It's Begining To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

WARNING: this may be my longest post ever but for the sake of memories and using this blog as a journal please understand.

First Christmas tradition of the season... cutting down our tree. Well in the past it was more like we went and looked at the trees you can cut down, mom doesn't like any, then we drive to Home Depot and get a nice big Noble Fir, put it IN the Suburban and that is where I get the pine needles you can always find in my car from Dec. - Mar. This year was different. We found a BIG beautiful Douglas Fir at the prettiest little family run Christmas Tree Farm,

while drinking hot cocoa (Mountain Dew if you are the dad),

playing hide and go seek (do you see Kyle and Adison?),

and then we put it in the back of the truck (yeah) to take it home!

Second, we have our annual Family Christmas Tree Party on the first Sunday of Advent. First everyone opens a present, which just happens to be Christmas Pajamas every year,

Then we get our new annual ornaments (dad picks one for each kid that reminds us of them... this year this is what they got: Adia-big monkey bathing little monkey, Avery- Princess, Kenyon - Spiderman, Adison- Nemo characters and Kaden got a Superman Onesie)

then the kiddos watch a movie while mom does the lights on the tree, then those who stayed awake got to help decorate with ornaments (normally after the tree is all done we have a slumber party with it but since everyone had already fallen asleep Kyle and I decided not to give up our precious bed which caused Adia to come in our room at 2am crying about how the slumber party wasn't fun since we left her alone... oops!),

Third we invite over some dear friends to celebrate the birth of our King and have a wonderful time eating, playing games, singing Happy Birthday to Jesus and just enjoying each other! The families in these pictures are in our small group (some beg to differ that we are a small group due to us having 14 kids between the 3 of us so you could call us a bible study but we need to work on the whole bible part to really take on that term) from church. They are some of God's greatest gifts to our family this year as we so enjoy each and every member of their families and feel so blessed to call them friends! Oh and it is kind of funny that one of their last names is my maiden name (Howell) and one if them has my Grandma's maiden name (Disney)... weird huh?

Okay, now it feels like Christmas! I hope you are all enjoying this wonderful season and finding ways to keep the focus on the Birthday Boy who came to die so that we might live... what better reason to spend a whole month in celebration!!!!