Merry Christmas.....Ya'll!

Welcome to THE NESTER'S Christmas Tour of Homes.....

Welcome to our home in TEXAS!!

The entrance....

The stockings on the banner reads "The Roses'"

I have a few Christmas cards......getting more in the mail each day!

I have a bit of a WILD look on my antique dresser in my entry
I LOVE the new frame I just got in Colorado!

My dining room and entry way are done in different prints....zebras, leopards, toile, etc. Kind of a FUNKY look in the dining and entry way.

My cross tree in the dining room
The Family Room has a softer look....white, silver, robins egg blue, and hot pinks.

and YES.....that is my dog ZOE sleeping on the couch. People think I am crazy for letting my dogs on our WHITE sofas. LOL!
Our FAMILY tree!

The Mantle....

I hung a silver wreath in each window of the family room

Maddie's Gingerbread House....

Our Guest Bathroom....it's PEACOCK!

Maddie's room....she made this ornament today. CUTE!

Maddie's tree
Maddie's very first TINKERBELL tree!

I wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS....and a BLESSED New Year!

Enjoy the ones you love this season....and remember the true meaning.

The BIRTH OF JESUS!!

Colorado Pics....FINALLY UP!

So....I am finally getting some of the photos from our Annual Thanksgiving trip to Colorado.

So....a few years back we started a new tradition of spending Thanksgiving skiing in Colorado. We left the Saturday before Thanksgiving and came back the Saturday after....so we spend an entire week in GORGEOUS Pagosa Springs and we ski at Wolf Creek....which is known for the BEST SNOW in Colorado!

This is Pagosa Springs....and the picture below is of the actual hot springs and the spa located over it. Across fro it (not pictured is downtown). It is loaded with cute boutiques and cafes.

This was he view from the balcony where we stayed.....SO PRETTY!

Okay...so the following photos were taken from my Blackberry, so they are poor quality. Sorry!

The view from the ski lodge....Wolf Creek is located in the San Juan National Forest and Mountains.

The kids...Reid brought his BFF Collin on the trip
Reid..... Maddie take a break in the lodge... Maddie up at Treasure Falls....do you see her name in the snow?? The boys...ready to hit the slopes! My little ski bunny ME....going up before Brant and Maddie The big kids decided to FINALLY learn to snowboard.

Collin, Reid, and Hannah and their instructor.

Lessons
Tired.....
Reid...learning....and falling! Shhh.....don't tell him I told you! He is a speeding ski demon, and expected to snowboard fast right off the bat! NOT....but after one time down and falling a few times......
He got it and hit the blue slopes the 2nd half of the day.....

now he ONLY wants to snowboard from now on.

My Maddie....

She took boarding lessons last year and after the BIG kids took up snowboarding, she decided too also.....look at her go!

Even Daddy took up snowboarding with the kids...and to my surprise ROCKED it! Sorry....I feel terrible I did not get pictures of our AWESOME snowboarding Daddy!!



I have been skiing since I was a little girl....and PROMISED the kids that I would take up snowboarding too next year....ahhhh! Surprisingly there was alot of Moms snowboarding! LOL!





As most of you know....TWILIGHT: NEW MOON started the weekend before Thanksgiving. The girls wanted to see it. I have not read the books nor had seen the first movie. So, the night before after a day of skiing we rented TWILIGHT and watched it and the next night we went to see NEW MOON.



Here are all the kids before leaving for the movies.....


Pagosa Springs only movie theatre is an old historic one called the Liberty.

Don't the boys look excited......ha! We convinced the boys and Dad's they would like it. They were great sports!

The theatre's snack bar....it was such a cute place!

Onto Treasure Falls.....it is a very famous sight! In the winter the waterfall freezes....COOL!

After a full day of skiing, on the way back I convinced Brant and the kids to hike a mile up the mountain to see it at a closer view.

Reid and Maddie

Maddie and I...that rock is right on frozen ice...YIKES! It was safe to go though! PROMISE!

My loves.....

Durango is exactly one hour from Pagosa Springs....we went there for one full day and then again one evening after skiing for dinner. It is such a neat town. The historic downtown area is one of the neatest places I have been. It is surrounded by mountains!

The historic train station and train.

This was a really neat home store...

and this was my FAV store....I got several neat gifts here.

It really put me in the Christmas Spirit....

I think my hubbie had had enough shopping....he was a GREAT sport!

As many of you know.....I LOVE STARBUCKS!!! This was the only one I had seen since going through Amarillo, Texas!! It has been days.....I was in heaven!

Brant and I taking a break at Starbucks

.

Isn't this window pretty...."BELIEVE"

This is the historic Strater Hotel in Durango.....we ate a VERY nice dinner here at the Mahogany Grille.

The last day....it is a tradition to take our Annual Family photos.

Reid, Brant and Maddie

All of us

Maddie and Hannah

Collin, Maddie and Reid

All the kids....Collin, Connor, Reid, Hannah and Maddie

Me and the kids

The Nelson's and The Roses'

My loves....



Us

I LOVE this life.....

Our kids LOVE Colorado and they love the cold, the snow and skiing! We get pure JOY out of seeing them have so much fun and spending the week watching them and skiing along with them....trying to keep up! We are so BLESSED to be able to go on this trip each year....on top of the other trips we are able to take. These trips are PRICELESS to us. We make so many precious memories that will last a lifetime with ours kids. We are so THANKFUL!!! Well.....until next Thanksgiving!

VOTE FOR ME!!!

Hey Ya'll!!

LeAnn over at "My Vintage Modern Farmhouse" is having a contest. It is for Christmas Front Doors! Please go by LeAnn's blog at www.simplydandy.blogspot.com and vote for me!! I am door #9!!
I am close but need more votes to win it! Plus you definately need to visit LeAnn's blog and see all of the FAB stuff she has done with her precious historic home!

Much Love!!!

And Blessings....
Amy

It's the most wonderful time of the year.......

I love that song....don't you?? It just makes me want to dance around the house decorating for Christmas...Ha!

Anyways....Maddie and I decorated our Gingerbread house last night. Well actually.....Maddie decorated the Gingerbread house. She insisted "Let ME do it!". I guess I should be happy to let her....but it means that she is growing up and does not need me to help her. I don't like that! LOL! She did a great job! She soooo loves to cook, bake, and decorate! We love to do it together!

Ta-da!

All done and on display in the dining room!

Cute!!

Did you notice her all bundled up in her zebra scarf and ear warmer.....well, she went out to help her Daddy finish the Christmas lights!

She is a DADDY's GIRL!!

Where was Reid you ask....he stayed inside and was stringing the lights on the roof clips! Smart boy! It was like 30 degrees last night!

Well....I have had my porch decorated since last weekend! Here it is....I LOVE my Santa! I got it in Canton last year. I also added this "R" to my wreath this year.

As I mentioned in my blog the other day....we had perfectly NEW lights that we purchased 2 years ago. All big white lights! However....my husband is all about being GREEN and energy efficient. He wanted to buy all LED lights this year. Well, a few of our neighbors have the all white LED's and they look kind of a light blue-ish color. ICK.....sorry, I want WHITE, WHITE! So....my husband did some research and found the LED's that are actually WHITE! YAY! They were double the money, but I LIKE them and that is what matters.....right?? He ordered them and they finally came on Tuesday. I must say though....all of these lights wrap the front, back and sides of our entire home and they are equivalent to one 60 watt light bulb! Pretty amazing! They will pay for themselves in electricity costs alone this year. I have a SMART man!

We are still not finished....we have all of the trees and shrubs to light. I know, I know....a little late, but we were out of town until the Sunday after Thanksgiving and then it rained. Then, Brant decided to order the lights and they were delivered on Tuesday. Better late than never!

Notice anything different on my table? When I was in Canton this weekend I found this cute zebra fabric, so I bought a yard. I was going to sew a runner, but decided just to throw it on. I LOVE it! I also finally got a new picture in my new frame!

I also found this silver glittery "Happy Holidays" sign. I wanted a "MERRY CHRISTMAS"....but they dd not have a silver one. Of well.....it's pretty!

I also took the star off my tree after finding this silver mercury glass finial tree topper. I had to have it! One, because I LOVE mercury glass and also because it reminds me of the tree topper when I was a little girl. My mom had one similar on our tree.

I have everything decorated around the house.....I can't wait to show you everything! We have 5 trees total and I have done some other fun things around the house. I will reveal all next week!

The Nester is hosting the "Christmas Tour of Homes".....you should do it too! It is so much fun to see everyone's pretty homes and creative decor!

Well....tomorrow is FRIDAY!! Just one more week of school and then 2 1/2 weeks off! YAY! Plus, Maddie, My Dad and I all have birthdays coming up the week after Christmas!

Tomorrow night we are finally making a date to go see "The Blind Side"! It came out when we were in Colorado on vacation, so we are the few people that have not seen it! I can't wait!

I PROMISE......Colorado pics are coming!!! We took over 1000 pictures, so it has been hard getting through all of them! Whew!

I hope you all have a FAB Friday....and a JOYFUL weekend!

I LOVE this time of year........

It's the Big 12 Championship Game tonight.....Texas vs. Nebraska.

Let's Go TEXAS....Hook Em'!!

It's Christmas YA'LL!!!

Kelly over at Kelly's Korner is hosting "Show Us Your Life" - Christmas Trees!!

I can't wait to see everyone's!

Well....since we always go on our ski vacation for the entire week of Thanksgiving each year and we do not get home until the Sunday after Thanksgiving, I am off to a late start w/ Christmas decor! I REALLY was going to get my trees up before we left for vacation...but that did not happen! Of coarse...right?? Well, I have been slowly working on it all week. I still have alot to do....but I refuse to stress over it. It will get done! I am hoping to finish completely this weekend! YAY!!

We have 5 trees in our house.

The first is the main tree in the Family Room. It is a 9 ft. slim tree. Ichange this one up almost each year. This year, I have done it in a sort of vintage theme. Old school tinsel garland...remember that? Ha. Tiffany blue and hot pink and silver balls, glittery snowflakes and all of the kids "keepsake" ornaments. This is ALWAYS the FAMILY tree. It has all the keepsake ornaments from my childhood, Brant's and our kids. It is NOT at all completely decorated yet.....I still have a TON more balls and ornaments put on. We added an old fashioned star at the top. The star is so symbolic to me....and the birth of Jesus! I like this tree....it's just SIMPLE!

I also hung silver foiled wreaths in each window...sorry for the bad pics. I used my small camera on these rather than my nicer camera.

Reid and Maddie's "First Christmas" ornaments....awwww!
1992 and 1997....WOW!

These are little paper Christmas trees that both kids made in tehir Pre school classes when they were 3. They went to the same preschool and had the same teacher....4 years apart. LOVE theses! Notice...Maddie's has the big pink sparkly pom pom a the top. Ha!

Our newest ornament form our trip to NYC!

Lots of more decorations to add!

Coffee table..vintage vanity mirror, mercury glass...and antiqued balls.

My mantle....sorry it came out blurry!

** NOTICE**

The stocking are NOT hung yet!!

I just bought this GORGEOUS wreath. The picture does not do it justice. It goes so pretty with all my pretty mercury glass.

This is the garland in my entry to my family room.....it has toile bows and the little stockings are houndstooth and leopard print and it says "the roses'". So cute and very FUN!

My FUNKY entry table.....

I got this frame in Durango while we are on vacation last week....had to have it. I am notorious for saying "YA'LL"! Ha! It still has the display writing in it.....I am going to add our Colorado family photo as soon as I get them back.

Butler's pantry vingette

Dining Table.....love this FUNKY ribbon!

This is my tree in my dining room....it is decorated in all cross ornaments.

This is Maddie's newest addition...

She just got it, so we are still finding decorations for it....and are going to make a cute tree topper for it.

Her favorite ornaments.....her glass gymnast and nutcraker ballerina.

This was her very first tree....it used to be a Tinkerbell tree when she was younger but she has transformed it a bit. It sits on her nightstand.

Well....that's it for now! Visit back soon......I am still decorating the trees that are up....and still have my kitchen tree to get up! Plus my guest bath and my front porch and outdoor lights.

The hubbie has decided to go all LED outdoors this year! The LED's that I have seen look light blue and I was TOTALLY against the LED, but he has been researching the internet and found some that look white! YAY! My husband is very green and likes to save on energy. We are spending a fortune on these new lights, when we have perfectly good lights already, but he promises they should pay for themselves in a few years for the electric bill savings. Ha! They come in tomorrow....so he will get them up this weekend.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.....and HAPPY SHOPPING!!!! I am heading to Canton tomorrow morning to SHOP!! Love going there.....and finding so many "oh-so-cute" things!

Have a BLESSED and FUN FRIDAY!!!!

Guess where I am going???

Heading to Canton, Tx. for First Monday!!

Whoo hoo!

It is going to be in the 20's and snow flurries in the air! But....I am still gonna shop til' I drop!! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE CANTON!!!

I will be sure to share my finds!!