Monday: Christmas Eve

We have many traditions for Christmas Eve which we always spend with Keith's side of the family. We have a kind of "Dutch Lunch" dinner with sandwiches, veggie plates, hot finger foods, etc. We sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus, and the little ones get to blow out the candles on Jesus' birthday cake. We open gifts to one another. And Keith's dad always reads us the Christmas story from Luke's Gospel.

A blessed Christmastide to all!

Fourth Sunday in Advent

We lit all four candles tonight, including the Angel candle. Advent is one of my favorite holy seasons of the year; in fact, I'm almost sad to see Christmas come in a weird, weird way....

My Only Source of Snow....

We rarely have snow in Southern California for Christmas; if it snows at all, it's usually in February and March. We were fortunate to have a couple of dustings of snow earlier this month, but we have only warmth and sunshine in the forecast through Christmas. So I must look to my collection of little snow fellas to give me a bit of holiday chilly cheer at this time o' year....

O, Christmas Tree!

The shopping and wrapping are done -- everything is under the tree and awaiting Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. It's a much smaller pile of presents due to our finances, but every package was wrapped with loving care, and we are celebrating Jesus' birthday and not our own, anyway, right?

Celebrating Advent....

B looks on as T reads from Isaiah in our celebration of the third week of Advent.



Then T also reads from the second chapter of Matthew from the 20th pocket on our Advent wall calendar made by Keith's sister for us when we first moved to the mountains. He also enjoyed the small knight toys he found in the pocket after he read the Scripture.

Wednesday: Here We Go a-Caroling....

Our town held its first annual caroling party along the main street. The church set up a sound system and Power Point words on a screen while everyone gathered around fire pits like the one above that T snapped while I sang. ;) Hot chocolate and hot cider were available, along with tables of Christmas cookie treats. It was a great time for the whole town to come together, chat, and sing carols. We'll definitely be back next year.

Tuesday: At the mall....

The Viejas Outlet Center is the closest "mall" to our town. Next to the Native American casino run by the Kumeyaay band, it houses some great name-brand stores with good discounts, and it's the only mall I actually LIKE because the parking is easy and the outside mall is so pretty, with running water, statues of native wildlife, and lots of native plants.



The outdoor mall also has a HUGE Christmas tree that can be seen from the freeway. Those are our kids at the base, just to give you an idea of the height of the tree. :)

Monday: Christmas Angel.....

Our Christmas angel is lovely, but she's too heavy to top our little tree. Instead, she graces our dining table as a perfect centrepiece, a beautiful reminder of the joys of the season.....

Sunday: Family Photo

Keith took our annual Christmas family photo right after church as usual (when we're all dressed in our best and the boys haven't had time to trash their good clothing yet). However, thanks to computer issues and glitches, we couldn't print them as usual to insert into our Christmas cards. So, anyway, here we are in digital form to wish you a holy Advent, a joyous Christmas, and a blessed and healthy New Year with love from T, B, Susanne, Keith, E with Ronald the rat, and J. (Sorry, but Dashwood our dog was not cooperating, but you've seen enough of him on this blog already.)

Saturday: Christmas Cards

I spent nine hours on Saturday and another five hours on Sunday writing Christmas cards. I'll post our family letter on my regular blog for anyone who wants to read it. We send out about 140 cards each year, so it's quite the production to write greetings, sign our names (all six, and our kids do not have short names!), include the letter, and then address all by hand.

I know well that there are easier ways, more technological methods. But I take great satisfaction out of writing with a metal nib on a rosewood pen and dipping into a crystal bottle of green ink. It's one of those old-fashioned traditions that I revel in -- it just doesn't feel like Christmas until green ink flows over thick paper, and my hand is cramped and stained by writing loving greetings to friends and family around town, at church, and all over the country.