The Holidays Are (almost) Here!

I can't believe it's halfway through November already! Tomorrow one of my favorite people in the whole world will celebrate a birthday! I will surely have a post about her tomorrow! But I don't remember being this excited for the holidays before! Bryant is pretty much opposed to Christmas music before Thanksgiving. But Thanksgiving is NEXT week! Holy Cow! So, I found some cute Thanksgiving crafts and Gracie and I (and Lilly and Aubrey--her little friends) are going to do them this week! I figure it's a good time to explain what Thanksgiving is and the history of it--in a very simplistic 3 year old understandable way of course!
My parents are coming the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. We are all excited, but no one as much as Gracie! She LOVES LOVES LOVES her Bubby and Grandpa. She has their entire trip all planned. First on the list, decorate the Christmas tree! Friday we went on a "date" to find new Christmas ornaments for Bubby and Grandpa. It was so fun! She has also planned a trip to the zoo, making candy ornaments out of rice crispy treats, and making all kinds of goodies in general!

I think I'm so excited for a few reasons. First of all, we're finally done with school. No more anticipating, no more waiting to be done, no more tests, no more stressful semesters, no more scrimping by on the meager student loan money we had to live on. Bryant has a great job, one that he likes and that he is really good at. We have great friends here. And I mean GREAT friends! It has been such a good experience here in Beaumont. We are looking at houses, hoping to find one we love soon, and be in it by the first of the year! Life is just so good! It's taken along time and A LOT of sacrifice to get to this point in our lives, and it feels awesome to finally be here! (Now to pay off all our student loans!)

Mostly I think I'm excited because Gracie is finally able to understand. She really enjoyed Halloween. She loved doing crafts with me, like making spiders by tracing her hand, making ghosts out of her footprint, making and decorating halloween shaped sugar cookies and dressing up like Jessie! She liked Trick or Treating too, but that wasn't even her favorite part.

Right now Gracie is SOOOO excited for Christmas. She keeps talking about decorating the Christmas tree (with Bubby and Grandpa) and all the other fun activities she has planned for us. She does understand Santa a little, and Santa is definitely a fun part of Christmas, but I hope to take the opportunity this year to teach her about the true meaning of Christmas. I want our kids to love the holidays because it's a chance to think of all of our many many blessings and especially to celebrate the birth of the Savior.

So, Let the holidays begin! I'll make sure and take pictures so it's more interesting when I blog about them!