Christmas JOY

We had the AWESOME privilege of celebrating Christmas on Christmas Day at home this year. The only other time we did was when we were in Ohio and I was pregnant with Sophia. It is fun to grow our traditions and attend our church during this special holiday (though don't get me wrong, we also very much enjoy our large family celebrations and sorely missed them the year we stayed Ohio).

This year, not only did we get to celebrate at home, we also got to have the wonderful blessing of having my parents come stay with us for the Christmas weekend. Eric and I realized that this was the first time in about 7 years that both my parents stayed with us in our home for a weekend (they came to visit separately in Ohio and before that, our home didn't have a guest area so they always stayed at a hotel when they visited). It was so lovely to have them in our home and get to love on them and enjoy their company. And the fact that we got to include them in our Christmas traditions was a gift all in itself.

Here's just a smattering of the photos I took on Christmas day:

I didn't think Lydia would care much about gifts, but she was smitten from the first time she saw one under the tree. She loved to carry them around and open them, which was a big problem pre-Christmas Day. She was pretty thrilled to be able to indulge herself Christmas morning.
However, after our sweet roll breakfast (Grandma's recipe), we headed to church. We had stayed up late the night before, first enjoying our Christmas Eve dinner (which is almost all red and green) and then cooking, baking, and wrapping. Lydia was awake a lot that night as well, so we slept in and went to late service. The little ones didn't bat an eye at not opening gifts until after church. I can't say the same for my attitude when I was little. Lydia just enjoyed carrying a few presents around before we left.

After church we let the gift opening begin!

Here's Sophia by our Christmas tree. Joshy and I bargained for it at Home Depot and got it for $9 (originally $18)! The day before we went to buy it, he had asked me if people ever haggled at stores like that. I said no, but he wanted to try anyway. I was humbled and pleased to be wrong.
Our tree decorations are pretty simple. We do lights, and this year, the children made foam wreaths. The circle ornaments are actually wood, like small pieces of a young tree, bark and all, with the 12 days of Christmas symbols burned on them. They also have the bible verse corresponding to each verse of the song, which has a hidden Christian meaning. We talked about it a lot leading up to Christmas. We got them years ago from my cousin Katie.

But our favorite part of Christmas decorations is, of course, the nativity set.
The year we celebrated in Ohio I bought a set by Schleich. I love it because it is realistic looking, beautiful, yet non-breakable. We added some Schleich animals and we let the kids use a wooden manger that came with a glass figurine set we bought when Joshy was a toddler. The only problem is that the manger and baby Jesus figure are tiny. In fact, we lost the manger this year, and Lydia almost choked on Baby Jesus. So I put the baby figure away until Christmas morning, something my grandma used to do as well in order to build anticipation. It worked, and one of the first things the children looked for Christmas morning was not gifts, but to see if the baby Jesus was in the manger. They were thrilled to find he was!

It was fun to dress Sophia and Lydia in these dresses that so recently fit Mari and Sophia. Doesn't my sister (who bought them) have good taste? Thanks again, Auntie Heathyr!
I love how Lydia is on her tippy-toes here.
Joshy was very impressed with Neena's (my mom) gift wrapping talent, something I clearly did not inherit.
Sophia had been asking for a scooter for months and was so thrilled to get one! Finally!
She currently rides it around the house. Her balance and coordination are pretty good, and thankfully, most, but not all, of her falls are on carpet.

We had bought this exact toy for a cousin years ago and I recall sitting in his basement watching him and my two older kids playing with it. They were fascinated. So was Lydia.
And the cool part is...it's so simple! You hit the ball and it goes in the box and then rolls out. But she loves it. The only trouble is she also loves to throw the balls (which are wood and heavy) and use the hammer to hit people. We're working on it.

And these last photos are my favorites. To me, they exemplify "Christmas Joy". These are just a sampling of the many photos I have. When you look through them, notice one thing: Mari's face.
Isn't that great? I have never seen someone be so consistently JUBILANT over watching other people open gifts. And she even knew what most of the gifts were! And every gift she opened delighted her as well, even the socks and a book she's already read. Mari has changed a lot this last year, and the biggest, best change seems to be an indwelling of the Holy Spirit in her life. Both Eric and I are daily in awe over the change we've seen in her, a change that happened pretty much overnight, but has remained for months now. No doubt my favorite Christmas gift was the joy we all shared as we celebrated Christmas in our home this year. Thank You, God.

And even though He didn't have to, He sent this amazing sunset to cap off a wonderful weekend.
Wow. In God, there is just so much WOW.