Merry Christmas!

Luke 2:1-20

Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. " This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased." When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us." So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child.
And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas...from our home to yours.

'Tis the Season!

It wouldn't be Christmas without these elves!

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Getting into the Christmas Spirit

I can't believe Christmas is already less than 3 weeks away. Yikes! I've still got lots to do, but it is all fun stuff and I just love this time of year! The Christmas cards are coming along, I've gotten a little shopping done, but we are keeping things pretty simple here this year. Of course now it's all about Lily anyway. She gets just a little spoiled.:o) I am so excited to see how she reacts to everything this year. It will be a lot of fun. I'm sure. Here are some pictures to show what things are like around here this month.

The choo-choo train under our tree. This was my dad's and we sort of inherited it after he passed away. Lily LOVES it. It has one open car you can put things in. Last year we put one of her toys in it and turned the train on. Big mistake. HUGE tears as she watched her precious toy disappear around the corner. This year, she puts her panda in the car and squeals with glee as he goes for a ride.

Lily is truly developing a great love for pretending (or "petemper" as she calls it). She is a great mommy to her baby dolls and loves to push them around in the stroller. They spend a lot of time going to the park and to the doctor's office. I guess that tells you where we have spent a lot of our time.

Here is Lily all ready to go out and about. Sunglasses...check. Keys...check. Phone...check. Purse...check. What else does a girl need?

Robert took our family Christmas picture last weekend. It was a rough session. It was getting late in the afternoon and Lily was getting a little grumpy and very uncooperative. So unnatural for a 2 year old, I know.;o) Anyway, we ended up getting a few good shots. This isn't the one we'll be using on our Christmas card, but it is pretty cute.