a harrison family original: 12 days of xmas

i am so jazzed for our first christmas together officially as man & wife. before we were just boy & girlfriend so they obviously didn't count. this year, decorations will be quite sparse. we have to evacuate our home by dec 31st but we're going on a paperversery trip to san diego then so right after xmas we are homeless. well, not homeless, but bumming with the original harrison clan so we have to keep our 'things' light [which is hard bc we all know how much i love my things]. so all the decor we get this year is our fancy new stockings i made and our tree, which will most likely be the 12" pink one i use at work.


not bad quality for a camera phone

to make up for our lame holiday cheer, i've decided to reinstitute the 12 days of christmas! i remember my gma zobrist did this for us growing up [complete with homemade pj's] but this year, we're going to spice things up a bit.

WARNING:

JUSTIN IS NOT ALLOWED TO

READ PAST THIS POINT

[not that he reads our my blog but still, just in case]

i'm trying to keep things a surprise, in case you can't tell. so this list is obviously a work in progress but i'm way jazzed for the o'cassion.

(13) as a pre-12 days experience, we're gonna watch the new abc family original movie, 'christmas cupid' staring chad michael murray. now if your not familiar these sorts of movies, i pity you. some favorites include 'holiday in handcuffs', 'revenge of the bridesmaids', 'beauty and the briefcase' and 'my fake fiance'. classics.
12 our house will be visited by the magic xmas tree fairy. growing up, my dad would bring home a magical seed from the south pole [read: avocado seed] that would magically grow throughout the night into a robust tree! ours will be stunted in growth along the way, but still. + gingerbread decorating.
11 a visit to ethel m's chocolate factory + garden. they deck out our desert landscape with lights. and its free!
10 ice skating! along with hot coco- not hot quik. coco mix is different than quik. this is part of an ongoing debate justin & i have been having.
9 a drive to see the xmas edition of the fremont street experience [light show in downtown las vegas]

8 the harrilanders first annual ugly sweater party! throwing a fabulous coming to a home near you! don't you remember? this is stuff white people like. throwing a fabulous party is on my list of 25 things to do before i turn 25.
7 snow day at mount charleston
6 cookie baking + holiday movieathon. i've never seen the classics 'miracle of 34th street' or 'a christmas story' so it's on my to-due list.
5 the magical forest at opportunity village - this is a great fundraiser that opp village puts on every year- full of gingerbread building contests and the magical forest where many of my enchanted mice friends live.
4 a visit to the temple- what better way to celebrate christmas than by being in the House of the Lord?
3 a drive through the 'gift of lights' at the speedway
2 money tree! growing up, my dad would give us gifts a money tree for xmas- basically a naked tree rooted in a concrete pot that had crisp dollar bills on it. we'd then use these dollars to get a coke [or candy-bar] after church at jone's feed store. i guess my mom was pretty lax about keeping the sabbath holy back then...
1 pajama's! mine aren't homemade. and justin's going to get the ones he got last year [and never used] but i'll get some new ones [pink hello! kittys]. plus the reading of the christmas story

this list has been changed a number of times and i'll still not set on everything but i'm just so excited for holiday festivities! we're also going to the live nativity that a stake puts on dec 8-12th. and we've also made the commitment to change our scripture study routine each day in december to read a chapter from luke, which captures the life of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

and for all those married folks, one of my favorite marriage blogs Love, Actually made these cute free printables- the 12 lays of xmas! i thought this was a super cute idea...not that i'm doing that kind of stuff....gross.