It’s that time of year again… Christmas time is here again… a time for family and friends to come together and celebrate. This truly is my favorite time of the year guys. I love seeing the color of the leaves changing, pulling out all of the decorations and making my home look like Santa threw up in it *laughs happily* and busting out the Christmas tree! Thanksgiving morning we get up early to stuff the turkey in the oven and then go grab a couple of newspapers. Black friday is an annual event for us, so we have to grab those sales sheets to map out our shopping trip. Friday morning we’re up early and out the door for some shopping galore, then home to set up the tree and wrap presents while listening to Christmas songs and watching our favorite movies… White Christmas, The Grinch and every variation of A Christmas Carol we can find. It’s such a joyous occasion and gives us an opportunity to leave life and stress on the front porch, at least for a day.  We lost my adopted brother and both of our cats this year so it’s been a very trying time for us. Pulling out the tree and the decorations, losing myself in cheesy, angsty Christmas movies have been a godsend this year. I’m really reminded right now how unpredictable life can be and it only makes this time of year that much more important. While writing this post I was reminded of a post I did back in 2012 and I wanted to share that with you guys today….

Christmas in our house means a time of gathering and recognizing the traditions. There is a long list of things we do every year, and the family have come to expect it. First, we always decorate our tree on Thanksgiving day while listening to Christmas Carols. We have such an eclectic array of ornaments and each and every one holds special meaning as well. Every year each member of the family gets a new ornament and this ornament always reflects that person. Trust me, if you know us you could walk over to this tree and know who each ornament is for! For each of the kiddo’s in the family, including myself, we have a baby’s first Christmas ornament. So there are precious bobbles on this tree that are 42 years young!