When Dylan and I got married, one of the first holidays we spent together as a married couple was Christmas.  That very first year, we found ourselves miles away from both of our immediate families and, honestly, enjoyed the fact that, from the very beginning of our marriage, we got to make up our very own Christmas traditions.  We did spend time with both sets of families that year, of course, but Christmas day was all ours to do what we wanted!  One of the most important things, for us, was to take a break from the crazyness that can be the Christmas season to just enjoy being together.  We still do that and I LOVE that time we set aside to have together!  This year, we decided to do things a little differently.

Growing up, neither of us ever had a real Christmas tree in the house.  I am not sure why my family never had one (both of my parents read this so maybe – just maybe they’ll fill me in), but Dylan’s family had allergies that didn’t allow them to have a real tree in the house.  Since neither of us are allergic AND we had a scheduled date night available for fun tree-picking, we loaded Lola up in the car and headed to Elgin’s Christmas Tree Farm (who, by the way, DOES offer hypoallergenic trees)!

The above photos serve as proof that I did go with Dylan to pick out the tree AND that we made it through the Crazy Maze without cheating (ok, so you may never REALLY know if we cheated or not, but I guess you’ll just have to take my word on that one :D )!

Lola always wants to make friends, even if they bite!   

She also wanted to let us know that she was willing to dig our tree up, if we needed help.

Oh hey, handsome man of mine!

After we loaded up with coffee (that had ice cream blended with it – YUM!), this was the beautiful sunset GOD made for our journey home.  

Someone had a long day of tree-sniffing and couldn’t handle a night of decorating, but I’m not naming names…. 

Last year, my grandmother gave me a box of ornaments that my sisters and I made as kids.  Luckily, she knows I have a very rustic tree and these “Cookie Ornaments” fit just right!  Thank you for sharing, Grandma!  

This stocking ornament is our new addition this year!  

Our kitchen table is currently decorated like a Christmas version of Candy Land.  

That beautiful smelling candle was a thank-you gift from my church for serving on the Christmas Service committee this year.  The theme was “Remember” and we wanted to do something very home-y.  I don’t think I contributed much (and there was a LOT to be done, trust me!  They even built a fire place to put up on stage, complete WITH fire, if that tells you anything about the awesomeness of the people that Jesus has brought together at this church!) but telling them that my grandmother used to bake cookies every year with us when we were little and that the smell of cookies reminded me of home and Christmas at grandma’s house.  So, I was in charge of making THE ENTIRE auditorium smell like cookies!  It may have been torture for the congregation, forcing them to smell sweet cookies before lunch, but scent is the closest thing tied to memory, after all!  :D

Speaking of my sweet tooth, thank you gifts, and date nights, I decided to send sweet, simple gifts to my 2013 wedding clients this year.  This is what they got that can, hopefully, serve as a nice date night for them!  I know I couldn’t do what I love without their support and am so very appreciative of each and every one of them!

We’ll end on these crazy photos of us at our church’s Student Missions Benefit Dinner.  We worked the photo booth that night and were able to enjoy some awesome food, friends, and fellowship!  

Merry Christmas to you and yours!  I hope you enjoy the festivities of the season and that the new year is full of blessings!  I cannot wait to see what GOD has in store for 2014!

– Mylah Renae

Austin Wedding Photographer

www.Eureka-Photography.com