I used to be that person who had their house decorated for Christmas before Thanksgiving. Heck, who am I kidding? I had it all done the day after Halloween. This year has brought a lot of change and we started a new tradition of our Thanksgiving Tree in the month of November. It brought a focus of giving thanks for all of the blessings we have, both big and small. I have committed to continuing to share our thanks as part of a New Year’s resolution. Stay tuned for my new DIY Mom project in 2015.

It’s December 13th and our tree is finally up and decorated! The stockings are hung by the fire with care and soon St. Nicholas will be here. I finally went to get greens for our new table box, outdoor planter box (made by my talented hubby – see the pics) and our urns. We assembled them together and had many laughs as we stumbled around outside on the porch, after dark.

Franklin, the elf, has arrived and it all seems very surreal. I can’t believe it, but this is probably the last year that my sweet boy, who gave the elf his name, will probably believe in The Elf on the Shelf and Santa. The sweetest part of all is that even our littlest gets excited to find the elf every morning! I love having all three of the kids excited about something together!

I still believe in Christmas miracles, like the fact that they will enjoy their matching shirts and pj sets that have just arrived. I plan to make the most of the next 12 days until Christmas and cherish this Christmas while all three of our kids believe. I guess we are never too old to remember the real meaning of the season and our Savior’s birth! I hope that each of you are finding a little bit of joy each day during this season. No matter what trials or obstacles this year has brought, we all have a lot to be thankful for!