Its the Griswold Family Christmas Tree.

We had this evergreen tree in our backyard that needed to be cut down. It was transported from the forest and planted in our yard and it grew quickly and was choking out our cherry tree. A light bulb came on when we saw it after we bought the house. "Its our Christmas tree!" Like this moment on Christmas Vacation:

Casey was out at 9 in the morning with his chainsaw...

It looks the perfect size doesn't it? 

Perfect size until we got it in the house and it was 11ft tall, huge and not really looking like the tree I dreamed of. I was waiting for the squirrel to jump out of it at any moment...

11 strands of lights and two blown fuses later, we have our Christmas tree!

The tree now takes up the entire back part of or house, its awkward and hilarious, filled with old, hand me down ornaments. 

And we love it.

Merry Christmas Everyone! 

Grandma's Embroidery.

Hung up my Grandma's embroideries in the nursery on either side of the closet. She let me pick out the colors for each animal and could not understand why I would pick such odd colors for animals! She said the deer should be brown just like a deer. I said, no, its going to be yellow!!!! DEAL! We had a small tiff. I posted these awhile back and now have a purpose to use them for the nursery. 

This method was the perfect way to hang them and please my husband. Cut paper to the size of the frame and tape on the wall first before committing to the nail. I saw this on pinterest. 

Then nail through the paper on the marked spot. Perfecto!

Perfectly hung colorful animals:)

A little peak at the crib painted. Turned out great! Thanks to Grandma for creating such beautiful art for the nursery and putting up with my color choices! 

Holiday Greetings to You!

A tribute to my Grandpa Bud this morning. He passed away 3 years ago this last Saturday, hard to believe its already been that long. One of his favorite things in the world (besides me;) was a nice cold glass of NOG! Cheers Grandpa!

Happy Holidays EVERYONE! 

Fall and Brats.

This last weekend we decided to take in the fall and with that came taking in bratwurst. 

Icicle River in Leavenworth. We found a nice walking trail along the river starting at the fish hatchery. 

Cub looks violated;) My two handsome boys. 

Stunning scenery. 

Cubby Wubby. 

The trail was nice and all but this was the highlight for baby and me, minus the beer, that was Casey's. I piled my Munchen Haus Brat with 3 types of beer flavored mustards, dill relish and this HUGE pile of apple cider sour kraut. When I was done with mine, I said, "what's for dinner?" 

This was our first time at the Munchen Haus in Leavenworth. We've been to their brewery, Icicle Brewing Company on the other side of the main drag which is a great place to go relax and drink good beer in Leavenworth. The Munchen Huas bratwurst did not disappoint but the atmosphere could of been better. Its such a great place but I would recommend maybe someone coming around to clear and clean tables. The tables were really dirty and there were a lot of employees there that could of been cleaning them. If you are already a few brews in, you probably wouldn't care, but for me, I like a clean table to eat on. 

My stomach is growling looking at this Brat again. MUST GO EAT. POTATO CHIPS. NO, NATALIE, EAT DRIED FRUIT! 

DIY Chalkboard.

Pregnancy so far has not been the most blissful experience. It started with the usual morning sickness which in my case was the day long and into the night sickness. That subsided, thankfully! Am I glowing? I don't think so. Do I have the face of a teenage girl going through puberty? Yes. As I began to accept my new friends, pimples, I now have the worst sinus congestion of all time. My hormones are going CRAZY! Crying is a regular, daily occurrence. It can be over something as little as burning toast. Back to the glowing, when does all that start? Don't get me wrong, I'm so thankful I can even experience these pimples, sleeping with my mouth open nights and wack out crazy the world is going to end moments. I know I'm a lucky one. We got to hear the heart beat last week. What an amazing moment. Can't wait to meet you little one. If only we could think of the perfect name for you.

Here is our latest little project, a DIY chalk board. SO easy as long as you don't make prego brain mistakes like myself. Measure twice or even three times, then have my husband double check my double checks will be my new rule. I love the addition of this chalk board to our entry way. 

I'm trying very hard to be more organized. I ordered a mail keeper that has an incoming and outgoing section as well as a white board calendar from Pottery Barn that you can sort of see on the right side of the photo. I'm working on everything having a place, a happy home. Baskets are my new friend. 

There's Cub. He failed his last day of puppy school. He refused to do the new trick he learned. Apparently he doesn't like to "roll over" or lay down on hard floors. He prefers carpet. 

And there is Arctic. Sixteen years old and full of piss and vinegar. 

Happy weekend to you all! Enjoy the fall. 

Mason Jar to Go.

I found these Mason jar lids on Etsy from Poppy and Pearl Co. for one of Casey's birthday gifts. He only likes drinking out of glass, ceramic or clay mugs so finding a good solution to take our to go iced coffee's in has been difficult until I found these. We used to use Mason jars as our drinking glasses until we got married and could register for things like glassware. 

I love mine! I take it with me everywhere, especially with this lemon water/lemonade craving. Wouldn't these make great stocking stuffers? 

Holiday's are fast approaching, are you ready?! Bring on the pecan pie BAY BAY! 

Our Summer

Since I rarely blogged this summer, I thought I'd sum it up in some photos. We had a great summer. It was really hot and full of house guests. We are settling into our new life here just fine:) 

Best friends? Kicked off the summer with a BBQ for our cousin Carly in beautiful Cashmere, WA. 

The night ended with Carly, Court and this GUY singing a little "LOVE SHACK, so come on and bring your jutebox money!"

Beautiful winery in Lake Chelan aka Chevagas at a friend's bachelorette party.

Our first day with Cub on a trail behind our house. He was hot, we were hot, this hike lasted about 15 minutes.

A little boating with Dad.

Antlers we scored at an antique store in town. 

Family "Hooligan" reunion 2012. HUM...can you guess who's NOT related? 

That is my brother in law. The Hooligan prefunk. Dylan is trying to be gangsta but we had the REAL gangsta team. 

And right here is when my golf partner next to me, Nick, realized something I hadn't yet figured out...more on that to come.

A few more hooligans.

Taken on a HOT summer's day.

Cub discovers the stink bug.

Sophia and Belle came over for the day and we played and played and played in the water.

And after we played I came home to this...

Met cousin BRADY! I know, so stinking cute. I'm certain he looks just like our long lost relatives in Venice. He's practically a God Father. 

Ok, if you EVER find yourself on highway 97 just outside of Orondo, WA, you HAVE to stop by The Lone Pine Fruit and Espresso. They did all of the pies for our wedding. if you think you've had a great milk shake, just wait til you try one of their fresh fruit milk shakes. AMAZING. I had one about once a week. 

Dave Mathew's concert! 

Hike to Ancient Lakes in Quincy, WA. 

Cub fishing.

Had a house full of babies and my ladies. This is COOPER, future pro baseball player! 

And my friends and I all saw this fire start during a wicked lightening storm. (For Tamara "gas bubble!")

Then the smoke settled in and has not left. Schools were closed, sports canceled, no walks with Cub. He's starting to act up. Thank you fire fighters! You all put your lives on the line to save our homes. We are forever thankful. 

And becuase I have great lungs, this is how we are coping. 

My Mom came to visit! Hadn't seen her in 7 months. Love you Mom! This was at Pike Place Market.

Seattle on the most beautiful day. 

Jack and Jannie looking beautiful came to visit and went to a wedding. And Jack's feet are huge...

I saved the best for last. Casey and I are going to have a BABY!

Hi WORLD!

Back to the photo of my golf team. Nick my golf partner kept saying during our golf round that he thinks I'm pregnant because I had to go use the "ladies room/tree" at every hole. I said something like, "are you crazy Nick, I'm NOT pregnant. Its all the beer I'm drinking, I broke the flood gates." He told me I was wrong, and was I ever. 3 months pregnant later, I'm so happy he was right. That was after all the nausea.