Christmas Beginnings

 The Goodwin family sent us some early Christmas gifts.  Benson is wearing the Christmas Jammies they sent.  They are so soft and adorable.  He loves them.

Benson also loves Dad's phone holder.

We did venture out on Black Friday to see if we just had to have something.  We didn't buy anything, but Benson rode this really fun train at the toy store.  I was tempted to fork out the 99 buckollas and get this beauty.  Watching him ride this train was the highlight of the day.

A Jolley Thanksgiving Dinner '11

 Just Me, Bryce and Benson for Thanksgiving this year.  It was so great and laid back.  I thought I'd be more sad and missing all my family, but our Thanksgiving was perfect. 

Don't you love how all my dishes match beautifully!  Classy right.  C-L-A-S-S-Y.  Pin this lovely spread...I dare ya. :)  I am not afraid to admit that I am too vain to show how terrible I looked after spending the entire day in the hot kitchen.  So I cropped myself out of this pic.  It wasn't pretty.  I saved you all a very sure fright.  Even though I did cook and bake all day, I loved each minute of it.  I didn't cook that chicken though.  Bryce had the idea of getting a rotisserie chicken in substitute for the turkey and I thought...BRILLIANT!  I was very happy with everything except my pumpkin cheesecake was not a cheesecake at all.  It was just a regular pumpkin pie.  What a misleading recipe. :)

I have so much to be thankful for, and sitting together with my little family for a nice meal is just one of the hundreds of things I am thankful for.  To name a few:  I am thankful... 

-To be able to be stay at home Mom and enjoy each moment of my son's life. 

-To have the most adorable and wonderful son on the planet.

-To have such a loving and hardworking husband who is pretty easy on the eyes.

-For the health and general well-being of my family.  Extended and immediate.

-For my Faith.

-For Singing Time in primary and all the smiles and hugs I get on Sundays.  Makes the hours of prep so worth it.

-For goodly parents who raised me to be a great wife and mother.

-For the safety I enjoy.

-For my beautiful home.

-For ZUMBA.

-For PUMPKIN Desserts of all kinds. 

-For my sisters who are my best friends.

-And last...for Thanksgiving to be over and now ON TO CHRISTMAS!

Wishing All A Very Happy Thanksgiving

Randoms of the Benson Man

 At the mall.  Riding the big green frog.  My Dad came and took us to dinner a few weeks ago before he had to go to meetings in Denver.  Then we took the Bubba to the mall for a little play time.

 Grandpa also paid for Benson to take a $1 ride on this little carousel.  He LOVED it.  A little nervous at first but in the end he didn't want to get off.  You really get quite a short amount of time for a whole dollar.  Come one Greeley Mall.

 These pics crack me up!  Benson loves to play with his Dad's badge.  So when Bryce gets home, the first thing Benson does is take his badge from him.  The other day this is what he decided to do with the badge. 

 Bryce says it looks like he is flossing.  So funny.

Crafts Lately

 Bryce and I give a lot of gift cards for Christmas gifts.  I wanted a cute way to display the cards so I made this little gift card holder/wallet. I made it the same size as a credit card or gift card.  A folded bill fits nicely in there as well. 

 I've been wanting to make these blocks for a while.  At a recent craft get together we made this countdown.  The tutorial is here.  However, I did tweak it a bit.  I love the way it turned out.  Benson loves playing with it too!

I got the tutorial for the GORGEOUS flower from here.  I covered an old outdated head band with some new material and slid the flower on to make this impressive sight.  The flower slides off and can be used as a brooch or scarf tie as well.  The possibilities are endless really. 

Benson WALKS!

Oh my!  This has been a long time coming.  I know that everyone told me not to worry, but this guy was so resistant to walking I thought he would NEVER do it.  He even started throwing big fits when I tried to make him walk.  Last night I just sat down on the floor with him and tried to have him stand on his own.  Then I wanted to see if he would take a few steps toward me...AND HE DID.  I quickly enlisted Bryce's help and Benson began to walk in between me and Bryce and LOVING IT!  It was an exciting night in the Jolley house.  He is still very nervous to walk on his own, but I feel like we have made a giant stride in the right direction.  He is nearly 18 months and I would really like to send him to nursery as a walker so he doesn't get trampled by the other kids.