LML Monday - Kicking Off the Holidays

It's Monday once again, my friends. And as always that means it's time to reflect on the things that made us happy over the past week. And of course now is also the perfect time to set the tone for a great week to come! 

If you missed my take on LML, you can find it here. If you missed the explanation of LML Monday, you can catch up here.


It's true what they say. It really is the little things in life that make you happy. And in my house this past week it was all about the little holiday traditions that add up to big family fun.

Last Thursday was Thanksgiving here in the United States. And for my family, like most, that meant turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie, way too much food all around, fun and games, and lots of great family togetherness. Sadly my husband had to work again this year, so Grandma and the kids and I went out for dinner. (That way we got to spend our time enjoying each other's company instead of spending all day cooking for just the four of us.)

 

And as we do every year, we also took some time to remember the part of our family that couldn't be here with us physically, but will always be with us in spirit.

I don't know about you, but for us the end of Thanksgiving dinner officially signals the start of the Yule/Christmas festivities. (Yes, we celebrate both.) We turn on the Christmas music (which I refuse to play until then, even though the radio has been playing it for a month already.) Then after a trip to the park to burn off some of the huge meal we just ate, we visit the local LDS Temple to see their annual display of lights.

Taking the kids to see the lights always puts me in a wonderfully festive holiday mood, and caps off our Thanksgiving perfectly. And then we can spend the rest of the long weekend with more of our traditional holiday preparations.


My daughter and I did our nails, of course (like we do for every holiday.) One of the great things about the Christmas season lasting so long is that we'll have time for several different designs over the coming weeks. But this is what we decided to start with.

 

I love my new nail stamp kit, by the way. I foresee many hours of fun times ahead. My daughter was really happy with how hers turned out. When I finished mine I asked her what she thought, and she said "Well, it isn't really a pattern, but I guess it still looks good." :)



Then we had to make a trip to Jack in the Box to add this year's ornament to our collection. (Christmas just wouldn't be the same without it.)


And because it's the one time of year that we have stuff like that - dinner had to be topped off with an eggnog shake. (Yum!) Of course the kids were happy to share it.

And finally, we end every Thanksgiving weekend by putting up our Christmas tree. The kids are getting pretty good at carefully helping me put on the more delicate ornaments. Then when those are set, they get to add all of the ornaments that they've made over the years. I always save those for last, because it's their favorite part.

Ok. I shared mine - now it's your turn! Please feel free to leave me a comment and share some of your recent LML moments. Focus on the happy thoughts, and let's all have a great week!

And if you're a blogger and would like to get in on the LML fun, feel free to grab the code and join the blog hop! Your post doesn't specifically have to use the "LML" label (although you're welcome to use it if you'd like.) But if you have any kind of happy, positive Monday message that you'd like to share you're welcome to join. The more happy vibes, the better the Monday!