O Christmas Tree!

Yes, I realize it's not even Thanksgiving and the title of this post refers to Christmas! We are in a season of our lives in which Christmas day (and many of the days around it) are spent in family member's homes. This year we will be traveling to AR and TN to visit Daniel's side. So, we decided to go ahead and put up our Christmas tree before leaving for Thanksgiving (traveling to Maryland to be with my side) so that we could enjoy it and all of our other Christmas decorations for about 4 weeks rather than just 2! We were super excited to put up the tree because we got it on clearance last year (and I mean clearance, as in it was the floor model with no box) at Sears. It's pre-lit with white lights (love it!) and has a wonderful shape. Well, I'll just let you see for yourself!

It's 2:30 pm and the lights are on...in fact, I've had them on all day today :)

We put ornaments on every inch of the tree we could this year because we know that next year...well, let's just say we're going to have an 18-month-old in the house.

Riley started helping us with the tree, but he had to head to bed before we finished. Boy was he surprised when I brought him out into the living room the next morning!

Last year for Christmas one of my bosses gave me this beautiful nativity (to appease Daniel, who was concerned I hadn't shown all of the figures in the picture, there are animals, a shepherd, and an angel included in the set). We didn't get to display it last year because we lived in a shoebox, so we were very excited to pull it out this year!

We've had some people comment on us decorating so early, especially before Thanksgiving. I say, why can't we be thankful WHILE we're enjoying celebrating our Savior's birth?! Really, the two holidays coincide in my mind. I am thankful for all that I have, and the only reason I have it is because Jesus was born, lived on earth, and then died on the cross and rose again. I will say, "Thank you, Jesus!" this week, next month, and all year round!