i tried so super hard to catch up on blogging before the holidays. i failed. on the flip side, we had the most wonderful-crazy-fun-busy December. ever. so i will consider it a win. anyhoo, if you know me at all you know that i live for the Christmas season. first of all, its Jesus' birthday and i think that He has the most awesome birth story in the history of the universe. (amen?) you also probably know that i refuse to begin celebrating the advent before thanksgiving. don't get me wrong, i adore the season but i also feel very strongly that thanksgiving deserves it's fair time to shine. pumpkin spice rules my life till the day after thanksgiving, then i am all gingerbread and jingle bells. i know, it's disgusting.
we wasted no time getting started on the beautiful hustle and bustle of the season. this year we very much were anticipating the arrival of my brother and his family. it made all the prepping and planning even sweeter.
hilo light parade!
we might not cut it down ourselves, but we still had a blast picking out our Christmas tree! side note, it came "fresh" from corvallis oregon...and coen came from swim lessons, he doesn't just run around in hooded towel cover-ups...all the time.
let the decorating begin...now!
sleeping elves are the cutest. when he woke up the next morning he told me, "i was telling my brain all night not to forget about the tree and guess what? i didn't forget! mama, i LOVE not forgetting."
since the tree was up and looking beautiful finn, our elf returned to help us anticipate the arrival of Christmas. in true elf fashion, he prepared an elf size breakfast next to the tree. he also somehow brought the kids mini trees to enjoy in their bedrooms. coen was very concerned with how a tiny elf could do all this. but he accepted it. both kids loved having finn back. i was hesitant to start the elf a few years back, but it has really become a fun tradition and we all welcome his return each year.
