One of the Neely Team idiosyncrasies is that we like to set up our Christmas tree before Thanksgiving every year. While some would say that this makes them forget about the true and important reason for Thanksgiving, it has quite the opposite effect on us! The soft lights, homey smell, and peaceful atmosphere make us slow our busy life and enjoy each other, and give praise and thanks to the Lord who has brought us through yet another year.

In the fall, Daddy and Herman usually go away for a hunting trip, and while they’re gone, all of the girls do very girly things. :)By the time they come home, everything is in place and very Christmas-looking. This year, however, Herman stated that he REALLY wanted  to help with the tree, much to our surprise, and so “the boys” helped us set everything up! What fun! Daddy headed up getting all of the decorations out the their hiding spot in the garage, while Mommy and Jessi strung the lights, and the rest of us fluffed  the branches. 🙂 (By the way, we do use a fake tree, and we LOVE it!! :)) After those things were done and the tree  was standing straight, tall and beautiful, Mommy took an excursion into the kitchen and made warm, ooey gooey chocolate chip cookies for all of the decorators while they put the  ribbons, flowers, and bows on. It got late, so after enjoying our luscious snack, we went to bed and then put the ornaments the next afternoon. Now everything is up and in order: the lit garland above the cabinets, the front porch décor, etc, etc.

One thing I particularly enjoyed about putting   everything up was the  cheerfulness and joy everyone displayed. Even when one of the strands of lights wouldn’t work and Amanda, Jessi, and I had to run to the store, delaying the progress a tad, the little ones made the best of it and played a game while we were gone. Many hands did indeed make light work (only this was rather fun work :)) and in snip  -snap- lickety-split, everything was complete! As the Christmas season approaches, remember to thank the Lord for the unique and special family He has given you!