For the First Time...

I finally decided to give in and create a family blog. Everyone else is doing it, and since this has been a banner year with me joining Facebook as well - I thought I may as well do the blogging thing before the year is over. And with so many family and friends scattered all over, it'll be fun to keep everyone up to date with funny things the kids say and random photos.

I'm not normally very introspective, but this Christmas season seemed to start early this year for me, with thinking through all the many blessings God has given to our family - as well as listening to my Christmas music starting on Nov. 1 and getting the house all decked out Thanksgiving weekend. I just absolutely love this time of year, and making it meaningful for the kids this year has been so much fun for us. I love hearing Skyla explain the story of Jesus being born to Brody, and being pregnant this Christmas has brought a new appreciation for me too (think Breath of Heaven). The kids have already spent hours reading the Christmas books and playing with the different nativities, and Kevin has been working with them on Christmas crafts since that's his department as the artistic one of the family. And we FINALLY this year decided to get most of our Christmas shopping DONE in November, so that stress is gone, except for the mountain of gifts upstairs that I need to start wrapping at some point.

We took a trip out to Ticonderoga Farms in Manassas to cut down our own tree last weekend, but didn't find the type of tree we like, so we took some pictures so we could pretend to be authentic with getting our own tree - then trekked back to Fairfax and bought a great Douglas Fir at the high school right near our house!

Hope you all are taking the time to appreciate the full meaning of this Christmas season! It's amazing to think of the gift that God gave the world so many years ago, and what a privilege it is to be able to celebrate it each and every year.