And suddenly it's almost Christmas...

It's absolutely unbelievable to me that today is December 1st.  Seriously, where has the fall gone?  It seems like just yesterday that I had the girls in the park, shooting photos and hoping for the perfect Christmas card picture.  How is it that I blinked and now it is time to send out those Christmas cards?  In the mail they will go but in the meantime, enjoy one of the many that did not make the cut...

 

Grace is finishing up her all star volleyball season this weekend.  We are thrilled that the YWCA decided to offer another season of our favorite sport of all time and she will be bumping, setting and spiking for three more months.  It's going to be tough to top the excitement of her last game.  Grace's team was down, the score was 24 to 25 and Grace was up to serve.  She launched three awesome serves one right after another, including one ace, to win the game.  The crowd (well, the portion of the crowd that included Grace's family anyway) went wild and I do not recall ever seeing a more proud look on Grace's face.  It was awesome...

Before I knew it, Lily came home from preschool with a fantastic turkey hat....

And it was time for turkey...

Bracing ourselves against the frigid air, the Carter crew headed over to New Ulm and Aunt Kimmie's for a terrific Thanksgiving feast.  Feeding our faces, playing games and hanging out was the order of the day and we accomplished all three in rousing fashion...

Grace was most thankful to have the opportunity to put her fresh babysitting skills to use.  The girl just absolutely loves taking care of babies...

Friday brought about another day of celebration and after a long goodbye...

We headed west in search of another feast to conquer with the Kolb's.  After consuming vast quantities of turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing that is seriously the stuff my dreams are made of, we bundled up and settled in to enjoy one of our favorite holiday traditions and the true start to the Christmas season, the Sioux Falls Parade of Lights....

The weather cooperated in a major way and my little tootsies barely even got chilled.  The girls couldn't have enjoyed themselves more...

And by the end of the parade, we were all properly in the holiday spirit.

Riding that wave of Christmas joy, we ventured to our local Lewis Drug for a visit with Santa and his reindeer...

Not only did the girls get to share their wishes with Santa and check out his reindeer but they also each entered a drawing to win a $100 gift card to Lewis.  Lily's luck was once again evident as she was selected as the winner.  I'm not quite sure she fully grasps the concept of money as upon hearing the news, she immediately informed us that she is going to use that money to buy herself a candy bar.

Our final holiday preparation tradition is the bestowing of ornaments which this year included: a soccer player for Ella, a volleyball for Grace, a tomato for Lily and a guitar for Jason...

And then it was time to put those new ornaments to good use and decorate the tree...

All in all, our holiday season is off to a fabulous start.  With all of the rushing, scheduling, shopping, baking, Christmas carding, cleaning and other various tasks that you may encounter in the time immediately before Christmas, it is entirely possible to become completely overwhelmed with it all.

However, among all of the hustle and bustle comes all of the excitement of decking the halls, the friendly but spirited debates on whether houses decorated with colorful lights or white lights are most festive, the delicious scents of Christmas cookies baking, Grace's intensity in finding just the right spot on the tree for each ornament, the joy on Lily's face when she woke up to the first real snowfall of the winter and hopeful, wonder-filled looks like this one... 

and it's simply impossible to not believe in the magic of Christmas.