^a wreath made by my momma
^an elephant for ivory
^a bulldog for cuba
^kiss kiss! 
^i got this idea from a fancy day blog. (i also got a blog makeover thanks to her!) we've never done an advent calendar and we tend to skip some fun activities that could be done around Christmas time. this has helped us have fun and make the season a little more magical. also, i got tired of re-arranging so the 24th is a little lonely.
today, i read the post that i wrote last year about how i was feeling during the Christmas season. oh i was in a sad place. last year, i didn't want to do anything nor did i care to do anything that had to do with the holiday. i normally got a feeling of excitement when Christmas decorations started appearing but it never came last year. this year, i felt the excitement way back in October! i wanted this year to be different and i wanted to bring more cheer to my home. i can tell a difference in tanner as well as i've tried to implement our advent calendar for our date nights or just doing things at home. every day has a few scriptures we read that have to do with the birth of our Savior. every day we kiss under the mistletoe. every day i have my pine scentsy and cinnamon candle burning because that combination is Christmas. and every day i ask tanner if we can sleep by the tree. (that one hasn't happened yet) so far, this month has been wonderful and so different from last year. i've said it before and i'll say it again, i wish so badly ivory was here enjoying it with us, but i feel her near often. i can't wait to spend Christmas with ten little kids running around the house.
