Christmastime is here...

As soon as we returned from our AZ Thanksgiving trip the boys were begging for Christmas decor. Corbin is at the perfect age to "get it" and to really help. Of course they love all the Father Christmases we have and they got to choose where to place them this year.

Corbin was happy to decorate his very own tree in HIS room! It doubled as a great night-light for the month of December.

This little nativity is perfect for re-introducing the meaning of Christmas at the very beginning of the season. Corbin was old enough this year to handle the fragile pieces and he set it up just right. (Regretfully I didn't get a picture of it, but after he set up the entire scene Corbin placed about a dozen tiny presents all around the baby Jesus. I LOVED discovering that little surprise.)

This year we made our own advent calendar. Corbin was a great help.... as you can see.

There is a new Hobby Lobby store in Orem and we found these great little paper mache boxes with lids. We painted them, numbered them, stuck magnets on the backs of each box, and placed a Christmas-story-themed scripture, activity, song, and treat in each one. It made breakfast time really exciting and meaningful each morning until Christmas.... and it turned out pretty cute too to adorn our fridge.

Jeff and I have had an artificial pre-lit Christmas tree for about 5 years but it is too tall to fit in our current home so we went with a real tree this year. Besides our kids are at that age when they really enjoy going to pick out the tree, help water it, help vacuum up all the needles, and enjoy the smell of evergreen. (Maybe when they're teenagers and don't care as much we'll keep with the fake tree.) Home Depot had a great selection during the first week of December... we found our tree!

Jeff had it fresh cut, bagged, and tied it to the roof to haul home... it brought back memories from my childhood doing the exact same thing at some random tree lot with my family. So fun!

Once we got it home we had a Ward Christmas Party to attend so the trimming the tree had to wait until the next morning. The boys didn't mind. This was Corbin's year to place the star on top. Mind you... our 1 year old helped half the glass ornaments to migrate half-way up the tree. It was a beautiful tree nonetheless.

And now... it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas here....