Christmas Home Tour 2013

Merry & Bright.
Warm & Cozy.
Family & Traditions.

All things that mean Christmas to our little family.

And spreading Christmas cheer for all to see and hear...

O come, let us Adore Him.

Welcome to our home...

Our living room... this room houses our traditional "Family" tree. Homemade ornaments, all of our kiddos 1st ornaments, and ornaments that were gifts or hand-me-downs from family and friends.

Our one of four advent calendars... we call this one the gingerbread man calendar.

Our "Fishing" tree... all ornaments on this tree are fishing related. 

The girls' Christmas tree... very girlie and very equestrian related. 

And the boys' Christmas tree... adorned with both of the boys' favorite... Monster Trucks!

Our seasonal To-Do list.... a must for every season for our family!

Our newest member to our Christmas traditions this year was our Elf on the Shelf. We named her Noel.  Such a fun tradition for our kiddos and something extra for them to look forward to every day.

This year, for the first time in a long time... we got snow!!! And it was SO close to Christmas! It made for a very Wintery Wonderland around here. We ended up with 8 inches of snow. Our outside lights against the snow, made for a beautiful glow!

And a fun look down memory lane with photos with Santa from years past. 

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Happy New Year as well!!!

Our countdown has begun... It's December!

Our countdown has begun!!!

Christmas trees... check

House decorations... check

New advent activity... check

95 % of our Christmas shopping done... check!!! Whoop! Whoop!

More time to spend relaxing with the fam... checking off our Winter To Do List... currently doing so!!! Wawhoo!

Our Annual Christmas Tree Hunting Adventure... So. Much. Fun. Family, Kiddos playing in the snow, finding that perfect tree, sipping hot cocoa, warming up by the fire, roasting marshmallows... it really doesn't get any merrier than that! :)

Five of these photos will be featured on our Christmas card this year... so for those of you who regularly read our blog, you get a first sneak peek at all of our photos! :)

This year we decided to add another fun advent activity for the kiddos to do every day leading up to Christmas morning... we have a cute little advent calendar that our kiddos have fun taking turns jumping little ginger bread man from date to date... but this year we wanted to add something new.  Each day they get to pick a wrapped gift... these gifts include homemade snow globes (with each kiddos pic inside of one) Christmas books, Christmas movies, new ornaments, Christmas crafts, pre-paid tickets for fun family outings and a few activity ideas to do for that evening. 

We kicked off our first countdown with the kiddos opening their homemade snow globes this morning...

Here are the snow globes... such a fun craft!

Moments before the big reveal! 

 Checking out their snow globes!

 Riley with his new snow globe...

 Pure joy on Ellie's face!

 Brody especially loved the green sparkles in his snow globe!

And Kenzie loved all of the pink sparkles in hers!

Each day will bring something new! A fun way to kick off our holiday season with lots of merriment!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Our Kiddos the Super-Heros!!!

Our church hosted their annual Harvest Party on Friday night... so it was the perfect excuse to let out our super-hero alter egos for the evening. :) Batman, Catwoman, Superman and Wonder Woman were all super awesome kiddos at the party... I went solo with them since Daddy had a football game... and even though we missed him tremendously, we had a blast!

Next up... Trick or Treating!!! Excited to celebrate Halloween with our Super-Hero foursome! They sure are SUPER, that's for sure! Love them. :)

Our Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin Patch time at Northern Lights Farm...

Each October we make our way to our favorite Pumpkin Patch(s) and yes we visit them more than once, more than twice and even more than three times each season. It's so much fun and such a great excuse to get outdoors and enjoy the awesome fall weather we are so lucky to have here in Oregon. There is no other place I'd rather be.

Our little guy calls them pun-kins. Littlest calls them back-et balls. And the little batch we have that decorates our entry way is now known as "Our pun-kin patch." We love it. It reminds us that they are still so little and still so cute in so many ways.

These are memories to last a life time. And making memories with our four little munchkins is truly Heaven on Earth for this Momma and Dadda.

Our littles are ready for a pretty SUPER filled Halloween. Our theme is pretty SUPER too! We've always wanted to do family themed costumes... and so this year we are going all out!!! It's going to be REALLY SUPER! Stay tuned! :)