Better late than never-We got a tree edition

I wrote this about a week ago but never got around to uploading the pictures... Here we go!

Well It has taken me this long to post on our Chistmas Eve night and Christmas Day...day. Two friends of mine just finished writing their Christmas experiences so it looks like we're all on the same page. Living in a place were everything is lush we had little desire to cut a tree down. In seven years of being married we have bought one tree. We happened to buy it the day of Christmas Eve for $14 a Walmart because I felt our son needed a real Christmas at almost 3 years old. Cutting down another tree with this global state and with our economy is not for us. Do I appreciate other people's tress, OF COURSE, they are beautiful, I love the smell, the memories of my trees growing up but then I remember that concept has been placed in my mind as a Hallmark thought. That we need a tree in order to be an all American family celebrating Christmas. Quite frankly, we're not all that traditional.

For our family we brought out the each persons stocking,which I can't fill until the morning of because Big Girl convinces the others to look in them. The Boy's rockstar nutcracker, my most treasured childhood Christmas item, my nativity set from the Holy Land made of olive tree wood. Drum role... and our new tree. That's right we got a tree this year! Richard made it out of branches from our yard. The adorable boy that our son is wanted us to use the daily banana peels as our star and they decorated it with dandelions and owls. Now they have a teepee year round to play in as well.

We played with our new toys, juiced in our new juicer, and ate Birthday apple pie for Jesus. God has truly blessed our family and I feel so grateful to be celebrating the birth of God who loved us so much that he would come to earth and live and love as we do. Only to die so that we can have eternal love with him in heaven. What an amazing God who does all of this and accepts us exactly where we are for who we are. Never needing to earn his love or achieve a goal to keep his love, he just does. He just is, Love. We hope you had a Beautiful Christmas and a joyous New Year to come.