Setting the Mood with a Pre-Party Activity!

Tomorrow is the official first day of the "Love Finds You" Blog Party here at "Seasons of Humility!" The excitement is building!!! Are you ready to party?

To help kick-start the festivities and celebrate the holiday season, I thought it would be fun to share a Christmas tradition with you. It involves a pickle ornament and extra gifts, so read on to find out more!

The advertisement below featured on The German Way website gives a brief description of this Christmas tradition:

The basic idea is that the parents hide a pickle ornament in the tree, and whoever finds the green ornament among the branches and other ornaments receives an extra gift! In our family, though, we have more than one pickle ornament, so my sister and I both have a chance to win a prize. It makes the game a little less stressful that way, I'm sure. ;) Plus, my grandparents hide pickle ornaments for us in their tree, too, so I think it's safe to say we've been rather spoiled!

Anyway, would you like to try your hand at pickle hunting? I've hidden three pickle ornament images here on the blog somewhere. They could be on one of my pages, older posts, or right under your nose! But just to clarify--they are only on this blog. You won't find them in any links that take you away from "Seasons of Humility."

What is the extra gift you're aiming for? Whoever finds a pickle image first and tells me in the comment section where it was found gets 5 extra entries in the drawing for the grand prize package (to be described tomorrow on the first day of the party)! That means that if you happen to have extra time and somehow find all three of the pickle images before anyone else, you could get up to 15 extra entries in the drawing!!! Or there could be one person with 10 extra entries and another with 5 extra entries. Or three different people could end up with 5 extra entries each. You get the idea!

Believe me--the grand prize package is going to be awesome! So don't miss out on this chance to gain extra entries in the drawing! Plus, it's always fun to be the first to find something. ;) Don't forget that in order to get the extra entries you must say where you found the pickle ornament image on my blog (you can say what page/post or you can give the URL). Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions (or if you are in need of some hints...), as well. There are three images, so that means there are three chances to win! Here's what the image looks like (but note that this is not one of the three images you are supposed to find--this is just an example):


Happy pickle hunting! And remember to stop by tomorrow to join me for the first day of the "Love Finds You" Blog Party!!!

*All three of the pickles have now been found. Congratulations to Bluerose and Casey! Thank you for joining in the fun!*

Christmas in July: Day Four

Today we're going to talk about the well-loved and beautiful tradition of . . . the Christmas tree! From setting up the tree, to decorating it, to simply admiring it, the Christmas tree is a gorgeous symbol of cheer, growth, family, and celebration.

Our family actually has an artificial tree. (The tree pictured at left is my grandparents' tree, and that's my beautiful mother standing next to it!) There are some really great points to having an artificial tree, including the fact that it's far less of a mess! It lasts much longer, and there's not much of a chance of it housing a squirrel (for those of you who have seen Christmas Vacation!).

But I can definitely see the good points to having a real tree. For example, it seems that there's a whole grand experience involved in picking out a tree that is lost when one has an artificial tree. And then I'm sure there's an earthy, fresh fragrance that comes with having a real tree, as well.

So, does your family have an artificial tree or a real tree for a Christmas tree? And what do you like about whichever one you have?

Now, we also must discuss another big part of having a Christmas tree--ornaments! There are so many different kinds of ornaments. Our family is a big fan of Hallmark ornaments, and we have LOTS of them! From Mickey as Steamboat Willie to the Wizard of Oz, our tree is fascinating to look at, in my opinion. And Hallmark allows for not only a pleasant visual experience, but also a fun listening experience! Whenever we turn our tree on, a lot of the ornaments all chime in at once. The Wizard of Oz ornament is usually the last one to go off, leaving us with the echoing statement, "The great Oz has spoken." =)

What kind of ornaments do you have on your Christmas tree? And do you collect Hallmark ornaments?

Christmas trees are wonderful for bringing family and friends together, even serving as a lovely background for pictures! The picture at right is one taken this last Christmas break, when some of my friends and I got together at my house for a Murder Mystery Party. That's our Christmas tree in the background. As far as Murder Mystery Parties go, I've hosted two of them and they are soooo much fun!!! Of course, it takes a good sense of humor and people who are willing to stay in character, but my friends always make it a memorable experience! (And yes, I know that I was supposed to get copies of these pictures to my friends that were there . . . which I haven't done yet. Sorry, guys! Maybe I can get this done before next Christmas break!) ;)

OK, since I've already gone off on one tangent, I have a couple more (but please stick with me!). These next couple of pictures are in honor of Ashley (see her comment from the first day of "Christmas in July" if you're confused!):



That's my grandpa! ;) This is only really funny if you've seen A Christmas Story, so I hope these pictures elicit a smile and/or laugh for those of you who have!

And one more thing. Yes, I have a different blog background again! I'm just wondering if it's too dark for "Summer," or too blue. What do you think?

Thanks for putting up with my randomness today, and I'm curious to hear about your Christmas tree memories!