Let the Christmas Season Begin!

After the stress of Thanksgiving, we started out the new holiday season with some recovery time and lots of good fun.

Saturday night we were in need of some rejuvenation time, so Jason and I went on a date while our dear friends watched the kids. We went to eat at Cracker Barrel for some comfort food. We had an excellent waitress and delicious food. The green beans remind me of my grandma's and put a smile on my face. We both had chicken and dumplins, my favorite! Then we went to a movie, which is a rare event. We saw American Gangster. I wasn't used to seeing Denzel Washington in a bad guy role, so it was strange. It was way to violent.

The kids were really good for our friends. My friend just loves them and they love her. She is like an aunt to them and a sister to me. They also just love their son James who is 5. And to give the husband some props here, it was he that Miles went to for comfort when he missed his parents.

They looked too cute sleeping when we picked them up to take home.




Sunday on the way to church we saw a nursery where pretty Christmas trees were being sold. After church we went back and got a gorgeous one! The whole family is happy! Jason is a pro at securing trees on top of cars!




For most of the afternoon Ella did a craft and Kristi worked on a gingerbread house with "help" from the kids. Ella actually did put some of the candy on a window and the roof. Miles made "bear tracks" in the snow. Ahem. It was fun and I might try to put together a gingerbread house making party next year! If not, I'd definitely like to make this a tradition in our family! Also, we all enjoyed some hot chocolate that afternoon. While we were working on the house, Jason was putting up lights outside in the COLD!







Back to the tree. I think we found the perfect place for it this year. A little nervous about it being so close to the fireplace. After we straighten it up and got the lights on, we let the kids put on the ornaments with minimal help. I did move a few up higher. The point is: it is more important that people had fun than that the tree look perfect. I have mentioned this before, but all of those snowflakes are a Czech tradition and were make by Jason's mom. We love to look at them every year.

With an attitude of gratitude, we focused on the positives and truly enjoyed the weekend. We hope that you too will experience the joy and miracle of the Christmas season!