Our Christmastide started the Monday of Christmas week – though we still did Advent, we also start our Christmas activities a little early. We enjoyed our four weeks of Advent, each night singing and reading Bartholomew’s Passage together. The kids accompanied many of our songs with their piano, flute, violin, and ukulele playing. It’s a very special time for our family. One night we had an Advent Tea and Scripture night.

One thing we celebrated during Advent was Ezra’s completion of All About Reading Level 2. He received a Bible for completing this level. We also celebrated Micah’s completion of All About Reading Level 1.

Our Christmas Calendar included: wrapping paper making, movies (It’s a Wonderful Life), reading The Best/Worst Christmas Pageant Ever, making candy-candy cookies, making giant gingerbread cookies, making Christmas cut-out cookies, sleeping by the Christmas tree. Other activities included ornament making, hot cocoa, candy canes, etc.

Christmas Eve we had a friend over for lunch. In the evening we had our traditional meal of tacos and then watched The Muppets Christmas Carol.

Christmas morning Josh surprised me with my gift – a new stove/oven. My other oven is small and can only fit one pan at a time, which is a challenges with the size of our family. Now I can cook at least two things at a time! The kids exchanged gifts in the morning, and then they did their Christmas pageant. Maria thought she was the second narrator this year and every time Becca would finish, Maria would start narrating, “And then the pretty girl said….” She was pretty upset when “Mary” wouldn’t hand over the baby Jesus.

We had a lunch of cinnamon rolls, hot chocolate, oranges, and boiled eggs. In the afternoon we played a rousing game of Dutch Blitz ,with 8 decks going and Maria walking in the middle of it randomly. In the evening we had our dinner: roast, potatoes, bread, cucumbers. Then we did our Christmas singing. The last thing we did for the night was exchange cards and give the kids their gifts. Everyone was very pleased with their gifts and it makes us happy that they are happy with the things we give them. It’s nothing amazing – no electronics or amazing new toys, but our kids were more than pleased – and that’s a big gift to us.

The day after Christmas we had our friends the Queys over for lunch, and we decorated giant gingerbread!

On the church side of things: Saturday evening, Dec 13th, our church hosted the KEC Regional Youth Event. Over 600 people were there for the meal and service. Josh preached and we helped with the Christmas pageant. The youth and upper elementary kids at our church did the pageant for the youth event and for our church’s Christmas. Becca was an angel, and Isaiah and Clara were sheep this year. Josh spoke at our church’s morning service and at one other church for their evening service. Our church had their Christmas Saturday night and Sunday morning, Dec 27-28. I wrote five new songs for this year. The song for the adults was the Lord’s Prayer. I based the tune on Jarai tribal music, and they did tribal dancing along with the song. Maria really enjoyed helping wash the dishes after the Sunday meal. It was a good time for all.

We are still enjoying our Christmastide. It’s been a wonderful season with Advent and now Christmastide. We are filled with joy, celebrating the coming of Christ.