My most FAVORITE day of the year!! I absolutely LOVE buying presents for others and it's so fun watching the kids open their gifts and squeal with joy....or watching others that I love open gifts I put LOTS of thought into and LOVING them! The best part of Cmas is the GIVING...not the receiving!
We always make a cake and sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus every year as well. After all...the "reason for the season? is NOT the gifts or Santa. Christmas is about the birth of Jesus and we make SURE the kids know that and it's very important to us that we CELEBRATE it!!
I was excited b/c I got to replace our "old" Cmas trees this year since our other ones were over 18 years old and DESPERATELY NEEDED to be replaced.
I'm EXTREMELY allergic to pine so we can never have a "real" tree...plus I dont like that THOUSANDS of trees are cut down each year and many of them dont even find "homes." Then they start shedding pine needles and are a HUGE fire hazard. Plus we SO BADLY NEED more "greenery" on this planet! That's just my PERSONAL opinion though so please don't think that I have ANY issues with others getting "real" trees or that I am "judging" ANYONE!
Anyway, I got a beautiful "family tree," (the one I put all of the "family bulbs" on), which is a 8ft green tree that I purchased from the "Festival of Trees" which is an event that raises money for Children's Hospital and the "Ronald McDonald" house.
On a side note: We actually had to stay at the R.McD house when my daughter was born 1.5 months early and had to stay in the NICU for 2.5 weeks, which was an EXTREMELY FRIGHTENING experience! Plus I REFUSED to go "home" until my baby came home with me. I felt like if I went home without her I would just melt into a bawling mess! Staying at the R.McD house was such a BLESSING to us b/c we were able to stay just a few minutes from the hospital and could get there in the "blink of an eye" if necessary.It was a really BEAUTIFUL "boarding home" that provides a place to stay and FOOD for those families whose children are staying in the hospital and they NEVER ask for any kind of payment in order to stay with them! So AMAZING! Luckily we were only there for a few weeks but other families had been there for MONTHS, some for YEARS! It was really sad to hear their stories and I felt so lucky that MY baby girl was going to be just fine! It was a really great place and I am VERY happy to "give back" to them after what the did for us!
The 2nd tree was the one I was REALLY excited about b/c it's a 7" BLACK tree that is "pre-lit" with PINK lights! It absolutely BEAUTIFUL and looks SO nice with my all my pink bulbs (I wear pink EVERY day and have pink streaks throughout my hair...it's kinda "my color!"). LOL
Sorry about the NOVEL! This really is my most FAVORITE day of the year!! Thanks for the great puzzle! ~:)
We always make a cake and sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus every year as well. After all...the "reason for the season? is NOT the gifts or Santa. Christmas is about the birth of Jesus and we make SURE the kids know that and it's very important to us that we CELEBRATE it!!
I was excited b/c I got to replace our "old" Cmas trees this year since our other ones were over 18 years old and DESPERATELY NEEDED to be replaced.
I'm EXTREMELY allergic to pine so we can never have a "real" tree...plus I dont like that THOUSANDS of trees are cut down each year and many of them dont even find "homes." Then they start shedding pine needles and are a HUGE fire hazard. Plus we SO BADLY NEED more "greenery" on this planet! That's just my PERSONAL opinion though so please don't think that I have ANY issues with others getting "real" trees or that I am "judging" ANYONE!
Anyway, I got a beautiful "family tree," (the one I put all of the "family bulbs" on), which is a 8ft green tree that I purchased from the "Festival of Trees" which is an event that raises money for Children's Hospital and the "Ronald McDonald" house.
On a side note: We actually had to stay at the R.McD house when my daughter was born 1.5 months early and had to stay in the NICU for 2.5 weeks, which was an EXTREMELY FRIGHTENING experience! Plus I REFUSED to go "home" until my baby came home with me. I felt like if I went home without her I would just melt into a bawling mess! Staying at the R.McD house was such a BLESSING to us b/c we were able to stay just a few minutes from the hospital and could get there in the "blink of an eye" if necessary.It was a really BEAUTIFUL "boarding home" that provides a place to stay and FOOD for those families whose children are staying in the hospital and they NEVER ask for any kind of payment in order to stay with them! So AMAZING! Luckily we were only there for a few weeks but other families had been there for MONTHS, some for YEARS! It was really sad to hear their stories and I felt so lucky that MY baby girl was going to be just fine! It was a really great place and I am VERY happy to "give back" to them after what the did for us!
The 2nd tree was the one I was REALLY excited about b/c it's a 7" BLACK tree that is "pre-lit" with PINK lights! It absolutely BEAUTIFUL and looks SO nice with my all my pink bulbs (I wear pink EVERY day and have pink streaks throughout my hair...it's kinda "my color!"). LOL
Sorry about the NOVEL! This really is my most FAVORITE day of the year!! Thanks for the great puzzle! ~:)