Christmas fun!

We love Christmas time around here!  We set up the decorations and tree the day after we got back from Nebraska and we've been trying to do some fun things.  I've been busy this week making goodies to pass out to neighbors and friends.  The kids are definitely getting excited with a couple of different advent calendars and a countdown chain.  It's just so much fun.

Abby got to make a gingerbread house at preschool!

We are big fans of Christmas magic at our house!  We love Santa and all the excitement involved.  We also love our Elf on the Shelf, Jingle.  Just something else the kids get so excited about.  Our elf is a nice elf and doesn't get into any mischief around the house.  He even made this countdown chain for the kids!

The holidays can be tough sometimes too.  It's definitely a time of year that reminds you of how much money you do or do not have which is no fun.  It also reminds us of how far away we are from both of our families and that that is something we have to navigate year after year.  We all know that presents aren't what is important at Christmas but that doesn't mean it adds to the fun or that I wouldn't love to be able to finally give something to Steve (since we haven't exchanged gifts in years.)  We really do have so much to be thankful for at this time of year so we are trying hard to focus on that and focus on our Savior.

We were able to find a local Christmas event last weekend at an RV dealership of all places.  We decided to give it a shot and it was just awesome.  They had chili baked potatoes, freshly made scones (super yum!), hay rides, visits with Santa, Christmas music, bonfires, and a fireworks show which was all free if you donated a toy for Toys for Tots.  It was all outside so we definitely had to bundle up and thankfully for the bonfires we were able to stay warm.  We felt like such Idahoans outside in December and actually having fun!  And the fireworks show was actually really impressive.  We were so glad that we went!