtual class that will help you in all areas of scrapbooking. Check it out and register HERE.

I gave away these 4 cut files in December in my Happy Scrappy Place Facebook Group:

Two days after Christmas a box from American Crafts landed on my doorstep. It was like Christmas all over again because it was my next scrapbook collection! AHHHH!! Full reveal happens on January 12th so mark your calendars and be back here for sure then! I've already taken pictures of everything and have the blog post and Newsletter ready to go!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2021!!