Some pictures of the season!

Last Saturday we hosted Andrew's company Christmas party (20 people) at our home. We had to move our sectional out of the living room and into the bedroom to make room for the tables, but it all turned out beautifully, thanks to Andrew's sisters helping with the decorating and set-up! Here are a few pictures, from different sides of the room:

The table in the entryway:

Here's a photo of Andrew and me at the party (he hadn't gotten his food yet...he's not on a diet or anything)!

Our sister-in-law's father set up a little photo studio in our guest bedroom and took pictures of all the couples at the party. Here's one he took of us!

We have had a 6-foot artificial Christmas tree for the last few years, but since our ceiling is taller in the living room now, we got a 9-foot pre-lit tree this year, and put the shorter tree in the back TV room. So we have our pretty, elegant tree with white lights and blue, silver, and white ornaments in the front room and our cute, cozy tree with colored lights and red, gold, and bronze ornaments in the back!

Praying your Christmas season is joy-filled and blessed!

The Joy of Christmas

I just finished the last of three performances in our church's Christmas production, "The Joy of Christmas." It was a great show with the choir and live orchestra and drama. I played the mom of a 10-year-old girl. My character had heard the story of Christmas from her grandparents when she was young, but never told her own daughter about the real meaning of Christmas. She gets her grandmother's old nativity set in the mail, and it sets the stage for her explaining the story of Christmas to her daughter. Despite some minor technical glitches with our microphones, it went very well! I am glad it's over, though. Even though performing is fun, it carries with it a certain level of stress that I am quite happy to be free from again!

Here's a photo of me with Desanka Ilic, the little girl who played my daughter. She did such a good job! It was a joy to work with her!

I had to re-wrap the nativity set each night to be used for the next performance!

I'm thankful that the Lord helped us to remember our lines and that many people were blessed by the performances all three nights! All glory to Him!

Fa la la la la, la la la la!

I couldn't help it...I gave in early this year! My favorite Christmas songs have made their way into my daily listening repertoire, and my head is full of visions of sleigh rides, chestnuts roasting on open fires, and of course, a silent, holy night in a little town called Bethlehem.

I used to wait until after Thanksgiving, but now it's more like the beginning of November. So I get two whole months of Christmas music! And I love it!

How about you? Are you listening to Christmas music yet?

I have a confession to make.

My Christmas tree is still up.

Yes, it's almost a month after Christmas, and the tree is still there in the corner of the living room. It's an artificial tree, so I don't have to worry about it drying out and shedding its needles everywhere.

Why is it still up? Well, I just haven't gotten around to taking it down yet. There's always something else to do.

It's been there for so long that it seems like part of the living room decor now...it's going to look empty in that corner when I take it down!

It would save me some work next Christmas if I just left it up all year! Hmmmm....

No, I don't think I'd be able to endure the strange looks from people visiting my home in June or July and seeing the Christmas tree, all sparkly and bright, standing in the corner.

No, I will have to take it down this week.

Confession over.