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

EVERYWHERE you turn!

Yes, I do have a slight obsession with Christmas trees.  Do not tell my husband!  OK, he knows, but please do not mention it or ask how him many we have, as it tends to get him started on a speech about his crazy obsessed wife.
It all started with this...

Actually, it was a lot smaller one (now our Angel tree, but I digress) and stayed up year round with a few Americana ornaments on it.  I loved it.  We lived in Colorado at the time and it just felt homey to me.  Then a few loving friends started to feed my fetish and we HAD to get a bigger tree.  I mean, no one wants a crowded tree, right!  And for the record, I do not leave it up all year anymore, though I may have been tempted once, or twice.

The Nutcrackers started in my dancing days.  My mom gave me a new one each year I danced in the ballet.  I have fed my own fetish since then, thank you very much

Then there is this one..

My cross tree.  It actually started out smaller too (see a trend here?), but because friends love me they have helped me cover a bigger tree.  Not blaming them; just saying!  I love this one too!  Makes me smile every time I pass it.  It reminds us of the Savior for whom this whole season is about!

"For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord!" Luke 2:11  NEVER FORGET why we have a reason to celebrate!

Then came this one...

Our angel tree.  I just had a lot of angels, friends, and they needed somewhere to go.  So I put them on the once-Americana tree.  See, re-purposing at its best!

Then there is (stay with me), the kid's tree.

 This is where we put all those homemade ornaments- think glitter, sequins and lots of glue and all the Disney and Sesame Street ornaments that have been given to the kids.  They eventually will take some of those with them as they leave the house, but let's not talk about that now, please.

After years of spending a ton of money on fresh trees, my wonderful hubby bought me the tree of my dreams for Christmas a few years ago.  hmmm. Maybe he thought that would stop me from buying more.  Anyway...

Here is a picture of it from last year.  We have not put it up this year yet because I REFUSE to do so until our oldest gets home from college in 4 days!  4 DAYS YA'LL!!!

There may or may not be a small tree on the front porch and there is one in my oldest's room, but that is it!  Really!  For this year!  Next year I am thinking a forest of a few trees together could be really cool.  Don't 'ya think so?

Then there are the nativities.  Well, next year I will show you those.  ;)

And just so you do not think we are all about decorations and stuff let me tell you a few little other tidbits!  We love the Advent season as a time to be quiet, reflect on God's love and to remember that He came to earth as a baby to save us all.  Every year that time looks a little different for us, but this year we have begun a new book called Jotham's Journey.  So far- LOVE IT!  There are a few in the series and I know you can rotate through them for several years.  Even our olders love read-alouds by candlelight at Christmas.

And as far as gifts...
I am an only child, so I grew up with a lot of presents everywhere.  My mom and step father spoiled me, in a good way, and I have wonderful memories of Christmas with them.  That being said, we have FOUR kiddos, not one, and knew we needed to scale back.  So in the past few years we have cut presents down.  We try  to stick with:

Something to WEAR, WATCH, WANT AND WISH!

 Now granted, sometimes the wear or watch (also read) is sometimes a few things wrapped together, but we want the children to understand that it is not all about the gifts.  The "wish" is often their special gift.  In addition to that concept, we have asked Grandparents to keep things small and contribute money to our vacation fund.  The years that has worked we have given them photobooks with pictures of our fun as a thank you.  Our goal is to create memories, not collect things!

Things!  Oh, don't get me started because that is a whole new series I hope to attack in January!  Jesus did not die on a cross so we could have things!  He did so so we could have life and have it abundantly.

So while I assemble and decorate my many trees, may I never forget that true joy is not in the pretty things that please our eyes, but in the ONE that holds our hearts!  JESUS!

This post is part of a Sharing Christmas blog hop that will go live Saturday the 15th.  Come back and enjoy all the links to wonderful Christmas posts by my CREW buddies!

We are also linked up to The Modest Mom website today!  Check out her 12 Days of Christmas sale and giveaways!