Guide to gift guides

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      I love gift-giving. It is, without a doubt, my love language. I think that's the biggest reason I love Christmas. There's nothing like giving the right gift to someone you love - making them feel special and loved and excited - it's the best! I actually keep a note in my phone with a running list of gift ideas for friends and loved ones. When inspiration strikes I jot down my idea and later I'm always glad I took the time. In my experience, good gifts take time and thought, so I try not to get in a situation where I'm shopping in desperation at the last minute.

     Having said that, sometimes inspiration is scarce. When there isn't much time for leisurely browsing for the right gift I rely on gift guides. And there are some amazing gift guides out there! I've rounded up a few of the best for anybody who might be looking for a little inspiration. Consider it my gift to you! xo

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to & from - a huge volume of amazing gift ideas from your favorite bloggers.

Design Mom - toy gift guide from an absolute expert.

Oh Happy Day - guide to experiences you can give.

A Cup of Jo - thoughtful, quirky gifts for everyone on your list.

Real Simple - stylish, affordable gifts including creative stocking-stuffers.

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Advent calendar

I love the idea of advent calendars, and now that Michael is old enough to be excited about Christmas I wanted to put something special together. After pinning examples all year (1, 2, 3, 4) I combined my favorite parts and came up with this! The materials and method are super simple. I found a pretty ribbon, tiny envelopes and cards at the craft store. I numbered the envelopes and decorated them with snowflake stamps, then hung the ribbon and clipped each envelope with a paper clip. I wrote a different activity on each card. Since Michael is so young, I kept the activities pretty simple: 

decorate christmas tree

eat a candy cane

unwrap a book

bake cookies

unwrap a toy

sponsor a child

take gifts to the neighbors

drive around and look at the lights

movie night with popcorn

sing Christmas carols

read 'The Night Before Christmas'

I hope to keep the garland and change the activities on the cards as Michael grows. 

Christmas season starts tomorrow - I can't wait to get started! Happy weekend, friends. xoxo

Christmas cards

A few weeks ago we took some family pictures. Michael was wild that afternoon - so wild that I hoped we would get just one good shot of the three of us. Somehow (in the middle of Michael's 6pm I've-had-enough tantrum) our friend managed to get this sweet shot. I love it so much and I'm so thankful to be able to share it with our loved ones in this year's Christmas card.

 From our house to yours - Merry Christmas! xoxo

A little inspiration

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The Thanksgiving leftovers aren't even gone yet, and I'm in full Christmas mode! I can't help myself - I wait (and pin!) for this all year long. Here are a few things that have me inspired to make things merry and bright!

Season of light

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The last couple of weeks have been long. Tim's hours have been long, our days at home have been long without him, 

and every evening the darkness comes a little earlier. We've done our best, but at times it's been dreary. 

But every year, just when it's getting too cold and too dark, little lights start appearing in windows and bare trees. And suddenly we've made it to my favorite time of year - the season of light. I used to see it as two holidays - Thanksgiving and Christmas - but now I see it as one. The season starts with a week of thanksgiving for all of our blessings, and gives way to a whole month of pouring out blessings on others. We love because we are loved. We give because much has been given to us. What a beautiful thing.

Tim is off for the rest of the week, and we're reveling in just being together. Tomorrow we will head to Austin and join my family for the rest of the week. My heart is full. I am so very thankful for the rich blessings in my life. 

Wishing you much love (and good food!) this week - happy Thanksgiving, friends! xoxo

{holiday} Faves

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I've just been going along, thinking it's still the end of summer (you see, until yesterday it was in the high 80s, buggy, and humid here), so imagine my surprise when I picked up some milk at the store yesterday and the expiration date on the bottle said November 20th. Unbelievable! But this morning a wonderful thing happened. We woke to a cool, cloudy, blustery day. The kind that happens when fall is here to stay. It's got me all excited. I'm wearing cords and boots, burning a pumpkin candle, and grinning like an idiot. There's something so exhilarating about a brisk fall day, don't you think?
Seems like the perfect time to share some of the holiday faves I've been storing up. 

I'm going to do my best to make our Thanksgiving table look just like this.

And I'm dreaming up all kinds of ideas for a garland like this to hang above the table .

A pretty little personalized calendar. This one's going on the gift list.

Mmmm. Pie.

A hot chocolate party. So cute! (Free printables included.)

There are so many fun holiday lights at IKEA! This one is my favorite.

Snuggly Christmas pjs for Michael. (These too.)

Happy weekend, friends! xoxo

Montana in Instagram

Many of the photos in my last post about Christmas in Montana were taken by my Dad and my sister (thank you for sharing!) I took some on our "real camera", which I included in the last post, but most of the time I just used my iPhone since it was always close at hand. Here are some of my favorites, edited in Instagram. 

Montana, here we come!

Story time with Aunt Amy and cousins

Sunset on the Bridgers

Ribbon

Snowflake art

Christmas morning!

 Santa brought this for me?

Papa putting toys together

Playing in the snow

Warming up at The Leaf and Bean

Shopping with Aunt Van

Lunch at Stacey's

Christmas in Montana

I can't believe it has come and gone - more than a month ago now! Seems like so long ago my family started planning our trip to Crooked Canyon Lodge. I know I can't do it justice, so rather than try to describe the whole affair I'm just going to share some of my favorite pictures and bits of the trip. It was the kind of magical thing that only happens every now and then and I will never forget it.

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It all began two years ago during a previous family Christmas in Texas (read: sunny and warm) when my parents offered to rent a lodge in Montana for our next family Christmas, in 2011. We were pumped! All of the Colwells had lived in Big Sky country, but most of our spouses and children had never been. Here was our chance to show off our beautiful home state and have a white Christmas together! A few months later my parents reserved the Crooked Canyon Lodge in Gallatin Gateway, Montana, about 20 minutes from Bozeman.

Finally - after two years of waiting - the day arrived! Travel was smooth for us (Mikey did awesome - he has become a pro at flying by now), but Van and Grant flew in to Bozeman in a snow storm, and Amy and her family drove through a blizzard all the way from Texas to Montana. It's hard to describe the giddiness I felt once we were all together, safe and snug in that beautiful place. There were lots and lots of hugs, and I will never forget Leah and Logan so happy to be out of the car and with family, silently running laps around the great room (so they wouldn't wake Michael) with huge smiles on their faces. Ryan built us a roaring fire and we all settled in and started visiting. Pure joy.

The house and the views were gorgeous. The back side of the house faced pine trees, the Gallatin River, and Storm Castle Peak beyond, all white with snow.

We got right to work decking the halls. It was so fun to do that as a family! And the lodge got even prettier!

There were lots of amazing meals, including breakfast in our pjs every morning - my personal favorite :)

And every night when the kids were all tucked into bed the adults gathered around the big table and played games and laughed and laughed. It was so good for the soul.

During the day we would laze around the house, go out and hike down to the river, or go into town to shop and get coffee.

I love this picture so much. Total relaxation :)

My mountain men :)

The very best part of the trip, for me, was watching Michael get to know his family. He loved playing with the kids, and snuggling with the adults. It broke my heart to take that away from him when we all went our separate ways.

Are these three cute, or what? :)

Foot nibblers :)

Loving on his Uncle Bubba

Snuggling with Papa

Lunch in Bozeman with Gigi and Grammy 

(and the rest of the crew at the table behind us)

Enjoying the fire with Gigi

I love how much Michael looks like my Dad :)

The guys enjoying the hot tub. (Love their Zissou-esqe hats :)

Here's the serious family picture we took. I love it, and I love these people.

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This is one of those posts that could go on and on. But pictures and words never can do justice to the way we feel about our loved ones, so I'm just going to leave it at this and say how thankful I am for my family. This week was a perfect example of why I love them. We laugh together, we cry together, we do our best to support each other, we take care of each other and we celebrate God's blessings over us.

Thanks so much, Mom and Dad for bringing us together for an unforgettable week.

xoxo

Whatnots

I'm all worked up over the prospect of Christmas this year (yaaay!) with our Mikey (YAAAAAYYY!!!!)

I know, I know. He's 7 months old. 

He won't remember a bit of it. But that doesn't stop me from walking him down the Christmas aisles at Target showing him Santas and Rudolphs and Frostys and singing all the songs to go along.

While it's true that he would be just as happy to sit and play with the zippers on my jacket, I'm dying from the fun of hunting for gifts for him. It really brings back memories of the toys I loved as a kid. And if I was shopping for me as a kid, this would be the ultimate: a Whatnot - a custom made Muppet! They're pricey, but come on. A custom made Muppet!! Think of the puppet shows, musicals, and videos you could make!! Sigh. The Muppet part of my brain never grew up :)

Cabin love

Next Christmas at this time my entire family will be gathering here - thank you, thank you, thank you Mom and Dad! In the meantime, here's another beauty...

elle decor

They're calling for snow...

...and I get to spend the whole weekend with my Tim being cozy and thankful for the blessings that God has showered over us, and giving gifts to the people I love. 

I really, really love this time of year. 

Have a blessed weekend and a Merry Christmas!! xoxo

P.S. Happy birthday to my sister the fox. I love you!!