A Different Christmas

This year Christmas is going to look a little different for us. For the first time we'll be traveling to visit family for the holiday.
We found out in August the Phil's Dad was diagnosed with stage 4 Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. We have decided to take a trip to Oklahoma for Christmas to be able to spend the holiday with him.
While we're glad to be able to make the trip out to see him, we've had to change some of our normal traditions so we can. We usually buy a fresh tree each year to hang decorations on and look at each year. It seemed silly to buy a fresh tree for just a couple of weeks before we leave that will sit here dark and lonely on Christmas day.

So we've done a bit of improvising. My Mom bought this little tree for me sometime in high school so I could decorate one in my bedroom. I've kept it and we usually put it in the boys room during the holidays. This year it will be in the living room instead. The boys seemed to have just as much fun decorating it up as a regular size tree.

To be able to enjoy some of our favorite ornaments that make an appearance every year I hung a garland that is usually used elsewhere in the house on the living room wall. I put most of our of pickles on it (15 in all now) then let the boys choose their favorite ornaments to put in between them. I think it turned out pretty well and the boys are very happy with it.
Most importantly, they are even more happy about being able to go to Oklahoma. They talk about it every day. It will be a very long drive there so hopefully the anticipation will somehow make the drive feel shorter.