Christmas has come and gone [sniff!] but we just had to share a couple more posts with you! We were so extremely busy during the weeks around Christmas that blogging got put on the ‘to do later’ list. Some of us were trying to finish fourteen projects in one week :O
First, we had our cantata. I absolutely love Christmas and I absolutely love cantatas. So Christmas cantatas are the best, naturally! We did Ron and Shelley Hamilton’s cantata called ‘He Gave Everything’ and it went quite well. We’ve done three cantatas so far and this one has had the most acting in it. The people played the parts SO well and fit right into their role…they had us laughing multiple times 😀
This picture was beforehand while Kelsey and I were getting our harps tuned up and we were waiting to begin.
Singing! There are few things better than singing together with church family 😉
This Silent Night/Still, Still, Still medley is one of my favorites 🙂 The quality of the video isn’t the bestest, but it gives you a little bit of an idea of what it sounded like.
[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R55iBBKxfmk&feature=youtu.be’]
We had a children’s choir this time and they did such a good job (and were just plain cute!) singing their song, ‘If You’re Gonna Make a Difference’ 😀
[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G-aef1RPow&feature=youtu.be’]
Another highlight of December was getting to see our dear friends the DIXONS! It had been three years since we had seen each other in real life and it was SO good to see them and hug them again!
We played many a game of Dutch Blitz and had lots of fun. They hadn’t played the game before so we started out slow, but they caught on quite fast and I told them I could tell they were getting good, because we were starting to slap each others’ hands trying to get the cards down fast enough 😀
Did I mention that it was SO good to see them again?!!!
While we were having a lively game of Dutch Blitz, the younger set were having a lively game of Monopoly 😀
Playing with train sets…
A game of Apples to Apples
Once I was in the kitchen and I saw Samuel going for the camera, so I rushed over and we grabbed it at the same time 😀 He quickly gave it up and then struck this pose and said, “Take a picture!” How could I resist?!!
I love all the faces!
Isaac, Isaiah and Leah had a game of chess
Samuel thought he could help us by sitting on the counter and walking on our cards 😀 It was so much fun to have a little person around again! The evening went by too fast and we were sad when they had to go. I think several of us thought the same thing Eric said when it was time for them to go, “What? Already?”…and it was 12:30 a.m. by that point 😀
Highlight number three…Santa Claus came to town 😀 Okay…Mr-fireman-dressed-like-santa came in his firetruck and gave us all a bag of candy.
It is always a tradition and highlight of the Christmas season when he comes…the younger ones squeal when they hear the sirens and even we older girls look forward to this.
We’re probably the only 20-somethings in our little town who still get a bag of candy since we’re all there to greet him when he comes up to our door 😀
This year’s ‘Santa’ was a very good jolly one 😀 We’ve had a few ‘skinny’ ones before and we always comment on how well they ‘ho, ho, ho’ 😀
Isaiah trying to decide what it is he wants for Christmas (since Santa asked him). We don’t ‘do’ Santa at our house…he’s just someone who gives us candy a few days before Christmas…so when this giant red man asks the little people what they want for Christmas, I think it throws them off a little. They’re probably wondering what he has to do with getting them a present 😀 The look on Isaiah’s face is very cute!
Getting candy from Santa Claus
Noah’s turn
‘Santa’ telling us he’d ‘be back’ on Christmas Eve (and we all snicker to ourselves since we know better) 😀
Then we watched out the window until the flashing lights were gone…
Good bye Santa! See you next year!
What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions?
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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Farmgirls!
My favorite Christmas traditions include:
– Decorating the Christmas tree, and adding a few new ornaments each year
– Giving small home-made gifts to the people I love the most (I actually love the planning stages which go on for months!)
– Sitting around the table for a traditional Italian Christmas lunch, which includes Panettone, the Italian Christmas cake
Too bad this holiday season is now gone! But I sooo look forward to what 2013 will bring!
Many blessings,
Alice
Your Christmas lunch sounds sooooo good and I loved reading about your favorite traditions 😀
♥Jessica
I Love all the photos, Beautiful..
I love giving my kids a new pair of pajamas or a new nightgown on Christmas Eve, after we return from a great family gathering at my mother-in-law’s home. (This year was a bit sad — the first without Grandaddy.)
I have begun to give a present “from Jesus” each year. Last year each girl received her own Bible, although they each already had 2 or 3. On the inside, I pasted a poem I printed off “from Jesus.” This year, as a family, we received “The Star of Bethlehem” DVD & the storybook “A Child is Born.” (I figure all of our blessings come from Him anyway, so why not give credit where it is due?!) These presents always have to do with growing closer to the Savior.
Each year, we try to get a new family ornament, as well as letting the girls pick out one just for them. This year, we picked a Nativity ornament. The eldest daughter got a puppy dog, the second-born got a bird in a nest, and the youngest got a pink cupcake.
Other traditions are pretty normal stuff, like listening to Christmas music while decorating the tree. My husband trims the limbs of the tree so it will be more even & then I go to work on the lights. After that, the girls help me hang the ornaments. All of the similar ones end up in the same location & often they are on the same branch! =) We like to have a fire in the fireplace on Christmas morning whether it’s cold or not — it makes things warm & cozy! =) I take pictures & we have a good time watching the slideshow of the pictures later.
I got a little long-winded, didn’t I?
I really enjoyed reading about your Christmas & hope it was beautiful!
That’s okay, we love long winded comments 😀 😀 😀 Some of your traditions sound like ours…like we get a new ornament for our tree every year. I like the ‘present from Jesus’ idea. Loved reading all about your traditions!
♥Jessica
Great photos! Apples to Apples is the best.game.ever. 🙂 Also very glad to see Jacque and Jocelyn, etc. all were able to spend time with your family — good friends are a very important part of life. Hope your January is just as blessed….
Fun! 🙂
That is awesome! We don’t do Santa Clause at our house either! It looks like you had a lot of fun!
~ Sarah
You guys are so much fun! I love dutch blitz – it is a lot of fun! If we ever get together we’ll have to play it… 🙂
We ‘do’ Santa but we all know now that it’s not real. We do the cookies and milk thing, and write a note, and Mr Santa (you-know-who) writes a very witty letter back and makes a mess with the carrots and cookies. (and we thank Mr and Mrs Santa for the presents after we open them!) It’s something really fun to do as a family but it’s not the real focus.
And how cool that you were able to catch up with the Dixons! Looks like fun!
That’s a fun tradition to do with your family 😀 As much fun as your family is, I can imagine those witty letters from ‘Santa’ are lots of fun to read 😀 And most definitely we should play Dutch Blitz whenever we should find ourselves on the same side of the world 😀 😀 😀
♥Jessica