Home for the Holidays

We are so happy to be teaming up with some of our blogging friends to help a family in need this holiday season.  We want to do what we can to help them feel HOME for the holidays.

Imagine leaving everything you know for the possibility of a better life. Saving and working for 18 years to make it a reality. That’s exactly what Priscila did. It was her dream to bring her little family, husband Marcos and young son Adam, from Brazil to the United States. They spent months filing papers, she left her teaching job and he left his career and came with only with what they could fit in their luggage. With only days to find housing and not knowing the area, they rented an apartment very quickly only to discover that it was in an “undesirable” part of town. Police are constantly in and out of the complex, knocking on the neighbor’s door. Their small son isn’t safe playing outside.

We have found them an apartment in a great, family-friendly area. The landlords are willing to pay them the $2000 it will cost to get out of their lease if they clean and fix up the apartment. However, they will loose $1000 of their deposit. We are trying to raise $2000 to help them this Holiday Season!  The money raised through this campaign will all go to finding furniture for the family and giving them a cozy “home for the holidays.”

We just love the girls that are helping me with this little project! They are all posting something that means “Home for the Holidays” to them so please make sure you go check out their blogs. They are all so talented and beautiful!

Adam, such a sweet boy, looks forward to learning English. He loves it here in the U.S. You should have seen him at Halloween! He gazed in amazement at the festivities.

Now that we have shared this wonderful family’s story, we want to quickly share one of our favorite ways to feel home for the holidays.  It’s a very simple tradition and possibly one you love as well.  Every year our kids each get to pick out one new ornament to add to the tree.  In addition to their store bought ornament, our family tree is plastered with handmade treasures they have made at home or at school.  I love putting up our family Christmas tree and watching the kids pull out all of their ornaments.  Their eyes just sparkle as they hang each item.  There’s nothing like that handmade personal touch to really make home feel like HOME.  Pair a beautifully lit Christmas tree with some beautiful handmade ornaments and we never want to leave the house!

A couple of last years ornaments:  Our oldest had started playing guitar that year, and our youngest was obsessed with Scooby Doo (still is:).  Their ornaments help tell a bit about THEM.

Some handmade ornaments that adorn the tree.

These beautiful little ornaments are a simple thing that make us feel HOME for the Holidays!  We are so blessed with warmth, comfort, and safety to cultivate that Christmas holiday spirit and that is what we are wanting to help the Tabosa family get.  So this season of giving, please consider the Tabosa family!   There’s no better time than around Christmas to give back. 🙂