O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

Another way we prepare for Christmas (I talked about Christmas cards in my previous post) is by decorating our home.  One of the largest items of Christmas decor is a Christmas tree.  Hubby and I have lived in an apartment for the past few years.  Although we love our apartment, it doesn't have a ton of space.  For that reason and the fact that we are visiting family over Christmas (and therefore not here to enjoy it), we haven't put up our Christmas tree for a few years.  Well, I did buy a small table top tree last year and our downstairs neighbors gave us a table top tree too!  So we had something, but it wasn't quite the same.  As you may know from an earlier post we are preparing for our own little Pumpkin come March.  In doing so we have gotten rid of some furniture to make room for baby furniture and space to play!  Since we have a bit more space this year, I decided we should put up our tree.  I wasn't sure about taking the time to put ornaments on it, it's all ready pre-lit and trees can look nice that way.  However we had some friends over for dinner last week and Hubby thought a great way to entertain the kids would be to have them decorate our tree!

Even though our tree didn't get properly "fluffed" before the decorating began, I think it's beautiful and the kids really enjoyed putting the ornaments on!  Now if only they would come back in January and help us put the ornaments away . . . . . .  :)

Preparing for Christmas

We have been spending some of our time this week preparing for Christmas, the merriest time of year!  One of the things we often do this time of year is to send Christmas greetings to our family and friends.  It's been awhile since hubby and I have sent a picture card, we've migrated to emailing our pictures and letter.  I love getting snail mail from others! Maybe we should return the favor and send some ourselves.  It's so much more fun to open up an envelope than an email and what would decorate our fridge if we didn't have pictures of friends and family?  This year I'm checking out Shutterfly's HUGE selection.  I'm sure to find something I like.  I want one that says "Merry Christmas" and not "Happy Holidays".  I'm celebrating Christ's birth and I want to wish others a merry time if they chose to celebrate as well.

  

These are a few of my favorites, but I haven't made a final decision yet. . . . and I'll let hubby help decide.

Another Christmas tradition is giving gifts to our loved ones.  Shutterfly has some great gift ideas.  I've made calendars as gifts before and the recipients have loved them.  It's a fun place to showcase the scenic pictures I love taking.  If you are planning to give a calendar, using Shutterfly to create one is more meaningful than picking one up in the store.  They have so many designs to choose from.  You can make it as simple or decorative as you want.  I'm planning to make at least one this year for a gift.

My sister loves their photo books.  We put together a wedding album for her from Shutterfly and just recently a book celebrating her daughter's first year of life.  What a beautiful keepsake and easier than traditional scrapbooking!

Hopefully later this week I'll find sometime to show you some of our other preparations to celebrate Christ's birth.  What a fun and joyful time of year!

May you and yours have a very Merry Christmas!

Our Sweet Pumpkin!

For those of you that are wondering, I'm still here!  I've just been busy with other priorities.  One of those being preparing for a new "pumpkin" that I'm expecting in March!  We found out the gender of our pumpkin not too long ago and let our families know over Thanksgiving.  This picture should give you a clue.  We are thankful for our pumpkin and excited for the arrival!

I have lots of pictures stored up for the blog, but we'll see if I get around to using them or not.  In the meantime, enjoy this one and have a good holiday weekend!

Friends

After a long/tiring day at work, it's always nice to come home to friendly faces.  Well, I had one such day a few weeks ago.  I was delighted to come home to some really friendly faces! 

. . . . and of course my sweet husband was there to greet me as well! :)  

SMILE!!

I work for a landscape company and one day was not going particularly well.  On my way back from picking up a desperately needed mower part I saw this bed of Daylilies.  I was stopped at a red light and it took me a bit to recognize the design of the bed across the intersection. For a moment I wished I had my camera with me.  Then I realized that I did!  I whipped it out of my lunch box (I have a lot more than just lunch in there!) and quick snapped this picture before the light turned green.  I love how God gives us smiles during ordinary (or frustrating) days.  May you find something to smile about today!

John Ball Zoo

My husband and I took a trip to our local zoo this summer. 

We saw Pelicans hanging out with ducks.  Later we observed the Pelicans swimming.  One of my husband's favorite animals are ducks.

Another of his favorite animals are penguins.  One even went for a swim and a closer look at us!

This brown bear enjoyed observing us from the cool water.

This crow was interested in the crow sounds my husband made from a bird application on his I-Pod touch.  We could tell he recognized the sound, but had trouble finding the crow making the noise!  Other birds in another location were also interested in the sounds the device made.

We were able to pet some sweet and friendly baby goats.

We fed some birds.  They were quite happy to perch on our sticks or a near-by branch and eat our offerings.

One of my favorite animals was this wolf.  I know he looks like a fox, but it's a wolf.  Unfortunately I do not remember his full name.

We also observed this recently created live wall.  I'm sure it will look great once it grows in some more.

Summer Flowers

A few weekends ago my husband took me to check out a local greenhouse.  While there we purchased a hanging basket for our deck.  Since we live in an apartment we don't have our own garden, but it is nice to have some summer color!

We also purchased this fun watering can to help me water.