All I Want for Christmas...

On Saturday, David, the girls and I celebrated our family Christmas.  Yes, it's a bit early, but we had to grab what day we could since the girls had their Festival of Carols Christmas program last night (which Miracle #2 didn't get to participate in because she was sportin' 101 fever...uggh!), hubby traveling, Miracle #1 having exams this week, and then we'll all be flying the friendly skies a bit, too!

It truly was one of the best Christmas' we've had!  We took our time and really enjoyed the day together, and made a very concerted effort to slow.down.and.remember.the.Reason.for.the.Season.  It was fabulous!  Let me share in pics...

The day started out with the girls opening their stockings and then having brunch.  Who doesn't want a smiley face made out of sausage, eggs and monkey bread!?!

We all got scarves.  A sweet girl from Audrey An's GA (Girls In Action) class at church made these scarves with her mom to raise money in order to provide clean water for people in Tanzania.

We stopped and David read the Christmas story out of Luke 2 (btw...this manger scene is FROM Bethlehem! David's dad traveled to Isreal a few years ago and brought it back for us).  We had such a wonderful time reading, praying, and asking questions about the birth of Jesus and all the details in which we wonder.  Great conversations!  Wow...it hits a little closer to home now that Abigail is almost a teenager and knowing that Mary, the mother of the Creator of the Universe was probably not too much older than my own daughter.  Ok, like we really have some interesting conversations now! Every time we read The Story (and watch The Nativity Story) some new thought will pop into my mind about my Savior's miraculous birth.  This year was the thought of how ridiculed Mary & Joseph must have been in their village prior to Jesus' birth.  What a man of integrity Joseph was and what a strong woman of character Mary was.  How incredible to be chosen by God to be Jesus Christ's earthly parents.  It was great, too, when Audrey An heard David reading Luke 2:11-12, she shouted, "Oh, I know that one!  That was my bible verse at school this week!" (then quoted it...yay, Audrey An!).

Then...we opened a few gifts.  Daddy's girls KNOW what he likes..."holiday heat"- TEN different HOT salsas!!

PRICELESS expression and such gratitude- a "dreamlight" was #1 on her list!

The girls know what mommy likes...lotions and potions, candles and chocolate!

Bulletin boards David and I made for Abigail's "new" room (she'll be giving up her room for ADB and moving down to our "now" guest room).  She loves chevron!  They turned out pretty cute...a little stressful just cutting out the fabric for me-lol!!

My sweets!  Can't wait to have a third "sweet" under that tree next year!

Then we stopped and watched "The Nativity Story" movie...an annual tradition! After that we started a new tradition.  I had told the everyone a few weeks ago when we open our gifts we were going to be giving Jesus a gift.  They've had some time to think about it.  It was not to be a tangible gift but a letter to Jesus or just a single word or phrase that would be significant and they would focus on giving to Jesus this coming year.  We all wrote down our "gift" and placed it in this beautiful box.  We prayed and asked God to help us honor Him with our gifts.  It will be neat to open the box year after year and have each person remember what their gift was the previous year.

Then we opened some more gifts...Guess what was on Miracle #1's list this year?

and a very close second for Miracle #2 as well!

AND she wanted leg warmers...yuck!!  But, oh well...she got MINE frpm the 1980's!!

Then...we stopped and made some sugar cookies- one of David's mom's special recipes.  David really enjoys baking and cooking (and he's really great at it!).  It's neat for the girls to remember their "Meggy"  (although Audrey An never met her) with their daddy's memories of all the special things she did during the holidays.

We topped off the night with all of us sleeping in the living room together.  We fell asleep watching movies (accompanied by Audrey An's "dream light!")-  Perfect day! 

Sunday morning and the girls are stylin' with their new duds.

We were so full from our Saturday brunch we didn't even make our special Christmas dinner.  We waited until Sunday lunch...It was tasty!  David did steaks, and I made the girls and my favorite "strawberry pretzel salad" (mom, it wasn't quite as "explosive" as last year...lol- inside joke!), roasted potatoes and brussel sprouts.

Abigail took this...love it!

Last weekend both girls were in our church's "Gloria" performance- wonderful production of our Savior's birth. It was their first time to be a part of it, and they were so thrilled!

Abigail is right in the center.

 

Our little Christmas box.

 

Audrey An as one of the king's attendants...  Although I don't think I got a close up picture of all the king's attendants, I thought it was pretty cool they were "red and yellow, black and white"  They WERE precious in His sight.  I'm so thankful the girls had the privilege of participating in the performance.  Hopefully, they got a better glimpse of the meaning of Christmas by BEING a part of it.

Backstage...sweet friend, Lindsey, being a sassy angel with Abs- oops, is that legal??? Sure!  I think God was smiling on two angels having a good time ;-)

Luke 2:11-12 "The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!  And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

Merry Christmas!

 David, Christa, Abigail & Audrey An