it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

...around here. I don't know about where you are, but we actually saw live trees outside of stores the week before Thanksgiving. The proof is below...me amongst the Christmas trees at Kroger after my first day of work!

We did however hold out on getting a tree until after we returned home from our AL trip and a couple of days past that due to rainy weather and such. On Tuesday night though we set out to find a tree...

would you believe we actually made 4 stops before finding "the one"? [The pictures above are from a lot set up by a Christmas tree farm-they were beautiful trees but a little pricey for our budget:)]When it was all said and done though we were very happy with the Frasier fir we found. Here's Claude tying it atop the car...

By the time we got home and actually got the tree in the stand and straight...which took longer than I had thought it would by the way...we decided to let the tree settle for a day or two. [Which is kind of a joke here as our tree is a pretty skinny tree!] Then last night we went ahead and strung the lights and hung our ornaments while listening to some Christmas music. Claude also gave a little narrative on our 2009 tree...okay scratch that because the video won't upload...here's 2 pictures instead:
Well, now that I think the tree has been sufficiently covered we can move on to another exciting (and more lasting) Christmas decoration. Our new stockings!!! Over Thanksgiving we actually got a Christmas present a little early so that we could enjoy using them this year. We love love love them! Thanks Laura and Breck:)

And last, but definitely not least, comes the picture of our nativity set. My mom actually started me out with the original set as a gift on my 19th (I think) birthday. I know that I was definitely still in the dorms at MC:) Over the years I have really appreciated and grown to enjoy taking it out more and more. A new addition this year is one of the add on sets with a shepherd and some more stable animals that we got last Christmas as a wedding present. I think there are actually a couple more additions that are available so it might still have room to grow. For right now though it's just perfect!

That seems to about cover it for now...hope you all enjoy your weekend!

thankfulness

thankfulness (n): acknowledgement of having received something good from another
thankful (adj): feeling or expressing gratitude

I know this post is a week past Thanksgiving, but because we have so much to be thankful for it's better late than never, huh? We actually were able to spend the Thanksgiving holidays-including Thursday-with Claude's family in Huntsville. {Which was a real treat when we were expecting the worst schedule with it being Claude's intern year:)} It would go without saying that Claude's grateful for his family (and me for mine) but more than that we are both thankful to be able to count each another's families as our own as well. While I hate that the distances from here to yonder mean that we won't always be able to make it to all the family stops for each holiday it was wonderful to be with the Huntsville H's-and of course those who came from Jackson and Little Rock too! As usual, I forgot to actually pull out my camera until the end (and I mean the end...these are after the house was locked up and right before we all got in our respective cars!) so I only have a couple of pictures...

Claude and I with his grandparents:

Grandchildren pic...Since David and Emily were already gone Laura held the crown up to represent David...

In addition to counting our families as immense blessings in our lives, there are countless other good things that we have received from God's gracious hand. We are thankful for each other, thankful for friends old and new, thankful that Claude matched to this program, thankful for our health, thankful that God provided a job for me, thankful for the church we've found here, thankful for the freedom we have as Americans, thankful for a home we love, and more than anything thankful for the ultimate gift of salvation. And so the list could go on and on...if you're reading this that means you have to be someone we know pretty well and that we're thankful for you too!