How We Wednesday ~ Christmas Home Tour 2018

Welcome to our Christmas Home Tour 2018!  

Outside our house is a minimal look this year :).

We added this little fawn to our front yard this year.  Maybe next year we will add a doe or buck to stand by her!

We have lights on our front porch railing, a lighted wreath and a small lighted tree in the window.

We have some mistletoe and a lighted tree on a ledge you see from the entryway.

Everyone loves some Christmas pillows, magazines and we have Christmas blankets nearby.

I've said it before, but this fireplace caught my eye when we looked at this house and I really like it at Christmas time.

New this year is the window frame and I added this small decor to it for Christmas.

It is fun to buy small, new touches each year.

I have small nativity sets displayed on this table.

Including this one my parents brought me from Israel over 20 years ago.

I added greenery to our light fixture in the dining room this year.

Some kitchen Christmas touches....Christmas dish towels, mugs and plates.

I had some old, large Christmas bulbs that I didn't want to throw away so I used them for some decorations.

Breakfast area

I added greenery to this fixture and lights draping the window.

In our sitting room, I displayed the girls old stockings and stocking holders for fun.  We all have new stockings this year.

Guest room touches with old artwork of the girls and a jar of more large Christmas bulbs

Also, I have this framed picture of the Rockefeller tree in NYC on my NYC table :).  Maybe next year I can go there at Christmas time.

I have a small lighted tree by our front door, but found one more small tree, so I put it in a corner of the bedroom.  It has no decorations on it, but adds just a little Christmas cheer with its lights.  My girls have trees in their rooms too.  It is always fun to decorate for Christmas and enjoy them during the season.  I love seeing all the other home tours recently as well and thanks for stopping by today!

How We Wednesdays ~ Adoption

Today, I am linking up with Shay & Erika for their How We Wednesday series.  This month's topic is adoption.

As a believer, I feel like we should all be a part of adoption in some way.  Whether that is adopting a child, helping adoptive families in practical ways, or providing financial support to adoptive families, I feel like it is important.

The first organization that comes to mind is Show Hope.  

Show Hope provides adoption aid, support care centers and support for adoptive families.  

A lot of our girls childhood friends were adopted and it was a very natural part of childhood playdates and we had the opportunity to greet families at the airport for their adoption.  

Adoption is close to our family with my husband, sister-in-law and most recently, my great nephew. We are so thankful for this sweet boy and that his birth mother chose life.  You can read more about his story here by searching "adoption".

I encourage you to get involved in some way in this beautiful example God has demonstrated to us as His children.

How We Fall

Today I am talking about How We Fall and also Fall Fashion.

Here are some ways we embrace fall around here.  I have some fall foods and crafts listed on my fall Pinterest board.

Hot Drinks

I do enjoy hot drinks in the fall and winter.  I am not a coffee drinker, but enjoy hot tea or hot chocolate.  If I am out and about, I enjoy a Starbucks hot chocolate.

If we make hot chocolate at home for the family, it is usually Colombian hot chocolate.  We have had several people bring us some so we have some in stock. 

The Colombian hot chocolate comes from these chocolate bars you see below and cooked on the stove in an aluminum pitcher, called a chocolatera and mixed with this special wooden mixer, called a molinillo.

Candy Corn

I love candy corn, but I also like it in this autumn mix with the pumpkins.  I try to indulge in this snack only once during the season, but it brings joy when that happens!

Pumpkin breads

I just began embracing pumpkin flavored food about 4 years ago.....silly me!  Now, I love having cans of pumpkin in stock at our home in the fall.

The only downfall for me is that most pumpkin recipes I like are not the healthiest, but they sure are delicious.  Here are two of my favorite sweet pumpkin recipes.  I do have one low-calorie pumpkin recipe on my pinterest board however!

Pumpkin chocolate chip bread

Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

Boots, leggings, tunics, and scarves

This is my fashion look for the fall.  

These leggings are my favorite.  Like most things from Nordstrom, I bought these during the anniversary sale.  I have several tunics from Old Navy that I like and of course my favorite boots are the ones I talk about every year...these Uggs.

Evening walks

I am hoping as the weather gets cooler, I will have the energy in the evenings for a walk to our neighborhood lake.

Football games

We have been to one high school football game and will attend at least one more.  I am not a huge football fan, but I do like football season.

Birthdays

My husband has a September birthday, my youngest daughter has an October birthday, and I have a November birthday, so we celebrate birthdays in the fall.  (My oldest has a winter birthday, so we all have cool season birthdays :)).

Decorating

I plan on decorating for fall this weekend, even though it isn't going to feel too cool.  That's okay.  I know it is coming.  I will be sharing these decorations next week on the blog.

Woo hoo, glad we are at the mid week point.  Enjoy your day!

How We Plan Our Summer Vacations ~ From a Travel Agent

Today we are talking how we plan our summer vacations.  Most people I know love to travel.  I have loved it since I was a child, especially the planning part.  I remember asking for a map when I was 13 and would often write a travel itinerary for our family vacations when I was a teenager and I still do that today!  

As most of you know, I am a travel agent.  I have always booked corporate travel, but I always enjoy my share of leisure travel.  

My suggestion for travel is to decide 9-12 months in advance where you would like to go for vacation.  Depending on where your destination is, I would recommend booking accommodations at least 6 months in advance, or possibly more.  

For accommodations, there are choices of hotels, Air B-n-B, or even campgrounds!

We often stay in hotels, however, will be staying in our first Air B-n-B this summer.  When our girls were younger, we stayed in campgrounds because we had a travel trailer.  Those were some great memories.  

We often drive when we travel, due to airline tickets x 4 get expensive.  However, it would have to be a days drive ideally!  We have been blessed to travel on some mileage tickets when we travel to further destinations.  When booking air travel, I have looked at other websites for price comparisons, but I always like to purchase directly from the airline website.  I guess that is the travel agent in me that knows it is harder to get customer service or help from the airlines if you book through a 3rd party website. 

For financial planning, we have a budget of  travel expenses and my favorite type of vacation is where you can pay for most of it in advance.  I like to book event tickets in advance. For example, we plan on taking a boat ride and a few other activities on our upcoming trip and I have booked and paid for these online.  Obviously, the best trips to pay for in advance are cruises or a trip to Disney, which are two of my favorite trips!

Above, the girls on their most recent cruise and below is Avery and I at one of our cruise ports.

Disneyworld, Florida  ~ 2015

Disneyland, California ~ 2017

I recommend typing out an itinerary schedule to have with confirmation numbers and also addresses to other places to visit.  This helps travel go smoothly, especially if you are going to a big city.  I have done this for New York City, Los Angeles and for our upcoming trip as well.  Even though I have been to New York City over 20 times, I still will write down addresses of sights/stores I want to visit if I don't know exactly where it is.  I like to visit a new sight every time I go to NYC, so it is helpful to have an address.

Brook's 1st trip to NYC and Isabell'as 2nd trip ~ 2013 

My dad and I in our favorite city

Brook on her 2nd trip to NYC ~ 2016 

You don't want to miss the frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity!  My mom, Brook and I visited here on my last trip to the city. 

I had so much fun planning this trip last fall to Southern California.  Above, is the girls and I at Santa Monica Pier and below is us with the Hollywood sign in the background.  Having local addresses helped so much for driving in Los Angeles!

Even though I like to have a schedule when traveling, because I do believe having a plan is important, I have learned to add flexibility to the schedule.  It is important to allow free time, mornings to sleep in, or whatever your family needs.  There is always something unexpected as well, whether it be a store, attraction or even traffic!

The most important thing is to have fun whether it is a staycation, quick weekend trip, or week long trip!  Take time to get away with your people when you can and enjoy the journey.  But also, find the joy in planing as well.  It is one of my favorite parts :).