Preparing to celebrate Jesus' birthday was so fun this year! Thanks to some practical, simple suggestions from a friend at MOPS, I made a quick advent calendar and we read a Bible verse and did an activity each day to get ready for Christmas. A few favorites: going to look at Christmas lights after bedtime while drinking hot chocolate, going shopping for a needy child's Christmas gift, and making Christmas goodies for our neighbors. It was fun to sing Christmas carols (all the kids knew a bunch!), dance to Christmas music, and hear the kids' excitement about everything related to Christmas!
We went to a fun Christmas tree farm to get our tree. We didn't have that option in Midland, and we enjoyed this day much more than our former trips to Lowe's to buy a tree.
Jenna dresses up to decorate the tree
Drew wore this stocking the first time the nurse brought him to us in the hospital two years ago. It's fun to see the major change in who swallows what!
Lydia (always dressed as a dancing princess) got the star honor this year
One weekend we got to hit Silver Dollar City with all of AJ's side of the family. It was a cold night, but the lights were beautiful. The decorations were amazing!
It's a big treat to be closer to family so that we can do fun weekend trips together! This is AJ's brother Ben and his wife Maggie.
The kids loved playing with this wooden, non-breakable nativity. The most popular activity for this year was lining all the characters up for a train ride.
Jenna in front of our church one Sunday morning when Daddy sang in a mens' choir.
Grandma and Poppie spent a December weekend with us, so we made gingerbread houses together. The ratio of adults to kids was perfect!
