These Are A Few...

...of my Favorite Things:) We have gotten into the holiday spirit around here and I want to share a few of my favorite things:) In a lot of ways unwrapping all my decorations is better than Christmas morning. I guess it brings the same joy that I felt as a child on Christmas morning that kind of lessened as an adult. Each piece that I have has a story, a lot were given or made for us. Like, our first ornament we received from Aaron's Aunt with the year we were married on it. Or the Santa we have that was hand painted by a good friend. Just lots of memories. It makes me feel all cozy inside to think of these people and years gone by. So here are a few of my favorites.

My two most favorite things. I love how Tommy is putting his arm around his sister for this picture.

My crowded mantel:) With lots of art work from Tay, stockings, and musical snow globes.

Unpacking, these plates we added to our collection last year. $1.99 at Ross, great for holiday get togethers or cookies...see below:)

One of Taylor's favorites. She loves to hang all the ornaments on this tree each year. Always making sure the bell is at the top.

This Snowman I adore, it is a tea light holder. The Snowmen box is from my dear friend Melissa, it came packed with stuffed Snowmen ornaments that I love to put on our tree.

This Nativity Set is from my mom in law. It is precious to me and very delicate. So delicate that parts have broken over the years. Every year Aaron and I have to glue pieces back together, like that Angels wings. We glued the wrong hands on the wiseman one year, so one of them has a "gangsta" tweak to his hand. We laugh every year when unpacking him.

Here we have a two of my favorite bowls, a cookie jar, and a cup with a Gingerbread Man from my Mom.

I absolutely love these little mittens. They are for sure one of my favorites.

This salt and pepper shaker set is from my Mom. And the candle with the star is from one of my greatest friends, Mini.Every year part of the tradition of decorating is to hang bells on the door, this is something I remember from when I was a little one. We have one on the front door and back door.This is the hand painted Santa I mentioned, from our friend Linda. The reindeer is from my parents. The "peace" is from Mini and the Santa head is from a Christmas shopping trip with my Mom. And lastly but definitely not least we have my favorite Little Girl, holding the fresh baked cookies on our Christmas plate.

A lot of pictures I know. I could have put up more, we even decorate the front bathroom, put Christmas lights in Taylor's room, and have a wreath on the front door (made by my beautiful niece Hannah). If you didn't notice, I love Snowmen and it is what we mainly have. I could have posted tons more but I think I did more than enough. I will post more pictures of our house once the lights outside are up.

One more thing is that our Christmas tree is an artificial one from Aaron's parents. We love it. We really wanted to get a real one this year but Taylor would not have it. Oh well, it is better on the budget. Maybe we will take her and just take in the atmosphere of a Christmas tree farm.

I know that times are tough for so many of us. I know we are feeling it. People have less, so shop less, which means my hours are not as much at work. It can be very overwhelmingly scary. However, I trust that God is in control. He is my hope. Our anchor. I love that song by Addison Road called Hope Now...it is on our page...God is my hope. This season, there may be less under our tree...we will be giving and receiving less however we can have more hope than ever. I really think as much as times are tough we as believers can show to ALL people how much God has called us to love and to not loose hope. What a testimony. I think this might be another blog brewing in me...so what is your favorite holiday decoration?