Its Christmas Time!

It was such a blessing to have Mom and Aunt Janice(no pictures of her this year) join us again for our family Christmas Eve celebration. Nora and Sara decided to bury her in all the Christmas stuffed animals.

Our cute little "hand out the presents elves" As you may notice in the background Emily is having the time of her life!

Before we open presents on Christmas Eve, we do a family humanitarian project. This year was newborn kits. It breaks my heart to know that baby's are wrapped in banana leaves and newspaper in some parts of the world. So we completed 14 kits. When Nora asked what I was doing, I explained that I was making baby blankets for babies that didn't have a grandma to make them one. She liked that explanation. This was especially meaningful for me, since we are adding 2 new grandchildren this year. Neither of which will lack for blankets, clothes, diapers or food. Nora and Sara passed out the items, while the rest bagged the kits.

This is what makes Christmas fun for me. Are they just the cutest things you have ever seen?

Our annual Nativity Puppet Show gets better every year. Sara decided she didn't want to do 2 puppets at a time, so Sam helped. The girls know the story. Saras line was the Angel saying "Fear Not", Nora added the "in the city of David part", with Sara concluding with, "Jesus is Born."  And that is what the season is all about. What a gift was given us thousands of years ago. I am grateful for the time to stop and ponder.