Rocking Around the Tobler Tree

They say that a picture says 1,000 words so I'll let them do the speaking. In summation, we had a lot of fun!

P.s. I love this picture of Mom and Dad!

A little background. Mom Tobler and I found this sleigh back in September for $5. My mother is in love with Christmas so I thought I would buy this sleigh for her. I asked the gentleman if it came apart and he said oh sure! No it doesn't come apart but after dismantling it as best he could I felt so guilty I bought it anyways. There was no way my mother would be able to take it back to Canada. So on Christmas Eve, Mom, Dad and I ran over to the next door neighbors who had a reindeer and hooked up the sleigh. Hehe. We're so sneaky!

Christmas morning waiting for Clark and Rachel to get here! I was just a little bit excited!

Every year Jakob and I write a letter to each other. This years letter from Jakob was extra special. A picture is worth a thousand words!

Mom Toblers turtle. I'll let her tell you what she decided to name him. :)

Jakob got Father a name plate. On the front it said his name and on the back it said: "I'm Kind Of A Big Deal!"

We had so much fun! We dearly missed the rest of the Tobler family but we're anxiously awaiting the reunion in Florida! Merry Christmas to all!!

Sig

I'd like you to meet the newest addition to our Tobler family. Even though we've had Sig since the 31st of August, we had to keep him a secret until after Christmas seeing has how Sig's brother was Mom Tobler's Christmas present. See I can keep a secret! Jakob named him after his gun, it's growing on me, at least it's better than Michelangelo!

They're only 2 inches now but after some time they'll grow to be about the size of an apple box. Yikes!! I sure do love my little reptile child!!

Merry Christmas

As per tradition here is our yearly Santa Photo. Doesn't Santa look wonderful?! This is a tradition my family has done for the past 16 years and it is my favorite. It is so fun to look back year after year to see how much everyone has changed. And the best part about this year? There was NO LINE! I was so happy! Here is our Blog Christmas Card with a recap of our year.

2010 - Lion King - Several Concerts - Phase one of Immigration Complete - Attend General Conference Live for the First Time - Never Ending List of Projects and Crafts - First Anniversary in Banff - Jakob on Dean's List - One More Year Till Jakob Graduates - Still Loving Vegas - Moments with Friends We'll Cherish Forever - Eternally Blessed

We hope that this season is filled with joy, love and happiness for you and your family. May the true meaning of Christmas stay near to your heart. Merry Christmas!

'Tis the Season

As most know I tend to be on the craftier side of things and currently I'm craving a creativity adventure that involves, paint, glue guns, fabric and one massive mess.

Things such as these Christmas Trees. They can be found over at The Exchange. I simply adore them and the endless possibilities that they can be created!

Doesn't this look stunning?! And it is SUPER simple! This tutorial can be found at Stories of A2Z. Pottery Barn look without the PB price. Plus who doesn't love making something gorgeous with their own two hands?

I don't know about you but I love pillows!! I have a little list of all of the decoration pillows I want to make when we have some room to store them. (I really should just make them with a zipper so I can switch them out but that's another project WAY down on my list!) Toddle over to Tatertots and Jello to find this super cute pillow and MUCH more!My favorite (Well the trees are a close second) This little snow man! I LOVE HIM!! So rustic! Crafty Chic Mommy shows you how simple this is to make. I think I want to make a little family.

The only problem?! I have no place to display such a creation and even worse? No place to store it once it comes time to take it all down! Which makes my heart weep with sadness. Plus with the holidays right around the corner (9 days can you believe it?) Who has the time with the shopping (mine was finished back in September woot woot) wrapping, festivities, work and family gatherings? Not me I can tell you that much. It makes me sad to think that Christmas is almost here and gone when I don't feel as though I have soaked up all of the holiday goodness yet. Never-the-less Jakob and I are about the wait in the forever long Santa line to take our yearly photo. Perhaps this will make the season a little more real to me (who'd a thunk being an elf every day wouldn't?) Honestly I think it's the lack of snow ;) Merry Christmas everyone! Happy Crafting.

All of these Ideas and many more can be found at U-Create

Elfdian Jones

This story begins on a night like any other night. I was a face painting elf at the Suncoast hotel. We rolled up the bouncers and were saying good night when I realized I had forgotten my keys and had to go back upstairs to find them. Once my keys were safely in my possession I decided to use the washroom before I left. No sooner had I shut the bathroom stall then all of the lights in the casino go out. Let's just say I was freaking out!! I'm fumbling for the handle trying to find my way out of the rest room. Honestly why is every bathroom built like a maze? And how many people really remember how to get out of there in the first place let alone when you can't even see you're hand in front of your face. That's when the fire alarm goes off and the emergency lights kick on. Yes, I screamed!

Thankful to now be free from the bathroom I round the corner to go back downstairs. As I round the corner to the escalators I see these metal sheet doors coming down to seal off the upstairs. In an effort not to be trapped I crawl under the doors on my hands an knees as their coming down straight up Indian Jones style in full elf entire and face paint kit in tow. All the while some guy Is telling me that I can't leave. There was NO WAY I was staying trapped upstairs in the dark!!! Right about then my boss's son calls me to ensure I wasn't on my way back down the elevator when the lights when out, which I would have been had I not had to use the bathroom. Freaking CRAZY! In summation... it was an eventful night and I am thankful to be home!

In the Bowl

Dad loves magnets so for Christmas Jakob and I bought him a Neocube to play with and he won't put them down! It's getting on poor mothers nerves.

Mom says he would play with them on the toilet if he wasn't afraid he'd lose one in the bowl. Stinking hilarious!!

Eight Capes Pronto Please

As previously mentioned, my boss saw my elf costume and ordered 8 capes to be made A.S.A.P. I was thankful for the opportunity however after working 24/7 on my own costume I was a little less than thrilled to see more red and green. Never the less off to work we went, why? Because elves need to be warm too.

For the next 4 days this is what Mom Toblers sewing room looked like and even though Father wasn't all that thrilled he put on a smile when he saw the disaster. One would wonder if these really did make a difference, my answer to you would be yes. I was so thankful to have a toasty warm cape to wrap up in when it was freezing outside. Now that it's all said and done, they really did work!

I wish we could wear capes now a days without people looking at us strangely. Living in the early 1800's would have been just swell I think. However I am thankful for a flushing toilet perhaps it is worth the trade. Merry Christmas everyone!

Merry St. Patr...Err Umm... Christmas?

(Yes I wrote this post in March of 2011 but I loved it so much I wanted to keep it in it's original text, Sorry for the confusion)Woah! Hold it right there reader! I can see where this is going and I don't appreciate the smirk on your face. Yes, I do know how to read a calendar and yes, I realize that I missed the boat for "last minute Christmas posts" by about 3 months however I finally finished putting the finishing touches on my costume (it took me long enough) and I simply could not wait until next Christmas to post about this! So judge me if you will, I'm a proud leprechaun elf.

Back around November 26th I decided that I wanted to make a size adjustable elf costume with matching cape for this years elf season. Only one problem, Elf season begins December 1st! Yikes! After 4 trips back and forth to JoAnn's Mom Tobler and I finally found something that was the right shade of green, cost efficient, and the right fabric. I'm telling you elf green is hard to come by! And to top things off... we had to piece several patterns together to get all of the elements that I wanted. Yes I know, I'm picky, but if I was going to take the limited time to do this, then I had better do it right!

Short on time, energy, and patience we set to work and aside from all of the trips back and forth to JoAnn's I'd say we did a pretty good job! I loved the fabric and I was excited to have something that I could wear layers under without being afraid I'd burst the seam. (It can get cold in Vegas believe it or not.)

Things went together quite smoothly, for my second dress, I was quite impressed. For the record, inverted curves (I know that's not the right term aka the boob) are a bummer to sew. And working in a full skirt around the bottom with piping wasn't my cup of tea either, but...

... when things got hard Mom Tobler was right there to step in and guide me with words of encouragement or in this case, simply take over. With 20 minutes until my first elf party of the year, I was getting ready (transforming into an elf is no easy task) and Mom Tobler was hemming my dress. Talk about down to the wire! Everything came together perfectly and I was so thrilled!

I wanted it to be mostly red with a jewel neckline. I always wear my cheer jumper underneath so a jewel neckline was a must. I love how full the skirt was (after it was sewn) and the gold detail gave it that extra Christmas sparkle.

The greatest feature of this dress it's size adjustable! The other dress I had, I could never wear layers when I was outside because it was simply too tight. Putting lacing up both sides solved that problem. This made it quick and easy to adjust and I could do it on my own! Wonderful!

I knew I wanted a cape with a hood to keep me warm as well. I had it done the same day as my dress but it didn't have any detail on it. Last week I ripped it apart and added the gold trim around the outside edge. I wanted it to tie in with the trim on the bottom edge of my dress and to be honest... the gold trim makes the cape. I also added a gold clasp. I love my cape, and so did my boss. I stopped by her place to pick up my supplies for my first elf party when she spotted me, not that I didn't want her to see, I am pretty proud of my costume, but I didn't want to make a spectacle of it. She ordered 8 more capes to be done A.S.A.P. A.K.A before elf season was in full swing. I was pretty sick of red and green by the end of it, Mom Tobler and I could probably make capes in our sleep. We had a lot of fun in the process however. Working as a team is always makes for a good time.

I love my costume! Just putting it on yesterday made me miss elf season. Even though it's crazy busy and tiring, it's my favorite time of year, filled with joy, laughter and the spirit of Christmas. Only 9 months left ;)

What's Keeping Us Busy?

Company Visits - Make, Design & Sew Elf Costume - Christmas Work - Christmas Cards - Boss Saw Costume - 8 More Capes *sigh*- Daughter-in-law Training - Jakob Work - Balloon Lessons - Register For School - Finals for Jakob - Talk to Lawyer - Travel for Work - Fix Broken Car Window - Christmas Festivities - Primary Music - Living - Loving - Laughing - Welcome to Elf Season!

(Pictures to follow)

My Little Helper

After making capes with Mom Tobler (post coming soon), working non stop and creating and making a custom made elf costume (another post coming soon) I was spent. So when it came time for Christmas cards, let's just say, my heart wasn't exactly into it. I wanted to use my cricut, which was fine but by doing so took me more time than necessary for silly things like cutting out a rectangle window when I could have simply glued the picture to the paper. Live and learn, and I'll tell ya, I've learned! It did make super cute little words though and I love them! Thank heavens for my dear husband who was my little helper and as you can tell from the picture was thrilled about it. I am pleased with the end result but for all of the man hours that went into them I feel as though they should be a little more extravagant. They are far more "my-heart-to-yours" than the one's from Wal-Mart (which we still ended up buying because I ran out of supplies) Needless to say, I have a year to figure out my next design and I'll be starting much earlier next year!

A House to Admire

I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month - Harlan Miller

I'd like to take a minute to admire some of these gingerbread houses. They are exquisite! Look at the doors and gazebo on this one, not to mention how big it is! Glorious!

This one has charming written all over it! I love the shutters and cobble stone walkway; and how darling are those "bushes"? It just makes me want to say "awe".

This one takes the cake however. Look at the detail in the lattice underneath, the wood grains and it's circular! Everything about this is just stunning! So detailed and precise, I envy people who can do this. Next year I would love to make one I'm sure it'll be just your basic box house however. I've never attempted a real gingerbread house... this should be exciting! Now I only have to wait... 11 months :(.

It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air -
W. T. Ellis

Christmas Spirit

Jakob & I wanted to do a Christmas photo shoot this year. I wanted some professional pictures that weren't from our wedding and with Christmas cards right around the corner I couldn't think of a better time to get them. We headed up to Mount Charleston to play in the snow (It doesn't exactly feel or look like Christmas in the valley). Jazz (JOA Photography) is an aspiring photographer just starting to branch out on her own and I think she did a fabulous job! She was very charismatic and took a wide range of pictures. Here are some of our favorites.

Tying Jakob up with Christmas lights was Jazz's idea and I LOVED IT!

My dear husband likes to make silly faces.

The focus was supposed to be Jakob's old man sweater. This sweater was my Opa's in Holland. It means a lot to my family, especially my father and we wanted to showcase it for our photo's.

(I Love this one of Jakob)

On the funner side of things. :)

Thanks so much to Jazz! She did a fabulous job! I just bought a wedding gown to trash! (don't worry it was only $35 at D.I) I am so excited!!!!!!!!!! Hopefully we'll be able to do that come April when Lake Mead isn't so cold. Merry Christmas Everyone!