Thursday, November 29, 2018

Festive Fun

We've been having so much festive fun around here and today I thought I'd share two of our FAVORITE festive traditions.  First up is our annual trip to The Gaylord Texan to look at decorations, eat cookies and kick off the holiday season right!





We visited last week while Dave had a day off and the decor did not disappoint.


We took their annual sleigh picture and I wish I'd realized at the moment how sunny it was. hahaha













Time for the big cookies :) 


I'm telling y'all - this day reminds me that it really is the simplest of things that mean the most to kids.  This tradition is one that they talk about all year long.






There was a really awesome Lego model of the resort set up with a ton of detail inside and all the kids wanted to see.  This series of pictures was cracking me up...



Y'all! :) hahahaha










Moms of toddlers - some things DO get easier!  Exhibit A:



Another tradition that is at the top of our list is decorating our big tree together.  I will typically get the tree ready for decorating the night before (fluff, put on the deco mesh, etc.) and then we all get to enjoy decorating it together in the morning.  We eat breakfast by the tree, talk about the ornaments as we put them on and we'll usually give the kids a new ornament (or two) to put on the tree.


Mason got a "happy camper" ornament to mark his first week at camp this past summer (I wrote his cabin name and the date on the back) as well as a stack of books to celebrate how much progress he made this year. 


I LOVE a beautiful, color coordinated, decorator-style tree as much as the next person but NOTHING beats the sentimental ornaments that fill our tree. 


We make a point to buy/make ornaments when we travel or do fun things as a family like this one that Mason and I made in Colorado this summer...



... and getting out all the memories and talking about them as a family makes for one of my favorite mornings of the year.


My parents did the same thing for us growing up and sharing some of my childhood ornaments with my kids is so much fun.





Jack Bauer and Jelly Bean :)















It's always such a special morning in our house and one of my very favorite Christmas traditions.  I'd love to know how y'all decorate your trees!

15 comments :

  1. I wish this season lasted all year long. :)

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  2. So sweet! We love those cookies at the Gaylord too...it's hard to tell how big they really are until you see them up against one of the kid's faces ; )

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  3. Have you mentioned where Griffin's darling tshirt and skirt are from? I'd love to get one for my grandaughter! Thank you.

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  4. Beautiful tree and great pictures of your 3 kiddos!

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  5. So many cute pictures but that last one is the sweetest. Our tree is the same way....filled with ornaments through the years that bring back so many memories and I love it!!!❤️

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  6. I love all of the pictures! What a wonderful time of the year. Those cookies!

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  7. These traditions sound wonderful!! Love the tree prep idea, and my goodness, Luke is getting so tall!! Beautiful family!

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  8. Love those traditions! That festival looks awesome and there is no wonder they talk about cookies all year - those are immense!!!! Enjoy all your blessings this holiday!!!

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  9. Our pets turned 10 this year, so we decided to do salt dough ornaments of their paw prints. We painted them with clear glitter. I thought there was no way they would let us do it, but some treats worked great. It was something my 4 year old could help with, and now we have something special on our tree for our pets. Thought your kids might enjoy doing this!

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  10. What wonderful memories you are creating for your children! We love ornaments in my family as well. They mean so much and it's so cool to go back and remember who gave us the ornament or a special time we had.

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  11. Love this so much! We are headed to the Gaylord this weekend and our family tree is my absolute FAVORITE! I love going through all the ornaments the kids have made at school and the special ornaments we buy on vacation! Such a wonderful time of year!

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  12. last pic is adorable with all the little people of the house

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