Advent season

We are officially decorated for Christmas and celebrating advent in this house!

It was fun this year to have a mantel to decorate!  Even Sadie gets a tiny little stocking.  ;)

Emma thinks the tree is the perfect spot for her babies to nap.  I find this scene almost everyday around here.

 

A couple of years ago I found this rockin' pink tree at a garage sale for $1 (remember that, Linds??).  The girls love putting all of their special ornaments on it and having it in their bedroom.

I found a really great advent calendar that we've started using each night to prepare our hearts for Christmas.  It has 24 small books in it that tell the story of Jesus, from prophecy in the Old Testament to the telling of His birth in the gospels.  Each night we read one book together, discuss it, and then hang it on our little tree. (I'm reusing the thankful tree we made for Thanksgiving.. perfect!) So far we have read about the holy land and the prophecy.  Tonight we read about Mary.

On Saturday we went to an awesome event at a church near us called 'An Evening in Bethlehem.' We arrived for the census and had to pay our taxes to the Romans. For the first part of the night, we could make our way through the marketplace where they had several activities and booths set up for the kids to explore.  They even had a real camel, donkeys, and sheep to pet. 

 

Everyone was dressed in costume and stayed in character.  It was really fun! 

 

Emma was all about participating in everything.  Claire was too concerned about baby Jesus to get involved.  She kept asking where the baby was and when we would see him.

Emma had her feet washed before joining this Jewish family for some juice.

At the end of the night, they put on a little skit acting out the nativity story.  Claire loved that part! Her face lit up and she gasped and covered her mouth when she saw Mary and Joseph making their way to the stable and baby Jesus.  It was a really fun way to start off the advent season.