Happy December!! One of my absolute favorite months of the year. Getting into the holiday spirit, continuing holiday traditions, and starting new ones. We realized this past weekend that we enjoy our time up at the cabin in the winter almost as much as the summer.

As you have probably already realized the Hensel family, Rachel’s family, is our ride or die. Rach and I are obviously besties, Josh is one of Ethan’s closest friends, and our kids just get along so well together. Ethan needed some help from Josh installing our new wood stove, so Rach and I decided to plan a fun weekend for us and the kids.

While the boys worked we made Christmas cookies, Christmas ornaments, listened to Christmas songs, and watched Christmas movies. We also decided to invest in some ice skates for all the kids. Little did we know they would spend the majority of the weekend on the ice. They absolutely loved it. Ethan also picked up a hand auger and ice fishing pole for Austin that he put to use right away. All this to say, there were core memories made this weekend and this will be one of our new favorite traditions. I hope you enjoy this blog and have a very Merry Christmas with family and friends.

The sunsets are just as gorgeous in the winter as they are in the summer. We decided to join the kids on the ice after all our work was done. So much fun!!

These 4 might as well be siblings. Thats how close they have become over the years. It is so much fun watching them make core memories together.

Our happy place!!! Buying this cabin has definitely been one of the best decisions we have ever made.

My ride or die!! Love this girl to death. Also this JACKET is my go to lately. As you can tell this was a chill weekend and I rocked my Aerie Pajamas all weekend!! Last but not least, I live in my UGG Classic Ultra Mini during MN winters. Click this LINK for details as well as a great Amazon option that are more budget friendly.

Had to make sure Josh got into one of the pics. He is Ethan’s go to when he needs a hand, needs some guy time, or wants a cribbage and bourbon night.

If you haven’t yet, please meet our new golden retriever puppy, Presley. She is the sweetest and also loved being on the ice with the kiddos. It was her first trip up to the cabin. She seemed to love the cabin as much as we do, as you can tell from the next photo. Lol.

Someone is exhausted from the play time on the ice with the kiddos.

The original reason we came up to the cabin this weekend was to get this baby put in. How dang cute is it?!?! Let’s just say it is extremely efficient and we needed a window open to cool it down a bit. Ethan painted the brick area a couple weekends ago with a high heat fireplace paint.

Nothing to see here, lol. Josh was Ethan’s attic guy. Cutting holes in the ceiling and roof and connecting stove pipes together. Let’s just say he needed a shower after.

As you may or may not be aware, we lost our beautiful Piper, golden retriever, to stomach cancer right before Thanksgiving. One of her favorite places was the cabin. So we had to get a Mixtiles picture made and hung it right in the kitchen area for all to see.

Rach and I did our annual Christmas gift exchange between the 2 of us this weekend as well. How dang cute is this temp-controlled Ember coffee mug?!?! She said she wanted it to match out cabinets at the cabin.

The girls loved helping with the Christmas cookies. These ones are Oreo truffles and we obviously made this batch gluten free for Nevaeh. We used this Recipe but just substituted gluten free Oreos.

Well no surprise here. If you have been following me for any period of time you know I am a #spiller. I was bringing these PB Cup Cookies outside to cool down and accidentally bumped the pan on the door. 5 second rule, lol.

The ornament making was a hit. Even the adults got involved and made their own.

Ethan was finally able to wrap up the wallpaper in the bunk room downstairs. He had to remove a birch log that was screwed to the wall and patch Sheetrock behind where that was. Love how it turned out. Wallpaper is making a comeback!!

YOU GUYS!!!!! We are coming in to my favorite time of year and I am so excited to share some of my favorite holiday decor and gift guides for the special people in your life. We have already started decorating and figured most of you will be starting soon as well. We purchased a lot more this year as we will be celebrating Christmas with my side of the family at the cabin, and plan on making it a yearly tradition. Sledding down the hill from our cabin on to the lake, ice skating, ice fishing, winter bonfires, etc.

I have created these guides with items that fall in to every budget. From my family to yours I truly hope you have the best holiday season with family and friends.

My favorite holiday decor from - Target. LINK.

Affordable Christmas PJ’s for the whole family. LINK.

These are some of my favorite stocking stuffer ideas for her. Again, make it easy on your significant other and just send them the LINK.

Men can be so hard to shop for sometimes. Ethan helped curate this gift guide with all of his favorites. There is bound to be something on this list that your man will love. LINK.

With Grayson’s help we created this gift guide for the younger boys. LINK.

Some of my favorite holiday decor - from Walmart. LINK

More holiday decor favorites - from Amazon. LINK.

If you love hosting family or friends for holiday parties, like we do, these are some of the must haves. LINK.

Awesome gift ideas for her. Ladies, help your significant other out and send them this LINK.

If you have any teenage girls to shop for, these are some great gift ideas. Nevaeh approved!! LINK.

Thank you to Austin for helping create this gift guide for the teen boys in your life. LINK.

Fall is my favorite time of year and the apple orchard with the fam is a must. I am big on tradition. We do the whole apple orchard thing in the afternoon. In the evening we make chili for dinner and apple crisp, with fresh picked apples, for dessert. We eat our apple crisp while watching our favorite fall movie, Hocus Pocus.

We decided to go to a smaller, less busy, apple orchard this year. We used to go to this one all the time when the kids were much younger. OUTFIT!!

We stayed at a Marriott property, in Orange Beach, walking distance from the Wharf Amphitheater. We grabbed a delicious dinner on a patio overlooking this cute marina area. Yes…..Ethan was obsessed with this OUTFIT!!

We had so much fun at Whitney’s wedding. My forever wedding date. OUTFITS!!

Grooms dinner outfit of the night!! Jeans, shirt, and shoes all true to size. OUTFIT!!

Sweater sized up to medium. Skirt & boots true to size. OUTFIT!!

This entire cute fall OUTFIT brought to you by Amazon.

Love this cozy sweater and loafer slippers from Target, paired with Madewell jeans. Slippers true to size but sized up to medium in sweater. OUTFIT!!

Finally got some Mixtiles up at our cabin. It is feeling more and more like home. Use code IG35 for 35% off orders over $139.

It was tough to get up to the cabin this fall with the boys football schedule. So we were a little late getting boat out and our Water Volleyball Set. Let’s just the say the boys had a 30 minute cold plunge to get this work done.

She loved all of her great grandberries (grandkids). Austin & Nevaeh.

Major throwback here. One big happy family.

Time flies when you are having fun. Where did October go? What an amazing month. As you will see from the photos below we had a lot going on this month.

Grayson wrapped up his football season with a win at the MN Vikings US Bank Stadium. He had the perfect season and went undefeated. Ethan loved coaching again this year. Austin is playing amazing as well and his team is in the middle of section playoffs. Nevaeh continues to enjoy her 2 dance classes as they work towards their Winter Showcase, taking place in January.

We did a quick weekend at the cabin to get things ready for winter and dock removal. Ethan had bought concert tickets to both Cody Johnson and Post Malone for my birthday. These were back to back weekends. He ended up finding tickets for Post Malone in Orange Beach, AL, which ironically enough was a couple days before our friend Whitney’s wedding, which was also in AL a couple hours away. Both concerts were AMAZING!!

Whitney’s wedding was incredible. She talked me into coming out of retirement to do her makeup. She didn’t have to try too hard, lol. We are so happy for her, Matthew, and the kids. Lastly, we obviously made sure to make it to the apple orchard as a family. Enjoy this snapshot into our October.

At the very end of October we got the news that my Grandma, mother’s side, got diagnosed with stage 4 esophogeal cancer. It had already spread to liver and she decided to not go through chemo. She was put on hospice immediately and things progressed rather quickly. I was able to get out to California with my mom and sister right away and spent 3 days with her and my aunt until she passed the evening of October 25th. I am heartbroken but so happy I was able to see her and that she isn’t in pain anymore. Love you Granny Ree Ree.

Cody Johnson was absolutely one of my top 3 favorite concerts ever. He was so engaging with the audience. He preached and talked about chasing your dreams, not giving up, and not letting the naysayers affect you. OUTFIT!!

Our seats were so close and it was so worth it. He is one of my favs.

Once again, Ethan had surprised me with incredible seats. This outdoor venue was soooo cool. Posty absolutely killed it. Also, how have I never heard of Muscadine Bloodline?!?!?! They opened for Posty and were also incredible.

A dear friend and one of the most beautiful brides I have done makeup on.

Those eyes though!! They are poppin. So happy that Whitney found the most loving, gentle man in Matthew. So happy for their new little family.

We are loving watching Austin play varsity football this year. He is getting a lot of playing time and making a big impact. All his hard work is paying off. I thought this Crew from Abercrombie was appropriate. Obviously had to match it up with these red Adidas Gazelle shoes.

Grayson’s team ended up having the perfect season, undefeated. The local youth program was able to set up an end of the year scrimmage/game at the Vikings US Bank Stadium. It was so cool watching him play where our NFL team plays. He was pumped. Ethan & Austin were coaching from the sidelines and Nevaeh & I got to join for pictures at the end.

This is one of my favorite pictures of my grandma. She was the funniest, spunkiest, sassiest, bubbliest, and loving grandma. We will all miss you dearly.

Top: My sister, auntie Bobbie, me, and my mom. Grandma in front. Bottom left: My mom & Grandma. Bottom right: My dad and Grandma.

My sister and I with grandma, in our teenage years. Can you see the resemblance?