Favorite Things Fridays - Christmas Season

I love Christmas. Always have. Hopefully always will.

There's something magical about the whole community decorating and celebrating and giving and eating. It's nearly impossible to be grumpy when the tree is lit up, the house is decorated, and Christmas music is streaming.

I have some amazing memories of Christmas. My grandparents always came and stayed with us for a few days, so Kristin and I would give up our beds and camp out on Kath's floor on Christmas Eve. We had so much trouble getting to sleep, and had a habit of checking the window every thirty seconds to see if it was snowing yet. Eventually we'd drift off to sleep, and wake up to Dad waiting to see our faces as we ran downstairs to view the tree and all the presents. We'd will the clock to tick faster so we could wake the rest of the household. Every year we'd start by digging into Poppop's breakfast bread as he complained it was too underdone/overdone/not-as-good-as-last-year despite the fact that it was almost always even better than we remembered. We'd read the original Christmas story from Luke before tearing into presents and spending the remainder of the day listening to carols and putting together the puzzle we'd received. Then a few days later we'd pile into the van and drive to Jersey to do it all over again with the other side of the family. Christmas was, and still is, the only holiday that we get to see both sides of the family, and living two hours from both sets of grandparents made seeing them that much more exciting and memorable.

In all the cheer and excitement, we've been trying to take time to remember why we celebrate. It's so cliche, but it's so important! Our Life Group has been talking about the importance of remembering and how knowing where you came from is so vital to knowing where you're headed in the future. As we continue childhood traditions and add a few of our own, we'll continue to search for ways to focus on Christ coming to earth, on our Heavenly Father giving the ultimate gift. 

Getting the ornaments out

Decorating the tree

Coziest spot in the house