The holidays are here!

I have always loved Christmas. I used to beg my mom to let me have a tree in my bedroom while I was growing up. Each night I would lay in my bed and just stare at the tree. It was a symbol of happiness, a symbol of family, and a symbol of hope for the new year. In an interview one time, I was randomly asked, "If you were a tree, what tree would you be?" Without thinking for more than a minute or two, I answered, "A Christmas tree." I had knee surgery one winter break in college, and the only thing good thing I remember about those horrible three weeks was laying on the couch looking at the tree and my mom throwing cotton balls all over the living room as fake snow. We always had a fun time celebrating Christmas and being silly as a family. Now that I have kids of my own, Christmas is even more fun! I remember the first year with Adilyn, I was all excited about buying her gifts and starting new traditions. Unfortunately, since she was only 6 months old, she didn't quite get the whole opening of the presents or visiting Santa Clause, go figure. I ended up opening them for her and trying to make her get excited about books, stuffed animals, and other little toys. What a let down it was! The whole anticipation of it sure was fun, though. Last year we had a lot of fun with decorating cookies, looking at Christmas lights, and opening presents. I can already tell that this year is going to be even more fun!

We started the tradition of going to the Christmas Tree farm last year. This year we were all ready for Adilyn to run around and get excited about all the trees. We were ready for her to pick out whatever tree she wanted. When we got there, she was nervous. Nervous about the "scary man" and the loud tractor noise, so we had to carry her. Finally, she at least got down and walked around a bit. She then relaized that the Christmas trees tickled her every time she walked by, so she had fun with that.

Our family picture...we can never get everyone to look at once time!

Adilyn is still scared of Santa, so I figured I might as well snap this picture of her since it's probably the closest she will get to any Santa! :)

I can't wait for these next few weeks to experience all the rest of the holiday fun!