November

The month of November was fully loaded and fully fun!  Pretty much the day after Halloween, Elaine Ponder throws herself completely into the holidays.  I tend to spend two months enjoying my solitary Christmas spirit while the rest of the world gets excited about turkeys.  Every weekend we had something special going on.  I captured some of the month in pictures.

Our church spent a Saturday making a variety of gifts to go to different organizations around town.  This was a blanket I made wrapped around a stuff poodle.  It's to go to an organization of homeless children. 

We also spent every weekend hooking up the computer to the TV and cheering on Blake and the men's Lobos!

 Then came Thanksgiving with all the trimmings.  Our plans changed last minute and instead of going to Louisianna to see Josh's grandparents, we stayed in town with his mom and all of Gary's family.  We spent the day eating, having conversation, playing with my new iPhone and then finished the day watching a very sad ending to the A&M vs. UT rivalry.

The day after Thanksgiving, Melody and her new boyfriend, Chris, came to visit and they took us mountain biking. It was definitely outside my typical comfort zone, but it felt good to conquer some fear and some tree roots : )


 

 I spent the month of November embracing my crafty side.  I made quite a few gifts and some holiday decor.  My favorite thing was the advent calendar I made.  Right now the containers hold the daily bible study that we do during advent along with a fun Christmas-y activity.  One day, they can hold little trinkets for the Ponder children.  My other favorite was a non-Christmas wreath for spring.  Pinterest has been a good friend this year : )

 Then we decorated the house for Christmas.  Yes, I waited until AFTER Thanksgiving this year... be impressed!  It took every ounce of strength I had not to do it mid-November.  (We might have also had a sword fight using wrapping paper rolls).  The tree is up, the lights are on the roof, my Christmas village is on the entertainment center, the stockings are hung, and all the other random decorations are all over the house.

To kick off the beginning of the season, Josh and I finally made our FIRST fire in our fireplace while drinking hot chocolate.  CHEERS to the beginning of my favorite month of the year!!