The time draws near!

I will just get this out there, I LOVE Christmas.  The weather, the music, the food, the family, the gifts, the tree, the traditions, the smells.  I. Love. It. All.  Christmas means a lot to me because I love spending special time with the family and I love what this holiday means to me as a believer.  This is the time of year that we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.  I am still like a little kid when it comes to Christmas.  I get excited about it to the point where I cannot sleep well on Christmas Eve.  I just can't wait to get up and get things going.  This has become even more fun as my family grows.

One of my favorite things about Christmas is the tradition that comes with it.  I will share with you some of my family's traditions.


1.) Christmas Eve service at church.  The entire extended family wears some sort of red shirt or sweater and heads to church.  We have communion, hear the Christmas story from the Bible, read by my father-in-law, and great fellowship with the church.  We always follow this with snacks and family time at Megan's grandmother's house.

2.) The Christmas village.  Every year we buy a few more village pieces to add to the collection.  We set them up around the house and it is just fun to unpack them, set them up, and enjoy them through the season.  One of my favorite pieces is the country church.

3.) Christmas cards.  Since Booger was born, we have sent out a family Christmas card every year.  It is just fun to pick the photo and the words and design that goes with the card, and I think that our family looks forward to receiving it.  We have tried many different sites, and have had great success with Shutterfly.  They have great Christmas cards, Christian Christmas cards, and even other holidays, like Halloween.   We like it, because we can always find a deal, like their current 20% off for holiday cards.  I generally like simple cards where the picture is the focus with some encouraging words to express our Savior's Love, like the one below.