Christmas 2011 in Review

Last post for 2011! Wow.....what a year! I'm so thankful for God's blessings and grace every step of the journey and am looking forward to seeing His plan unfold for this New Year.

Well....we all recovered from our sicknesses and were able to spend time with family.

For several years I've been wishing I could have the word "Peace" for stocking holders but have only seen Joy, Hope, Love, etc. Not only does Peace have five letters but it also symbolizes one of the key themes of Christ's Birth....He was the Prince of Peace. Meandering through Target this year I spied what I'd been looking for....it made me happy!

Our tree from PA looked so nice this year. We kept it simple....no icicles, just lights and colored balls.

Aunt Carol (mom Brown's sister) took us out to a Mexican restaurant. The food was wonderful and the company was interesting!

This year we went through the Advent Book which was a new one for us but the boys very much enjoyed opening a new door each day and by the end they knew most of Luke 2 by heart. We also went through "What God Wants for Christmas" in the seven days preceding Christmas.

We were able to do some caroling as a family and the boys very much enjoy that tradition (and the candy that the older folks give them!). They wore their new Mickey PJ's to sleep by the tree the night before gift giving.

The day before we opened gifts, the boys were putting together a wooden toy that they'd received from the Brown Family Christmas. Stephen swallowed one of the stainless steel wood screws and they said to give it 4-5 days to make it's way through his system. When he went for a follow-up x-ray yesterday, it had already made it's exit....for which we were very thankful.

Our favorite time was Christmas Day. What a wonderful blessing to be able to worship with our church family on Christmas! We had lunch with all the family and then went home and had our time of giving gifts to Jesus. This year it was a sewing machine, VBS materials, Bibles and tracts, chickens and fishing nets. They boys love going "ho-ho-hoing" with their allotted amount. It was a precious time of giving to Jesus on His birthday.