Proof that the halls are, indeed, decked

Christmas is upon us, my friends, and sadly, that means that the days of our Christmas decorations are numbered. I know I already shared pictures of the majority of our decorations with you last year, so I won't bore you with a repeat. Instead, I am only going to share with you this year's new additions. You're welcome.

O, Christmas tree... ok so this one isn't new. But due to a furniture purchase earlier this year, the tree was relocated to a different corner, so it counts, right? :)

I don't have a fancy camera, so I generally can't take fancy pictures- but that doesn't stop me from trying. Behold our Santa Claus and his two holly trees!

Here is the un-fancy (but undoubtedly more revealing) view.

Again, the stockings aren't new but they ARE in a different location. And the bow (originally made by my talented mother-in-law for gift-wrapping purposes) and advent calendar most definitely are new!

Close-up shot of the advent calendar that Brian actually picked out... which makes me love it even more :) For those that are curious, each day holds a peppermint Hershey's kiss (except Christmas day, which holds 10+). We trade off every other day who gets to eat the Hershey's kiss because we like to keep it even like that.

Our Christmas cards! They are (obviously) new, but I have re-purposed a picture tree to display them AND the blocks (spelling out "joy") in front are also a new addition.

These are an oldie but a goodie- we used to eat on these growing up, and my mom very kindly handed them down to me. They aren't necessarily my style, but I love them mostly for their sentimental value.

As many of you saw on facebook, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law came in town last week and stayed with us for 2 nights. Because they are awesome, they made us dinner one night. And because they are even more awesome, they surprised us (ok, me) with these Spode Christmas dishes and serving piece! 

A few years ago when I was thinking about buying a set of Christmas dishes, Brian suggested that we wait until we have kids to do so. Little did he (or I) know that "until we have kids" would equal a sweet eternity! Recently I casually asked if he wouldn't mind us going ahead and getting some next year (you know, in case we are still childless) because I was tired of not having any. So imagine my surprise when I came home from work that night to find them on our dining room table. Thank you, Terrie, Don, and Shannon!

So there you have it! Fingers crossed that next year there will be an extra stocking to add to the mix...