How We Celebrate Christmas

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, right? Well, I'll just give you a quick overview of how our Christmas celebration usually goes in picture form, how's that? :0)

Meal with the Church family

Christmas Program


A Journey North

Playing Games with Family
Opening Presents from one another

And...yes...EATING!

Now this year will be a little different since Christmas is on a Sunday. However, it may be done later than usual, but I think all the same things are in store! :0)


To see how these other ladies celebrate visit

Jennifer at Joy Ever After
Jessica at It's the Little Things
and Judy at Contented at Home

Christmas Program 2011

The greatest Christmas pageant ever? Probably not...but we got through another Christmas program! :0) We did the basic Nativity this year, with the kids acting it out as one of our Teens read the "story". The program went MUCH better than the practices! :0) But they usually always do... Our focus this year was on the fact that since Jesus came to earth, and gave us the gift of Salvation, the least we can do is give Him our heart.

Don't you love our little show off angel? LOL

Playing "Joy to the World" on the hand bells

Activities for the Christmas Season

Christmas Program 2010

Christmas is a busy time for everyone. It seems every year gets busier and more hectic than the last! Since we are the Pastor and wife, most of our Christmas activities revolve around the Church. This year is a little different than usual since Christmas is actually on a Sunday. Normally we are up North with family for the Holiday, but this year we will be at home for once on Christmas day!

This Sunday, December 18th, is our Children's Christmas program in the morning service. They will be presenting the Nativity in costume while one of our teenagers is reading the story. We have been working on the details for a while now, and will be glad when that part of the Christmas season is over! :0) On Christmas Day, the Church decided to go ahead and have all of our services. We will be having Sunday School, Morning Worship, and a Candlelight Service in the evening. Also, that day we will be having our Church Christmas Dinner at the Parsonage.

Activities outside of the Church, involve spending time with family, exchanging gifts, eating, and enjoying being together! On my husband's side of the family, we will be attending a big extended family Christmas party on the 26th. Every year they get together at a hall, decorate it all up, and eat together. On my side of the family, we will be getting together will all of our clan, and pretty much doing the same thing! :0) We get to eat lots of goodies around the Holidays since we see both sides of the family!

Overall, being with family is the highlight of our Christmas activities. What about you?

To see what these ladies do for the Holidays, visit...
Jennifer at Joy Ever After
Jessica at It's the Little Things
Judy at Contented at Home

How We Christmas Shop

This image brought to you by How to shop for free.net

Ever hear the phrase, "shop til you drop"? Well, that's not me...I am probably totally unusual in this area...but what's new right? :0) Shopping is not one of my favorite things, but I do like to get something special for family members at Christmas time. However, due to the size of our family (uh...by size I mean the number of members), we are not able to buy for everyone anymore. Our main focus is usually on the niece and nephews! Kids are so much fun to buy for that it is hard for me not to spoil them! :0)

Unlike probably most of you, not even the prospect of getting a fantastic gift for the kiddos can entice me to go shopping on Black Friday! I absolutely DETEST big crowds and long lines; so I generally do my shopping little bits at a time. I usually have a good idea of what I'm looking for before heading into the store, so none of this aimless, up-and-down-every-aisle shopping for me! (I TOLD you I'm not a shopper...) I go in, check for the best deal on the item I'm looking for, check out, and I'm out of there!

Maybe you think I'm a wet blanket...and maybe you're right. However, to me, the best part of Christmas is not the presents, it's spending time with my family. So, I suppose that is where I put my focus at Christmas time...sorry to disappoint you all! :0) Happy Shopping!

*For other blogs on this topic, where you will find normal people who LIKE to shop, visit...
Jennifer at Joy Ever After
Judy at Contented at Home
and Jessica at It's the Little Things

Devotional Post

Most of you are aware that I am writing for my sister's blog Joy Ever After now, so I thought I would share the link to the devotional that I posted today.

Joy Ever After

How We Decorate for Christmas

I usually decorate for Christmas a little earlier than most people. I like to have it up in time so we can enjoy it, because after Christmas is over it's just not as much fun anymore! :0) So our decorations were up the week before Thanksgiving this year... Partly because we travel to see family the week of Thanksgiving, so putting them up the day after is not usually an option for us. Anyhow, as with my fall decorations, most of our Christmas decorations have been given to me over the years as gifts. The tree, however, is special to me because it was my Grandma's tree that I received after she passed away. Since I also have her living room furniture, it seemed fitting to leave the decorations the same color (and several of the very same ornaments she used). As a result, our tree is done in Silver, White and Pink. I do like to collect Snowmen so I have a few pieces that were given to me that I enjoy putting out each year. My dream is to someday have one of those little lit up Christmas villages to add to my decor. However, since they are a bit out of our price range right now, we just made do with some of the smaller pieces I found for cheap. :0) As far as outside decorating goes...I usually like to do the garland on my banisters entwined with white lights, wreaths, and swags under my front windows. However, this year was a little different since we're expecting our first child, I decided just to do things a little more simple. I still hung a wreath or two and put the swags under the windows, but no garland or lights this year for our house. Sometimes though...simple is better. :0)














This is another installment from the JOY EVER AFTER bloghop. Please stop by these other blogs to see how they decorate for Christmas!
Jennifer at Joy Ever After
Jessica at It's the Little Things
Judy at Contented at Home
and Liz at Inside the Mind of Mama Bear