It's Starting To Look A Lot Like Christmas...

That's right...they sell trees and really authentic Santa hats here! Remember the skinniest tree ever from last year? I love that tree!

The ornament box...why is it so much fun to go through it every year and find all your special ornaments?

One thing I splurged on bringing was part of my nativity set and I haven't regretted it one bit, even if all the legs of the sheep have been broken off repeatedly and the shepherd has been chopped in two. All the cracks are all the more memories. I think I need to bring my wise men back!

Annie discovering a candy cane she made!

Toby finding a guy that was made for him in nursery back in the good ol' Georgia days!

Putting up the first ornaments!

Almost done and feeling the Spirit of Christmas!

The Joy is setting in!

Finally...it's time for the STAR!

Annie was quite excited that with a stool this year, she could do it on her own!

The final effect...our neighbors didn't join us until after it was all done this year! They were quite disappointed they missed out and still confused as to why we put up decorations! The kids sat down yesterday and played with the nativity set and asked again who all the people were. It was stunning to me that they didn't know. It's so much a part of our culture. Any 2 year old could tell you..."that's Baby J!" I am thankful that I was raised to KNOW and BELIEVE! So we retold the story again! I even got to tell a little 2 year old! This baby came to bring you salvation! His eyes just lit up! Not that he understood, but maybe just maybe he felt a glimmer of that Love in his heart! The kids in our neighborhood are so excited about celebrating Christmas all over again with us! They talked us into having another party again this weekend! Maybe this time the Story will sink in deeper! I am very keenly aware of the Grace that covers our family and so thankful for this season and my Savior!