Preparing for Christmas

We've been having so much fun this year with Advent. From creating our own Advent calendar to reading stories of Jesus' birth to even a few devotions at dinner, the kids are getting very excited for the birth of our Savior. Even little Gavin is catching on and when asked what news the angels brought, he says "Jesus is born!"

Here are a few other ways we're celebrating this season:

Natalie's Preschool Christmas Program

I missed this program while in Florida, but Jason said she did a beautiful job and she sure made a pretty angel. She loves singing at church and has learned an amazing number of songs for all of her December performances.

Holiday Party at Microsoft
We enjoyed a family dinner, worked on a fleece blanket for the Salvation Army, decorated Christmas ornaments to be donated with trees to needy families, and, of course, visited Santa. Natalie asked for Barbies and Gavin asked for a "live grasshopper." That's a new one for Santa, I bet.

Santa Village at Rheault Farm
We're trying to keep our Christmas focus on Jesus, but we also enjoy the other traditions, including Santa, reindeer and Jingle Bell fun. We spent a couple hours at Rheault Farm visiting Santa, decorating sugar cookies with Mrs. Claus, watching an electric train village/display and even writing letters to Santa. Ansley and Nikki joined us too!

Natalie's Church Christmas Program
The kids at Trinity do such a good job each year, telling the story of Jesus' birth through song. The performance fills the entire sanctuary and we even stake out our seats in the service beforehand. This year meant me sitting with the two kids in the front row while Jason helped with the soundboard. Yikes! But it was worth it. Natalie had us all smiling.