Smile at Christmas!

Christmas decorating at our house is late and slow this year. We've been busy raising little ones and going out of town so the decorating has taken a back seat until the past few days. We started the process on Saturday by picking out a tree with the kids and setting it up. On Saturday night Kevin and I (mostly Kevin) put up stockings, holly boughs, nativity scenes and the like.

While I totally dropped the ball on the advent wreath, I muddled my way through making a Jesse Tree, which Monica understood and enjoyed more than I thought she would. Each ornament is a piece of salvation history and Scripture from creation to the birth of Christ. There are many different sequences and I'll probably tweek some of the ornaments for next year. But for a first try, it has been great!




I think the best part of the Advent season is watching Monica really experience the Advent season - snow, decorations, advent traditions and carols. A few mornings ago she walked out of her room and saw the tree all lit up and exclaimed, "Monica smile! Monica smile at Christmas!"

I hope you all have the chance to "smile at Christmas" and bask in the wonder of God's coming to earth as a babe.