Christmas Time

WOW!  It has been a while since the last time I have posted.  Once again, I have been slacking!  Sorry all.  Tony and I have been really busy these past couples weeks with the holidays, house updates, and of course work!  

We hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I know that we did.  We absolutely love going home and seeing all of our friends and family.  I am still looking forward to the day (if Tony finds a comparable job) when we can move back to Peoria.  Until then, we are enjoying our time in Saint Louis and having fun with our friends here.  

This time of year always reminds us of how much we have to be thankful for.  Isn't it upsetting that the rest of the year we somehow tend to forget that?  On my 45 minute commute to and from work, I always try and use that time to just thank God for all that He has given us, and of course to take care of all the little kiddos at my work <3  Ever since I have become a nurse 3.5 years ago, I have wished several times to go back in time when I lived a naive life in my little bubble and bad things didn't happen.  The time when I didn't even know some of the things I have seen even existed.  Well, I can't and I have just become so thankful for every day that I have been given.  

I think this time of year is so beautiful.  Everywhere you go the lights are shining, Christmas trees are up, people are doing good deeds for others, and the music is so joyful.  Since this is Tony and I's first year owning a house we were pretty excited to decorate it.  Okay I was excited to decorate it.  We put our lights up outside the weekend after Thanksgiving when we got home that Sunday.

As you can see we had leave piles too since we slacked on the yard work the week and a half before.  Yard work is something no one warns you about before you buy a home...

Finished product!  The Gilfillan home for Christmas <3

Now the decorating didn't stop once the outside was done.  Decorating the inside is the best part and the one that we are more familiar with.  Our Christmas tree pretty much looks the same every year...

But last year there was a nice addition to the tree since it was our first Christmas together as a family...

Thank you MaryBeth and Cass for this adorable ornament.

And I of course I had to throw in the usual picture of Biggs

You may remember in my previous post that I really wanted the stairwell to be finished by Christmas so that I could hang garland.  Well here it is...

 I love the way that it turned out.  At night when the lights are down and these lights along with the Christmas tree lights are on, it's so pretty.  I should have taken a picture of that...

This year is also different in the fact that my parents gave us my grandparent's nativity set that my grandpa made back in the day.  I remember every year setting this up with my mom and playing with the people all December long.  I can't wait for the day when I will be setting up the Christmas decorations with our children.

Craftsmanship at its best.

Last, but certainly not least, we have a fireplace this year that we decorated.  We had a fireplace in our last place in Chicago that we decorated so this also isn't 100% new.

Biggs was being a very good boy and sitting still for the picture.  I usually have a Christmas shirt on him, but he must have taken it off somewhere now that I am thinking about it....that's probably why he was being so good...

"Christmas through the eyes of a child." This is a picture of my niece Olivia that was taken by her Aunt Heidi.  Looking at this picture just makes all of our "problems" seem so small.... 

I would love to see and hear how you all decorated your apartment or house.  How this time of year has brought you and your loved ones even closer than before.  The good deeds that others have done for you or that you have done for others.  Each day is a gift and it's important to remember that not only during this time of year, but throughout the entire year.