Christmas Decor

After waking up early and meeting my dear friend Beth for a 6 mile run {in 35 degree temps}, I came home to get focused on pulling the house together and getting the Christmas decorations up. Steve brought all of the totes in a few days ago but I just haven't had a chance to get it done.

There is just something about Christmas decor that makes me happy. I will be the first to admit that I have no talent in the home decorating department, so Christmas is the one time of the year that I feel like my house looks like there was some thought that went into it. I love picking things up on clearance at the end of the season and then packing them away to be surprised by them when I get out the decorations the next year ... so fun!!

We have a nutcracker collection that has been growing for years now and we make a family outing to pick a new one (or two) every year. We also have a tradition of buying a new ornament for each family member every year as well as buying a new ornament at Disneyland every trip we take ... looking forward to buying a new one next week! We hope that one year we'll have an entire tree full of Disney ornaments :D

I am grateful for the fun memories that decorating for the holidays brings to our family. I love that the girls wait with anticipation as we open each tote and they "remind" me where the different items go. They love to help unpack the boxes, decorate the tree {which the kids did all by themselves this year}, and place decorations in all the right spots. I am grateful for the overall feeling that I have when I see the tree lit up, the large ornaments hanging above my island, and our ever growing row of nutcrackers while the Christmas music plays in the background. I love it!