Christmas Cards With Tiny Prints

After Oona's diagnosis and surgery rocked our sense of normalcy, we have since found a new "normal" - it's a more exhausting, chaotic kind of schedule and we're all still adjusting. Because of this, I thought Christmas photos and cards would be impossible to pull off this holiday season.

We just so happened to luck out with the weather in October - 70F, sunny days for over a week straight in west Michigan at the end of fall is really rare! We rushed the kids to the beach on one of these nice evenings to grab some photos. It was all rushed and kind of chaotic, (hmm, kind of like life right now...) but I really love the pictures we got. I especially love how all the kids wore different shades of purple to match Oona's cast. These photos will always remind me of these crazy, grace-filled days with our kids.

I was thrilled when TinyPrints reached out to me this fall to try some of their fabulous personalized, holiday stationary options. We ordered our cards from them last year, and the quality is just fantastic. They seriously have so many beautiful designs and templates this year that trying to narrow down our choices was a real challenge!

We ended up going with the "Cheerful Holly" die cut snowflake card, in Hazlenut. Look at that gorgeous floral print! *Swoon.* I love it in all three of the colors TinyPrints offers it in! The best part is that it's the perfect ornament size, and is something family and friends can keep for years to come. (I hate throwing photo cards away every year, and love the idea of having the photos on an ornament!)

This year I also wanted to try out the matching envelope liners (an add-on when you purchase your cards,) and personalized postage stamps. These little details are such easy ways to make your Christmas cards look extra special! I think family and friends will get a kick out of seeing the small Freys on a postage stamp this year. ;-)

If you're in need of creative, high quality photo cards and accessories this year, I highly recommend checking out TinyPrints! I can personally vouch for their fantastic customer service, unique designs, and fantastic, quality photo printing! (They're running some great holiday promotional deals right now too - hop on it!)

* Thanks TinyPrints for partnering on today's post! Opinions are my own.*

Water On Fire

We had an incredibly powerful low pressure system roll in last week. It brought a ton of wind, rain, (and a headache for me! Am I the only person who gets storm headaches?) It was a couple of really dark, stormy days in Holland. I saw some pictures of the massive waves on Lake Michigan from friends on Facebook and decided to take a quick trip to the state park last Friday evening with Olive, to try to get some pictures myself.

We picked the perfect time to visit. We caught the most dramatic, amazing sunset I have ever seen since living here (or elsewhere, for that matter!) There was this incredible panorama of storm clouds leaving, and a fiery bright ribbon on the horizon over the lake where the sky was clearing, (it gave the illusion that the lake was on fire, it was that bright,) and in between the two were massive, low hanging orange, pink, red and violet clouds. The wind was incredibly strong still, (and cold!) and sand was pelting our skin. The waves were huge! I had never seen the water so high on the lake. Lake Michigan, man...it has such a personality. One day it can be as still and glossy as a sheet of glass, another day you might see 20 foot waves, and in the winter the whole landscape freezes over into an alien looking place. It's never boring, and it's always beautiful.

Today we take Oona back to the children's hospital for her 6 week cast change! While it's awesome to have reached this half-way point in her Spica cast treatment, it's daunting to have another 6 weeks to go. Praying for an easy procedure and comfort for our Oonie today and the rest of this week as she adjusts to the new cast.

Market At Virtue Cider

I love helping my sister out with her shows, especially around the holiday season. There's a lot of energy and fun buzzing about all the makers as they set up their booths and show off their wares. This time the market was held at Virtue Cider, in Fennville, MI. It was a beautiful location, in a beautiful country setting (and the cider I sampled was amazing!)

I'm always button-poppin' proud of Grace and her ever improving, evolving style of ceramics. I love her feminine flair and pattern mixing. She has an Etsy store now, if you want to check it out! (Her floral mugs and hand bound journals would make excellent Christmas presents for that hard-to-shop-for person we all have in our lives!)

A Much Needed Adventure

For the first time since Oona's surgery, we all got out of the house for an outdoor family adventure. It was such a wonderful Saturday that I had to share about it!

We made the very short drive over to the Outdoor Discovery Center right here in town, which we had never been to as a family before. What an amazing place! There is so much to see and do. There are several elk on the property, as well as a birds of prey area where you can see everything from a peregrine falcon and bald eagle to owls and kestrels. (All the birds on site were injured and are unable to survive in the wild anymore.) There are two awesome playgrounds and endless trails through beautiful ponds and wildlife. There's also an educational Native American site where you can explore life size teepees and wigwams! And the best part - it's free admission!

Trick Or Treat

Happy Halloween 2015! My documentation skills are getting more and more mediocre! By the time we got a picture of our family dressed up, Olive had ditched us to trick or treat with her friend, and we were soaked and freezing (it rained the whole time!) I'm glad we managed to get out, in spite of the circumstances. The best part of trick or treating is getting to say hello and laugh with friends and neighbors. This was our first time trick or treating in our own neighborhood, and it was a lot of fun!

We dressed up as Hoodwinked characters this year - Matt was the wolf, I was Granny Puckett, Olive was Red, Silas was Japeth the Goat and Oona was supposed to be Boingo the bunny, but she wasn't feeling the bunny ears last night.

So much candy! 90% of it should really go right in the trash, but our wills are so weak!