That's the true meaning of Christmas

I feel like we haven't done as much as we usually do during the Christmas season.  I just haven't had the energy, and for the last 2 weeks cannot seem to kick this cold.  I didn't even get all the decorations out this year.  We were lucky to have gotten down the Christmas tree before it was too late as well! 

That's life, and it all really doesn't matter in the big picture of life anyway.  What matters is making this whole season more meaningful, and full of great memories.  I feel like we really did that tonight (Christmas eve).  I decided that we needed to spend our evening acting/reading the story of Christmas.  I was inspired by buying 2 costumes at the LDS bookstore, Joseph and Mary.  I don't know if we'll ever have a Mary that actually fits that costume, but we have it!  I hope to add to the costumes in the coming years, but for tonight we made it work. 

 Alex played the angel, April played Mary, Aric played Joseph, and Aaron played both the donkey and the shepherd.  Our baby Jesus is represented by a teddy bear, and swaddling clothes a towel.  We will definitely make some improvements next year, but this was truly a sweet experience.

Daddy read the narration, while the children acted it out.

 

There were songs in between some of the parts.  It really made to the whole evening so special, and I just love to hear my family sing together.

 Oh my, I just love it!

"And that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."

Our 2014 advent calendar

Now the kids are asleep.  Here is a peek at what they will see in the morning!  So exciting!

 Desiree