It has been a busy few weeks here at the Staalsen home and I've had a wonderful vacation. I'm back to work, but thought I'd give you a little glimpse of what life has looked like over the past month.

We had a special Christmas together with our family! We hosted 18 for dinner on Christmas Day, which was a ton of work but so much fun. Getting all the food on the table hot was a chaotic challenge, but we did it.

Because there were so many of us, I opted to use paper plates which made all the teen dishwashers happy. I found these gorgeous paper gold chargers. I used clear plastic plates for the food and it looked amazing.

My favorite part of hosting is setting up the main table and the buffet tables. This year I used one of my sari's from India on the dessert table.

For bringing in the New Year, we took 20 college kids camping. We were the cooks! I was glad to be in our "home away from home " with my heater, Keurig and shower.

The kids were brave and slept in their hammocks. Brrrrrrrr

Thanks to Kennedy with Perspectives Photography for the pictures below.https://www.facebook.com/perspectivepics/

We brought the New Year in around the fire with sparklers and lots of loud fun.

We made memories and continued our tradition from last year.

Life is about these moments! Community with those we love, even the crazy ones.

There is something about being around a roaring fire that makes us bring life back to the basics. It is the imple things in life that makes it so rich.