My

family

means

the

world

to

me...

and i love them all so much. i am so blessed. God has given me an amazing family. cousins on both my mom and dad's sides, a wonderful in-law family, and texas friends that are about as close to family as one can be. no, we are not perfect. not one of us. we each have our flaws, but we love each other inspite of our imperfections. that's family. i am especially grateful this time of year when this week is jammed pack with family gatherings, my father-in-law in town, and family friends here from Texas. yes it can be tiring, but i love every minute of these cherished relationships.

these photos were taken at my cousin brittany's 26th birthday party (her golden birthday on 12/26!)... where my cousin chad served the infamous "brit-ini" in his tuxedo! haa! Cheers!

Wordless Few Words Wednesday

Enjoying...

Cherishing...

Loving...

Our last week under the lights of the Christmas Tree.

Thanks Lori for tipping me off on this awesome heart bokeh tutorial!!! xo

Top 10 of '10

I love the week between Christmas and New Years. A time to sit back, recover, and maybe even BREATHE (for what seems to be the first time in a month:). I love to reflect on the past year, as well as look forward and plan for the year to come. It's always a great week of transition for me.

Scrapbooking has been a big part of my life (and my blog) this year, so I thought i would do a TOP TEN post and feature ten of my favorite layouts from 2010... because it's always fun to revisit pages, right? right.;) Also, In some of these i linked up past post that shared more thoughts regarding the story behind the layout in case you were interested.

Alrighty then, here we go.....

This was my "one little word" layout for 2009. Love the collage feel. And yes i did learn to sew- kind of- but my mom still has to thread the bobbin. i can not for the life of me figure that thing out. maybe that should be a 2011 goal :)

I touched on my battle with anxiety/post-partum depression in this layout. i am so glad i scrapped about this. this layout means so much to me.

a layout about the initial changes we saw in jonah after 8 weeks of speech therapy. i love all the papers, details, and color combos. but it's really the story that i love the most.

our incredible MckCruise to the Caribbean. sigh. love the dreamy, beachy feel. and the vellum layering.

this layout makes me laugh everytime i see it. jordan's nicknames- one being the town crier because she has such a loud voice sometimes!

circle punches and grids make me happy. and so does the Hello Sunshine Collection. :)

Love how this layout brings back so many fun memories. the greece trip was certainly a highlight of 2010.

i love the frames and the scalloped edge. his excitement about his costume was so sweet.

i love the topic of this layout-- trusting in God (or my lack of trust sometimes). i love how all the embellishments supported my feelings.

This one is full of bright Christmas colors and was so fun to make. I love the timeless message it shares.

It's obvious that grids, collages, and punches seem to be my favorite design style! ha! It's fun to look back and see "themes" in design and revisit favorites!!!

Thanks for stopping by today!!

A Holly Jolly Christmas (photo heavy)

... and what a Christmas it was.

We headed to my parents (1o minutes from our house) on the 23rd to stay until Christmas Day.

And i spent as much time packing for a full-blown vacation as i did for this a ten minute trip up the road. Well worth it though....

Because we spent lots of quality time together, waiting for the big day....

The kids woke my parents up christmas eve morning at 5 am by running all around the house (while todd and i were still sleeping)!!

So, to burn a little christmas eve energy we went dogsledding with Todd's sister, Nikki.

And it was a BLAST. Jonah especially loved it.

We then went back inside for hot chocolate and saw a coyote.

Christmas Eve we went to dinner, then came back for a family Christmas Eve devotion.

I love the magical excitement of Christmas Eve...

Until, that is, when the kids blow a kiss and head to bed....

and Santa begins to get the toys ready, only to discover not all of the bike parts are in the box for the little boy who is dying for an elephant chair and a bike.

Seriously. Are you kidding me? A factory sealed box with no bike seat.

So Santa wrote a note that the morons at Huffy "elves" forgot to pack it in his sleigh but daddy will go to a special store to get one the Santa will drop off just for Jonah. sheesh.

He obviously didn't mind, because after rounding the corner and catching the first glimpse, he did this:

Nothing could dampen this little boys Christmas excitement, not even "a hole in his bike" (ha!) It was a TOY STORY CHRISTMAS for Jonah (and yes he got his elephant chair too)

And it was a PRINCESS Christmas for this little girl-- everything princess, even her new princess bike (which had the seat. couldn't decide if that was a good or bad thing.)

We headed to my uncle and aunts next door for Christmas Lunch.

Which, in true Conner fashion, was pure craziness. Which i would have no other way.

It was certainly a Holly Jolly Christmas for the Hufford Family. I hope your Christmas was full of love, happiness and joy... and spent with those you cherish most.

Winner!!

Be back soon with pics and stories from our Christmas weekend! It's been non-stop fun and we wouldn't have it any other way :) Todd's dad is in town AND we are getting ready to head out for my cousin Brittany's 26th birthday... drink of the night will be the "brit-ini" haaa!

But for now wanted to let you know Random.org chose #20 for my Ella Publishing Gift Certificate giveaway. Leah, that's you!!! Contact me at jlhufford (at) conneragency (dot) com and i'll get you the details! Congrats!


Leah said...

love farm houses! thanks for the give away...and merry christmas!

Hope it's been a MERRY weekend!

Wishing you...

Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and a wonderful Holiday Season.

Recently, I heard one of my favorite Christmas songs, "Joy to the World" and I paused during the lyrics "Let every heart prepare Him room". I couldn't help but think how ironic it was that there was literally "no room" in the inn the night of Christ's Birth (Luke 2:7).

It's so easy to not make room for Jesus in our hearts. I am certainly guilty of this.

We believe we need to have it all together before coming to Him, but in reality, he will go to the deepest darkest places-- places like a dirty, smelly, stable, to show His great love for you and me.

I am so thankful He is willing to go to those places in my heart-- places that I am not proud of, places that need cleaning, places that need the healing touch of the Savior King.

JOY to the World the Lord has come-- for me and for you.

Merry Christmas!!

P.S. Ella Publishing gift card giveaway still open below :)

Scrapping your favorite photos

Hi Friends! Two things to share with you on Christmas Eve Eve... (or "Christmas Adam" as my family calls it- har har har:)

1. Ella Publishing gift card giveaway still open below...(enough to purchase about 2 ebooks!!!)

2. I have a layout to share today!

I am over at Lily Bee today and discussing the topic of scrapping favorite photos. You know, those pictures that are so precious that we are afraid to scrap them... afraid we won't do it justice.

I have a few of those.... this photo being one of them. It was definitely a sweet precious moment that I put off scrapbooking.

So I decided to challenge myself and create a layout about Jordan's first christmas (2 years later!). And i am so glad I did. I love the way it turned out.

I used Lily Bee's Christmas Town Papers, Rub Ons, and Chipboard. The colors and patterns of Christmas Town was perfect for the layout I wanted to create.

Other supplies include: Red alpha chipboard by American Crafts, Circle Alphabet by Jenni Bowlin, Ledger Alphabet by October Afternoon, Tinsel Snowflake by Girls Paperie, Twine by Martha Stewart, Stickpins and typed sentiments by Making Memories, Stars by Petaloo, Rhinestones and Pen by American Crafts

I hope this inspires you to get those favorite photos and memories down on (lily bee) paper;) Have a great day!!!

Home. And a giveaway.

My dad and his three brothers grew up on a pony farm in the middle of Indianapolis.

Many years later, they purchased this property from their parents and built three houses on this piece of land, while one brother and his family lived in the home the brothers grew up in. Although there are no longer ponies or animals (aside from the occasional deer, coyote, or fox that happens by), the red barn still stands (and hosted some kickin' parties in high school) and we still lovingly refer to this place as "the farm".

It's was best of both worlds- a "country", open feel only a mile away from one of the busiest intersections in Indianapolis. Not to mention, I grew up next door to all my cousins on my dad's side of the family. That was my home, my stomping grounds. And it's still only about ten miles from MY family's house now.

There is just something special about a childhood home-- the memories that were built, the stories that were shared, the safety it provided. I love that I had that place in my life; and I love that that is what Todd and I are currently building for our children in our own home.

I love that I have a place here, the Hufford House, to share my thoughts, joys, sorrows, stories, and art. A home on this crazy thing called the internet. I am so thankful for each one of you that stop by here, and for your sweet comments. It means so much to me that I have an opportunity to connect with each one of you through the blog world. It's become a safe place for me, something i truly cherish, and a big part of my life in 2010.

So, in the spirit of Christmas and the Holidays, I am giving one of my Hufford House visitors a $10 gift certificate to the fabulous Ella Publishing. (home of the ever-inspiring Ella ebooks!)

Leave a comment here to be entered to win a $10 gift card to Ella Publishing. Comments will close on 10pm EST Christmas Day.

ETA: Photo by Carpenter Photography & Design

Merry Christmas, and as always thank you for stopping by!!