Christmas... a most wonderful time of the year!

...Yes, that is until you plan that wonderful day to pick out the perfect tree, get out all the decorations, and get the house looking all festive....and then your perfect little mood is rather dampened as you find that mice have nearly taken over your shed, your decorations stink of mouse urine, you can't find that long extension cord that you need, some of the lights won't work, and now the baby is stressed 'cause you are stressed....and well, you just need to take a moment and pray to the One who Christmas is all about, asking Him to help you to show His Spirit. How easy it is a midst all the bustle and the noise to forget Who Christmas is really all about. Dear Jesus, please help me this Christmas season to remember You, to take time to know You better, and to always show Your Spirit in my life!

I really like these little candles that remind us about some of the fruits of the Spirit.

This is Khloe's favorite place to sit and cuddle. She thinks it is even better if you will read her a book while sitting in this little nook. 

I got so tickled at her the other night while I was rocking her. She kept popping her head up every few seconds with some tearfully said word that she was sure would help postpone sleep..."da," "moo," "eee-ah," etc.

 One of her favorite things to observe when she should be drifting into slumberland is the little manger scene beside the rocking chair. Her daddy also loves this little manger scene. It is one of his very favorite Christmas decorations to set up. I think he likes to think about what it must have been like on that very first Christmas.

Christmas pictures are so difficult to take. It seems like it is so hard to catch just how pretty all the lights and decorations really are. 

We have a little Christmas tradition to go and find a real tree each year. I guess this tradition started when I was a little girl growing up in Northern British Columbia. We would head out into the bush and find what we deemed to be about the perfect tree. Of course it was always wild, ended up being nearly too big and heavy to get in the house, and had a few funny quirks that you just had to kinda decorate around. But it was such a fun memory. 

So when we started our lil' home on the campus we kinda wanted to have a similar tradition. However, since this is Pennsylvania and not the frigid North, the tradition had to be altered slightly. So we found a nice friendly tree farm that serves hot chocolate and has a grand "bargain pile." 

This year we decided to try a different type of tree. It is still a fir, but just a different "brand." It is a little bit more blue in color, its needles are quite soft, and it is nice and bushy. We rather like it:)