I am so excited to let you know in our home this year Christmas is going to look a little different around GreatfulMoments.com this year. Actually, a lot different.

Our family is changing. Our traditions are changing. And as we looked toward Christmas this year, we realized that our Christmas Gift Guide needed to change and grow with us.

So this year, we’re doing something a little bigger. We’re turning GreatfulMoments.com into a place for Santa’s Helpers. And we’d love for you to join us.

For years, we’ve shared Christmas gift ideas with our readers. But this year, we’re expanding the fun. We’re creating a Interactive Halloween Gift Guide, adding our brand-new Interactive Fall Gift Guide, and expanding our Christmas coverage in a big way.

For Christmas, we’re actually doing two different gift guides. First, we’ll have our traditional Christmas Wish Book. This is where you’ll find the things you’d expect from a Christmas Gift Guide — reviews, products we love, books, gift ideas, family favorites, features, and more.

But we’re also creating something new: Our Interactive Christmas Gift Guide. Which is going to give families things to do and a chance to earn tickets throughout the Season.

And my family wanted to let you know there is a reason we’re doing both. But the main reason is we didn’t wanted to remind families Christmas doesn’t have to be all about spending Mmoney.

There are so many wonderful things about Christmas that don’t cost anything. Reading a book together. Making cookies. Playing a board game. Going outside. Making a craft.

Watching a favorite Christmas movie. Listening to Christmas music. Driving around to look at Christmas lights. Starting a new family tradition. Remembering an old one.

Sometimes the things children remember years later aren’t the things that came in the biggest box. They’re the things they did with you. That’s why we’re creating our Interactive Christmas Gift Guide.

We’re going to give families activities and ideas that encourage children of all ages to get up, move, read, create, play, help, explore, and spend time together. And yes, parents can participate, too!

We’re turning the Interactive Christmas Gift Guide into a season-long adventure. Children and families will have opportunities to complete activities and earn tickets along the way.

Parents will provide the prizes at the end of the season and can decide what those tickets mean in their own homes. The prize doesn’t have to cost anything.

Maybe it’s choosing the family movie. Maybe it’s picking what’s for dinner. Maybe it’s staying up a little later. Maybe it’s choosing the Christmas cookie recipe. Maybe it’s something your child has been hoping to do.

The tickets are just a fun way to encourage children to participate. Because we’re not trying to create another list of things families have to buy. We’re trying to create a list of things families can do.

And that’s where the idea of becoming Santa’s Helpers comes in. We’re going to spend the season helping Santa in our own little way — discovering wonderful gifts, sharing ideas, finding books, supporting small businesses, and most importantly, helping families create Christmas memories.

For my family this Christmas Is especially meaningful but it will also be hard for our family. It’s the first year David’s dad will not be here to celebrate Christmas with us.

But there are plenty of reasons we’re looking at Christmas differently this year. This will be my mother-in-law’s first Christmas without David Sr. and David without his dad and Charlie without his pa.

That has made us think even more about family, memories, traditions, and the people who make Christmas special. So we’re expanding our Christmas Gift Guide to include a much bigger focus on grandparents and great-grandparents.

We’ve included grandparents in our gift guides before, but this year we’re really going to celebrate them. Because grandparents and great-grandparents have stories.

They have traditions. They have memories. And they have a special place in our families and our Christmases. And we want to make many new memories this year.

We’re also getting ready for another wonderful change. My stepdaughter, Leslie, and her husband, Toby, are fostering a little boy. So our family is preparing to celebrate a new little boy and a whole new generation of Christmas memories.

And then there’s Charlie. Charlie turns 19 just nine days before Christmas. Nineteen! It doesn’t seem possible. The little boy who once made Christmas morning magical is now a young man who will be celebrating his 19th birthday just days before Christmas.

Our family isn’t the same family it was a few years ago. And that’s okay. Families grow. Families change. Traditions change. And sometimes Christmas gives us the perfect opportunity to make new traditions while holding on to the old ones.

Our Christmas Wish Book

Our traditional Christmas Wish Book will be filled with things families can discover as they start making their Christmas lists.

You’ll find:

• Products we love
• Honest reviews
• Books and book features
• Christmas gift ideas
• Family favorites
• Gifts for children
• Gifts for teens and young adults
• Gifts for parents
• Gifts for grandparents
• Gifts for men and women
• Small-business finds
• And plenty of surprises along the way

But we’re not looking at Christmas only through the eyes of someone shopping for a gift. We’re also looking at Christmas through the eyes of the person giving the gift.

What makes someone smile? What makes a child excited? What starts a conversation? What gets a family playing together? What becomes part of a tradition?

What might become one of those things your family talks about years from now? Those are the things we’re looking for. And we want yOU and your family to join us.

This isn’t just an invitation to big companies. Small businesses are welcome. Authors are welcome. Makers and creators are welcome. Entrepreneurs are welcome. And even individuals who simply have something wonderful to share are welcome.

Do you have a product you love? A book you can’t stop recommending? A small business you think deserves to be discovered? Something you make yourself?

A favorite Christmas gift that your family has enjoyed? Something you think would make a wonderful gift for someone else? Come join us! The more the merrier.

If you have something you would like to have featured in our Christmas Gift Guide, let us know. If you’re a business that needs to be seen, we’d love to hear from you.

If you’re an author with a book that belongs under someone’s Christmas tree, come talk to us. If you’re a small business owner trying to introduce your products to new families, come join our Christmas adventure.

And if you’re simply someone who has found something wonderful and thinks other people should know about it, we want to hear from you, too because everyone is welcome.

You don’t have to be a huge company. You don’t have to have a giant advertising budget. You just need something you believe is worth sharing. Let’s see if we can add it to our Christmas Gift Guide.

Maybe you aren’t selling anything. Maybe you just love Christmas. Maybe you have a favorite tradition. Maybe you have a book your children loved. Maybe you know a small business that deserves some attention. Maybe you have an idea for an activity families could do together.

You’re a potential Santa’s Helper, too. This year, we’re opening the door and inviting people to come sit on our digital front porch and share what makes Christmas special to them.

Because Christmas isn’t just about what is underneath the tree. It’s about the people standing around it. It’s about the stories we tell. It’s about the traditions we pass down. It’s about the new memories we’re making.

And sometimes, it’s about discovering something wonderful because somebody took the time to say, “Hey, you have to see this!” That’s what we want our Christmas Gift Guide to be.

So come and join us this year, as GreatfulMoments.com is growing our Christmas Gift Guide into something bigger. We’re creating our Christmas Wish Book.

We’re creating our Interactive Christmas Gift Guide. We’re celebrating grandparents. We’re welcoming a new little boy into our family. We’re celebrating Charlie turning 19.

We’re remembering family members who won’t be sitting around the Christmas table this year. And we’re making room for new traditions not only with our family but your’s as well.

We’re going to read. We’re going to play. We’re going to create. We’re going to discover. We’re going to share. And we’re going to become Santa’s Helpers along the way.

So whether you’re a business, an author, a creator, a small-business owner, a parent, a grandparent, or simply someone who has something wonderful to share… Come join us.

If you have something you’d like us to feature, let us know. If you have something you love, share it with us. If you have a business that needs to be seen, come be part of our Christmas Gift Guide.

And if you’re a family looking for ways to make Christmas about more than shopping, come join our Interactive Christmas Gift Guide. We’re going to make this Christmas a little different.

A little bigger. A little more meaningful. And hopefully filled with a whole lot of memories. Welcome to Christmas at GreatfulMoments.com. Now let’s go be Santa’s Helpers. Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, we’ll see you there!

We’re Looking for Elves!; Every good Christmas workshop needs a few elves, right? So we’re looking for elves to join our Christmas Gift Guide! Now, not tomorrow.

If you’re a business owner, author, maker, creator, small-business owner, or simply someone who has found something you absolutely love, come join us.

You can share:

🎁 A product you love
📚 A book you recommend
🏪 Your small business
✨ Something you make
🎄 A favorite Christmas gift idea
❤️ Something your family has enjoyed
🎅 Or something you think our readers simply need to know about!

If you’d like your business, product, book, or favorite find to be considered for our Christmas Gift Guide, come be one of our elves! We’re making room for lots of wonderful discoveries this Christmas, and we’d love to add yours.

So grab your elf hat, come sit on our digital front porch, and tell us what you have! We’re looking for elves to help make our Christmas Gift Guide extra special this year.

Come join us!

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Grateful, Thankful, and Blessed.

GreatfulMoments.com

Thank you,

Glenda, Charlie and David Cates