Our First Christmas

Christmas is fast approaching and I am so thankful to be sitting on our apartment floor writing this. 

Today was supposed to be the last day I saw Zach for 7 months.

He was supposed to have driven Charlotte and I home ten days ago and he was supposed to be getting on a plane to fly back to California today where he would have spent the next two weeks here alone, packing up our apartment before he got on a plane to fly to Afghanistan.

Normally when deployment dates change it is so frustrating, but this time it was a blessing.

His deployment got pushed back (only by a week) so we decided to let his mom use the plane ticket we bought to fly out here and help drive Charlotte and I home to Kansas after he leaves.

Now we get to spend Christmas together!

It is the first Christmas we will spend together with just us for the first time in our marriage. It will also be Charlotte's first Christmas and our first Christmas as a family. 

It is a little sad not being able to join in on the family festivities with my family and Zach's one gillion sisters, nieces, and nephews, but it is exciting at the same time.

We get to start our own family traditions this year. 

Zach is pretty "bah humbug" when it comes to decorations but I talked him into letting us get a tree.

At first it only had three presents under it and then I added Zach's three presents. It was looking a little sparse until our sweet family started surprising us with package after package of wrapped presents.

Now our tree looks like this

Thank you everyone for blessing us so greatly!

This Christmas will be special, one that we never forget.

Charlotte is only 2 months old and wont remember any of this but I am so filled with joy to be able to explain the real reason for Christmas to her.

Its not about presents or the tree, while both of those are fun, Christmas is the day we celebrate the birth of our savior. 

Christmas is the day God had Mary bring His only Son into the world to reconcile all of humanity to Him.

And we get to spend the day together, just the three of us, before Daddy goes to Afghanistan.

What are you thankful for this Christmas?