Spare Change

Where has 2010 gone?  We’ve got a 2 year old and 5 year old/Kindergartener now.  Bo’s been to Honduras on a mission trip.  God blessed us with a new house.  I ran a mini-marathon and turned 30!  And it all seemed to go by so fast!  That being the case, I’m trying to get started on Christmas stuff way before Thanksgiving to streamline the celebration of the season!  I love this time of year…getting together with family and friends, buying lots of presents, yummy food, and celebrating the birth of Jesus!  That being said, the project for this week will be our Christmas cards!

With the mild weather we’re experiencing this week, I think it will be a great chance to get the kids all dolled up in their holiday attire and head outside for a Christmas shoot!   Once I get the perfect shots (because you know you always do with a 2 year old and 5 year old)  I’ve already found our perfect card at Shutterfly.com.  Check out their Christmas Cards at http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards.

 Shutterfly has  so many cards to choose from, but my favorite is the “How Holly Story Christmas Card.”  First of all, there are 4 picture slots, so I can put several in.  This is handy when photographing the kids, because we never get one good picture of both of them smiling and simultaneously looking at the camera.  (Should this happen, we may have to change cards in celebration on the momentous occasion!)  Secondly, each picture has a caption we can customize.  If the Christmas shoot yields 4 good pictures, we can tell about what the kids were doing or how it shows their personalities’.  If we don’t get good pictures, we can insert some of the highlight pictures of the past year.  That would be a great idea for anyone.  I just try to stick with recent pictures if I can, as Colby and Kallee are growing so fast and look a lot different than they did last January. 

The pictures aren’t the most important part of the card.  These cards are really announcements of our faith in Christ.  This is an opportunity we get each year to share our Savior with our friends and family that we may not see often.  It is important that the card says “Merry Christmas” and that it has a place for us to customize a message about Jesus!  What celebration comes with that!  Shutterfly offers several religious Christmas cards at http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/religious-christmas-cards, but don’t forget its very easy to put a blessing from your family on any card!

Shutterfly is currently offering 30% off their holiday cards, as well as savings on calendars, photo books, and free shipping on orders over $25!  Check them out athttp://www.shutterfly.com/.

Blessings for a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas season! (Hopefully I’ll be back to post again before its all flown bye!

Tara