'Tis The Season

The Christmas season is most definitely upon us! We took our family Christmas pictures Friday afternoon, went to Ryan's company Christmas party on Friday night, I baked a gazillion Eggnog Snickerdoodles on Saturday night for a holiday cookie exchange that I went to this afternoon, and we put our Christmas decorations up this morning. So much fun! This is such a wonderful time of year. And I can not even begin to tell you how excited I am to spend our first Christmas with Cameron!

I know she's not going to remember any of it, but I'm determined to do all the traditional Christmas stuff this year—decorate (which we already did), go see Santa, bake cookies, leave out cookies and milk and carrots (for the reindeer of course) on Christmas Eve, get Christmas PJs for the whole family (a tradition in my family growing up), read The Night Before Christmas and the story of the first Christmas, wake up early Christmas morning and open stockings...I just want to do it all!

So it's not the most beautiful tree in the world, but it's the one Ryan and I bought the first Christmas we were married (this is where you say "awww how sweet"). When I was getting it out of the box this morning I couldn't help but laugh, it looks nothing like the picture of the tree on the box. I think the marketing people we are little too generous with the lushness depicted in the picture!

Our tree

 Cameron pulling the ornaments off the tree!  

 Playing with the singing frogs under the tree.

Ryan and his brother Ross got Nutcrackers every year for Christmas when they were little, which I think is a really neat tradition. I think his mom said that they each have 7 or 8 Nutcrackers. We don't have space to display them all right now, so Ryan's parents are graciously keeping them for us at their house, but we did snag one of them (the red one). It's from Christmas 1988. The other Nutcracker is one that Ryan's mom and dad got for us when the they were in Germany not to long ago.

The Nutcrackers   

Our stockings (my sister made them) and my 12 days of Christmas ornaments (my grandma collected them between 1978 and 1989 and gave them to me a few years ago).

 Santa with a bag full of candy canes. Ryan's mom painted him back when they were kids.

Of course it didn't take very long for Cameron to snag a candy cane from Santa's bag!

The elf's on our dining room table were decorations that Ryan remembers from when he was a kid. Ryan's mom gave them to us the first Christmas we were married because we had hardly any decorations. Do you notice something a little funny about the elf with the doll? Doesn't it look like he's about to stab her with a knife? HA That's something that Ryan never even thought of when he was a kid, but when we pulled them out that first year he immediately noticed it. I'm sure that's not what it's supposed to be, but it sure does look like it! Now we just laugh every year...and display it proudly!

 The table

A close up of the "crazy" elf. 

And last but not least (ok maybe it is the least) the scary reindeer chair cover that Ryan got at the White Elephant gift exchange at the company party on Friday night. Does it not look like ALF?

And so it all begins...Christmas 2010. I pray that you all have a wonderful time preparing and celebrating this year. We will keep you posted on all our Christmas activities. And in midst of all the craziness of the season, don't forget to stop and remember the true reason for this wonderful time of year—the birth our our savior, Jesus Christ.