Every year my neighborhood has a Christmas decorating contest. All the parents with young kids get into it the most because, not only do they have the neighbors to please, they also have their little ones to please. It has become a great tradition in the town because every year someone completely surprises us with their creativity. Not only does it make a beautiful drive through the town it also brings everyone together to discuss the challenges they went through like adding the star to the chimney or the plastic Santa to the roof.

Every year the winners are awarded with a fun Christmas award to display in their home. Many keep their Christmas award out all year and others only display them around Christmas time to match the decor. The neat thing about this whole event is that it brings the community together in a fun competitive way. Once the Christmas season is over it is always sad to see the bare homes once again but excites you even more about the following year.

Trying to be the loving son that I am I decided to do something extra special for my dad this Father’s day. Usually we follow the norm and celebrate Father’s day by gathering the whole family together for a cook out. But this Father’s day is a little different because all the kids are out of the house and no one gets to visit with Dad as often as they use to.

Because we all miss dad unconditionally we decided to put our money together and purchase him something he can treasure and help remimnd him how much we truly appreciate everything he has done for us.

We went with purchasing a plaque and getting an image engraved on it. The plaque looking very sleek yet personalized, ended up being a beautiful cheery wood that matched all the cherry furniture in the house. We engraved a beautiful scripture along with an illustration of our family crest to create the custom-made feel.

Although the gift was very simple and affordable the meaning and thought made it worth a million bucks.