Tis the Beginning of the Christmas Season!!!

The tree is up!!! It is always so fun to decorate the tree! There are so many memories in the boxes of ornaments. This year, Gina and Steph unwrapped each ornament, hooked them, and handed them to me to hang. They're afraid to do any more than that!

The ornaments as many of you know are from Italy. They are handblown. Last February, I went to Italy and traveled north to the DeCarlini shop where I met the wonderful Italian family who makes the ornaments. It was one of the most awesome experiences I've had in my travels. The DeCarlinis even make many of the Radko ornaments now days. I'm not a fan of Radko as they're just too easy to find and not as detailed as the Italian ornaments I love.

And, if you're wondering, yes, I'm obsessed!

This isn't a great picture, but you can see Dorothy, the scarecrow, the tin man, and the cowardly lion all of which I brought back from Italy last year! :)

Here is our Christmas table. We've already had two incredible meals around the table! Good times!

We also put out the carolers. Notice the pic in the bottom right hand corner of the picture. It is Gina, Del, Drew and me in Italy last year!

More carolers...

And, here are a few of our stockings. The rest are hung upstairs!

Here is one of my favorite nativities. It is a little matchbox. I found it in Canada a few years ago.

And, this is my favorite nativity. The kids look at it often and ask so many questions about the baby Jesus. It is such a great opportunity to share!!!

And, here is the family room where we spend so much time together. We are looking forward to putting some presents under the tree, and also to reading the story of Christmas to the kids.

This is a Santa Clause I got from Tiffany (now a cheerleader for the LA Clippers) who was in my class 10 years ago! I always thought it was funny that it said, "Just say ho." This year it is even more funny because I heard on the news that some Santas are being required to say, "ha ha ha" instead of "ho ho ho" so they don't offend women! Give me a break!!!! In this house we say, "Ho ho ho and a merry Christmas"!!!! So if you fit the description of a modern day word, make sure you don't visit. That way you won't be offended!!!! :)