Black Friday... the day after Thanksgiving. For some, it's a day of adventure- filled with chaotic running through stores, grabbing gifts, and fighting traffic. For others, it's a cozy day at home- putting up Christmas decorations and listening to music. Of course, there are also those who go right back to a regular day with a regular routine- work, home, etc. I used to be one of those people who got a kick out of heading out to stores early to catch awesome deals. My husband, and awesome teammate for this annual sporting event, would tag along, hold my purse, and help me check gifts off of our list one by one. Three kids into our marriage, it's a bit of a production to go anywhere or do anything, so we just usually stay home on Black Friday.

Our elf, Snowflake, always appears the morning after Thanksgiving. He brings holiday joy and Christmas pajamas for the kids. He indeed showed up today, bringing three sets of holiday red pajamas for our crew. From now until Christmas Eve, he'll bring some treats, get into some mischief, and of course, report back to Santa nightly. Snowflake has been a part of our family for eleven years, and our kids love him. They couldn't wait for him to come to our new house.

We hosted 22 of our family and friends for Thanksgiving, and it was an absolute blast. While it was a lot of work to set it all up and figure out how to best host a large crowd without our kitchen being finished, we made it work. Our family gave us a lot of grace, and just rolled with it, as we've been doing since we moved into our 'renovation home' six months ago. As you can imagine, we had some cleaning up to do after Thanksgiving. Our Friday plans include cleaning up, rearranging the furniture, re-decorating what was undecorated to make room for serving food, and putting up our outdoor Christmas decor.

The kids have been happy to have a break from school and not to have to rush out anywhere. We'll do a little decorating in their rooms today, set up the upstairs Christmas tree (with a Harry Potter theme), order a new Christmas tree for our parlor, set up our holiday hot cocoa bar, and just enjoy being home together.

Time with family is just slipping away- everyone is growing up, and seeing everyone together reminds us how blessed we truly are.

Whatever you're doing today, I pray you are happy, and stay safe! Have a wonderful Friday.