{2018 // a year in Review}

Good morning and Happy Monday! I took a break from this space and Instagram for a couple of weeks to fully enjoy and embrace the holidays with my sweet family. And that I did! I will recap Christmas soon, but today I wanted to take a look back at 2018. It's always bittersweet, the last day of the year. 2018 was filled with so many great times, but I also look forward to what 2019 has in store for us. Here is a look at 2018 with Hall Around Texas...

{Merry JEEPmas // Christmas parade}

I love having a red Jeep, but man I love it even more during the month of December! It's just perfect for all things Christmas. And you know I love me some Christmas. Before we named the Jeep Rooster we legit almost named it Rudolph! No joke! Or Rudy, rather, for short. During the Christmas season, I put a red nose and antlers on the Jeep and everyone and their Grandma's dog calls it Rudolph. I don't hate it. I love all things Christmas and now all things JEEPmas!

{Pinterest to Project // vol. 7 // DIY Jeep Snowglobe // 2 versions}

This next project was a fun one for me! I mean, they're all fun, but I might have squealed after I completed this one. If you know me, then you know I am obsessed with Jeeps. I bought my first Jeep (a 1985 CJ 7) shortly after high school and have loved them ever since. Anyhow, a friend sent me this pin a while ago and I knew I had to recreate it. We were at the store one day and Mason found a red Jeep Matchbox car and I knew it was the perfect piece for my snowglobe!

{#2018ChristmasMoments // Christmas Photo Challenge}

One of my favorite things to do each year is to follow Stephanie's Christmas Photo Challenge. I was so excited this year when she asked me to help co-host it! I love taking and sharing photographs of all things Christmas on Instagram! It's my absolute favorite. Below are the prompts and today I want to share my photos for days 1-12 (half of the challenge).

{Deckin' the halls // Christmas Home Tour 2018}

Deckin' the Halls is one of my favorite things to do around Christmas-time. Usually, Mason and I will decorate the entire house on the day that we get our Christmas tree {from the Christmas Tree farm} while Nate works on the "exterior illumination" {National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation anyone?}. But, this year I started decorating the house about 2 weeks prior to us getting the Christmas tree. There were a few reasons for this, but mostly because I was excited and I wanted to take my time with the decorating. And if I'm being honest, to decorate and redecorate a few times. It really is a lot to do it all in one day! I'm so glad we did it this way because just decorating the tree took a full day! Whew...

{Merry Grinchmas // 2018}

One of our favorite things to do each year is visiting our favorite Grinch while in Palestine, TX. We normally visit him while were are there for the Polar Express. Only it didn't work out this time. Grinch didn't open until the weekend after we were at Polar Express! We, and especially Mason, were so bummed! But, we made a plan to go back and visit another weekend. And that we did! We had a whole Grinch themed day!

{Weekend Wrap-up // a festive December weekend; Camp Verde, Breakfast with Santa, Church}

Hello Monday!! How we are already 10 days into the month of December is beyond me!! But, I do know that we are enjoying this sweet season something fierce. I love the month of December and all of the festiveness. Nathan worked overtime on Saturday and Sunday, but we still managed to have a pretty amazing weekend! Here's a look at our festive weekend...

{The Magic of PNP - Portable North Pole}

This post is sponsored by PNP. All opinions are 100% my own.

Keeping the magic alive at Christmas time is one of my top priorities as a mother. I know that there is only a limited time as a kid when they truly believe and my goal is to make that season as magical as can be. For years now, the PNP has been helping me do just that with personalized Santa videos and phone calls (posts here, here and here). Mason is such a big-time believer in all of the magical parts of Christmas and I pray that we have many, many years of that. Thanks to amazing tools like the Portable North Pole I think we have a pretty good chance at accomplishing that goal.

{O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree}

It's a family tradition for us to celebrate all things Christmas on the day after Thanksgiving. No black Friday shopping for us! We opt for going to the Christmas tree farm and decorating, instead. My friend Whitney called this day "Christmas Friday" and I loved it so much! I will never think of this day as anything other than Christmas Friday from here on out! Anyhow, we woke up Friday morning around 8:30 and started getting ready to head to our favorite tree farm, Yesterland. We love this farm because they offer so much for the kids to do! There's a Santa, rides, rows, and rows of beautiful trees, a candy shop, a playground, a general store, etc. It never disappoints.

{Currently // December 2018}

Merry December!! I am once again joining Anne for a Currently link-up. This month's prompts are all holiday related and making my Christmas loving heart oh so happy. For December we are sharing what we are currently gifting, baking, singing, mailing, and decorating. 

{Happy HOWL-idays from our Christmas pups // 2018}

My pups must think I am the nuttiest fur mama ever! But, they mostly oblige to all of my photo taking antics. Well, Lexi does because she's a sweet and obedient little thing and Diesel? Well, he will do anything for a treat. ha. We recently took Christmas photos of the pups and I couldn't love them more.

{Polar Express 2018 // the actual ride}

One last and final post for our 2018 Polar Express weekend! Our tickets for the Polar Express were for Saturday evening at 8pm. We like to take the last train ride of the evening because it feels more like the movie. And it's just so dang magical. We arrived a little early to get our tickets and then we hung out waiting to board the train. We visited the gift shop, took pictures, got popcorn, etc. while we waited. Mason and I wanted to buy the Polar Express book because we surprisingly do not have that one, but they didn't have any available. Note to self for next year; order the book prior to going!

{Polar Express 2018 // Camping}

I mentioned yesterday (post here) that a couple of weekends ago we loaded up and headed east for our annual Polar Express weekend! Yes, we go in November for a couple of reasons. 1.) It's not as crowded as it is in December and 2.) Our Decembers are already full to the brim and we need more than just a month for all of the Christmas things. And, I secretly (or not so secretly) love that we get a jumpstart on our Christmas festivities!!

{Polar Express // Trail riding in Palestine, TX}

Last year we visited Palestine for our annual Polar Express weekend shortly after we bought our new Jeep. While we were there we found a ton of forestry trails and were excited to drive them in the Jeep. We went back a couple of weekends ago and we were sure to hit the trails again. Nathan, Mason and I left a few hours earlier than the rest of our group to allow for enough time to go on the trails. We got there right at sunset and it was just too pretty shining through the tall pine trees! The trails may look quite similar to last year's post, but the Jeep sure has grown up a bit! ;)

{2018 Christmas Bucketlist}

Y'all!!! It's the best time of the year...Christmas time! I just love the season and the spirit of Christmas. We do so many fun things around this time of year and it makes my heart swell. I get so excited each time I make our activity list and eagerly anticipate the fun to come. Not to mention our favorite Elves return to our home! It's just a jolly ol' time!

{Weekend Wrap-up // Thanksgiving, Christmas tree farm, deckin' the halls}

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a really lovely long weekend. We sure did. But, now I'm bummed that my week with Mason is coming to an end. I love when he has extra time off from school. And I am thankful that this is a short week. He gets out early on Thursday and is off on Friday! Then we'll be counting down to Christmas vacation!! I'll start my weekend wrap-up with Thanksgiving because that's when our weekend began!

{Happy Thanksgiving 2018 // 18 things I am thankful for}

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours! I hope that you have an amazing day with the ones you love most! This year we are having lunch with Nathan's family at 12:00 and then supper with my mom's side of the family at 6:00. We got super lucky this year with the two events being spread out enough!

{Pinterest to Project // vol. 6 // DIY Ribbon Skirt for Elf on the Shelf}

In all seriousness, what did we do before Pinterest? I've always considered myself a crafty person, but Pinterest just takes it to a whole new level. Last year an 'elf in training' was brought to our family for the Christmas season. Max was showing her the ropes on being an Elf on the Shelf, but after such a fun time with our family, Millie decided she wanted to become a permanent elf of Mason's. We were so excited she wanted to stay! Millie is a sassy little thing and always calls herself "Princess Millie". And, we all know that a Princess needs special clothing. I turned to Pinterest to find her something special. I came across this adorable DIY Ribbon skirt and decided to turn this Pin into a Project!

{Five on Friday // Thanksgiving Lunch, Deckin' the Halls, Wedding}

Happy Friday!! Other than a scheduled blog post on Wednesday I have been MIA around here. It's been crazy, Y'all!! We literally had something going on every day of the week. And, now that the holidays are near it's not going to slow down any time soon. I'm sure you can relate. Anyhow, here's a small glimpse of what we've been up to this week...

{Pinterest to Project // vol. 5 // DIY Harry Potter Butterbeer}

I am having so much fun turning all of these Pinterest Pins into Projects! Our most recent project was Butterbeer from Harry Potter! Mason and I are currently reading the series and watching the movies together. I've waited for this for a long time. To be able to re-read the series with him. And I am happy to say that he is just as obsessed with anything and everything Harry Potter as I am. We made a DIY Harry Potter wand not too long ago and had a blast doing it. So, it was only fitting that we try some Butterbeer.