25 days of Christmas

today is December 1st. the official countdown for Christmas begins. the shopping, the decorating, the music... it's easy to get wrapped up in the excitement. our cute little 4 ft Christmas tree has been up for about a week. and every morning Graham and i come into the living room to plug in the tree or "turn on Christmas" as i like to say.

not working retail this season has been such a wonderful change. i am very excited to say i will not be doing any last minute Christmas shopping this year because i finally had the time to plan ahead and i'm almost finished! we were able to enjoy Thanksgiving as a family and not worry about the black friday madness. and i am very excited to start some Christmas traditions this year with Graham, even though he will only be 6 months. come on, its his first Christmas! we will bake delicious things, make a gingerbread house, look at Christmas lights, watch Christmas movies... wes and i always watch the holiday. i imagine this year we will be adding a lot of animated Christmas movies. you won't hear me complaining though, i love the grinch and the year without a santa claus.

ah Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year. but why?

is it the presents? or santa? nooo, definitely not santa. Christmas is a time to celebrate our Savior. but guess what people... we can do that EVERY DAY. this year when you're opening presents, just remember that Jesus Christ is the reason for the season. He was born here on earth. and then died for your sins and mine. and now you are a new creation. righteous. holy. redeemed.

[ for Christ died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit. 1 Peter 3:18 ]

we have a lot to celebrate my friends.
have a merry Christmas!