Updated: Megan S. is our winner and has been emailed! Thank y’all so much for participating! :)

Having an almost-two-year-old this year is making me even MORE excited than usual for all things holiday! June is talking up a storm all of a sudden, and I just think she is going to be thrilled by a tree in our house (!), Thanksgiving dinner, matching jams with her cousins, decorating sugar cookies, and twinkly lights everywhere.

Of course, it will take her a few more years to appreciate some of the things I love most about the end of the year — sending and receiving Christmas cards being one! We’ll be mailing Minted cards again, and I’d love your help choosing a favorite!

1. Jingle | 2. Luke 2:14 | 3. Wonderful Love | 4. Berries of Fun | 5. Fun Botanical Frame

No fancy professional photo this year, but I have to say the iPhone portrait mode + the PicTapGo app does a pretty darn good job! Of course, everything looks good framed by a Minted design :)

This year I was drawn to some of the more lighthearted, colorful designs to match our bold outfit choices. And as always, I’m partial to the cards that include a nod to Christmas’s true meaning! (I love that you can easily filter by “religious Christmas” on their search page, if that’s your thing.) Since I knew which photo I was going to use from the get-go, their “show with my photo” tool helped me narrow down my favorites quickly.

No matter which design you choose, you can use their sophisticated design software to easily adjust your photo as well as the placement of text elements, fonts, colors, and sizing. Minted also offers the most darling envelopes, shiny foil designs, free addressing, and extra-thick stock, if you’d like.

Now for the extra-fun part: I have a $100 Minted gift certificate to give away!! To enter, just comment below with either your favorite option from our Christmas card finalists, or the Minted design you’d most like to order for your family! (Or both!) I’ll randomly choose a winner next Tuesday!

Now back to work on designing our accompanying newsletter! :)

Minted has graciously gifted us our Christmas cards, but I chose to write this post, and the opinions are my own! I have loved everything about Minted — especially their crowd-sourced designs — for many years, and it is my joy to share what they’re up to with y’all!

Happy Halloween, friends! Our fifth annual pumpkins and soup party was this weekend!

With the completion of our backyard renovation, we got a bit ambitious this year and opened up the guest list from three families to nine, for a total of 32 guests (though to be fair, several of them were infants). We got a bit nervous when every single person RSVP’d yes, but after a few last-minute drop-outs, managed to squeeze everyone in for a cozy evening :)

Thankfully the rain let up an hour before the party, and despite the gray and windy night we were left with, we were able to be outside for the pumpkin carving and s’more roasting, as planned. Our younger guests certainly weren’t afraid of the cold, and June had the best time chasing and being chased by the older kids!

On the menu:

— Pigs in a blanket (my favorite!) and veggies and dip
— Hot apple cider plus various other drinks
— Chicken Noodle Soup
— Taco Soup
— Black Bean Soup
— Cornbread and bread from La Farm
— A pan of mac and cheese
— S’mores and raspberry brownies for dessert

The nice thing about holding an annual event is that you can stock up on supplies over time, and we made a few good additions this year, including the gray gingham tablecloth above, generously-enough sized to fit our dining room table with all the leaves in. (I thought the price point, and the quality for the price point, were both very good.) We also added these tools to our carving arsenal, as well as a pumpkin gutter!! (Totally recommended if you plan to carve every year!)

Since we had LOTS of little kids in attendance, we also set up a pumpkin painting station. (I just spread out a plastic tablecloth, washable paints, and paint brushes.) This was not as messy as I feared it would be :)

Though it was a great evening, we’re considering ratcheting back the guest list a bit next year — though I love each and every person we invited, I missed feeling like I got to talk with everyone who came, and big groups are not these introverts’ forte! On the other hand, I like that this is our “signature event” and a great opportunity to mix and mingle our different groups of friends. We shall see.

I’m curious: do you prefer hosting big parties, smaller groups (2-4 couples), or just one other family or couple at a time? And what are you being for Halloween, if you’re dressing up?? :)

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More than anything else, for John’s thirtieth birthday, I wanted to remind him of how loved and cherished he is, and how much his thirty years on earth have meant to the people around him. I don’t think men necessarily hear how wonderful they are as often as the ladies in their lives, even if it’s equally true, and so for this special occasion I wanted to make sure he got the message loud and clear.

John’s birthday is in mid-July, so in late May, I sent out an email to close friends and family asking them to send me back the following by mid-June, written in the format of a letter to John:

One thing I really admire about you:
A favorite memory we share and why it stands out in my mind:
Something to look forward to in your 30s:

I included both of our parents and all of our siblings, of course, as well other family members and friends from childhood, high school, college, and North Carolina. I also asked for input from our nieces and nephews via their parents, and “assisted” June and our cats with writing their own letters, too :) My letter concluded the book.

Most people responded right away, and the ones that didn’t came through after a quick follow-up email, so it really wasn’t difficult to assemble the messages. Photos weren’t too hard, either, since I had done a bunch of scanning and organizing of old photos for our wedding slideshow. What took the most time was laying the book out, but even that was done in a few nights’ time (while shielding my browser from John, of course!).

I chose an 8×8 book with a hard, matte photo cover and layflat pages from Shutterfly. With 13 additional pages and a 50% off coupon (they are ALWAYS running promos), the total came to about $45. The book is beautiful in person – I’m thrilled with how it turned out!

John loved it, too. I think he was actually quite taken aback by it. He is a deeply private, humble person, and I think the thought of all of those people writing something nice about him was a bit overwhelming – instead of reading all of the letters in one sitting, he paged through them slowly over a few days. Mission accomplished :)

Have you ever surprised someone with messages like this? I think it’s always a hit (and I would love to hear your creative ideas!)!

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My dear friend Kristin is pregnant with TWINS! These babies are long-awaited and eagerly anticipated — and personally, two of the miracles I have most steadfastly prayed for. It makes sense that they have also been much celebrated! Last week I got to be a part of throwing Kristin’s first mini shower, and we came up with a fun game I wanted to pass along. Baby shower games can be so cheesy and lame, but this one was a definite crowd pleaser!

My friend Jess and I brainstormed twenty questions and printed up a simple score card. The questions were:

1. Who was the more well-behaved child?
2. Who asked who out on your first date?
3. Who said “I love you” first?
4. Who cried more on your wedding day?
5. Who is the better gift giver?
6. Who will be more intense about researching baby items?
7. Who will be more nervous in the delivery room?
8. Who will be the master swaddler?
9. Who will change more diapers?
10. Who is more likely to forget the babies somewhere?
11. Who will call their mom most often for advice or encouragement?
12. Who will be more likely to enforce the rules?
13. Who will have better voices when reading stories?
14. Who will plan the twins’ birthday parties?
15. Who will be the more laid-back parent?
16. Who will help with math homework?
17. Who will insist board games be played by the rules, even if the twins always lose?
18. Who will do the driving on family road trips?
19. Who is more likely to be an overenthusiastic sideline parent?
20. Who will cry more on college move-in day?

I read the questions one by one, and everyone wrote down either Kristin or Kyle for their answer. Then, we asked Kristin what her answer was, and if you got the same answer, you got a point!

For extra fun, I had also sent Kyle the list of questions in advance and he had recorded his answers on video, which we played after each of Kristin’s answers. (I asked him to record each one in a separate clip, name them according to the question, and upload them to Dropbox to keep it simple!) Kyle’s answers were SO sweet; I think incorporating the dad in some surprise way is always so fun and meaningful for the mama!

Any other baby shower games or activities you’d recommend? There are surprisingly few good ones and I’m always eager for suggestions!

P.S. We were at Making Things Happen when Kristin told us the news, so our wonderful photographer friend Amy Nicole caught it on camera. So good!

P.P.S. For those of you who know about my extreme skill at guessing baby genders – I am thinking two girls for Kristin!! But, I do admit I have never guessed twins before… we shall see! :)