Enjoying the Spirit of Christmas

This month has been busy, but looking back I'm actually grateful for all of the festivities. The latest project I've been working on helped set things into perspective for me. I created a Power Point presentation for our ward Christmas party program. I compiled around 40 pictures depicting the nativity story as well as the symbols of Christmas and their meaning. I will try to post some of it later. As I was working on it I had to really ponder the story of Christ's birth and the carols that have been written to celebrate His birth and His life. It was a blessing to have the opportunity to find Christ in Christmas!

One of Leif's cherished Christmas traditions is singing in the community Christmas choir. In years past they used to sing the whole Messiah program. Now they sing some of the Messiah and many other Christmas carols. Leif has had practices every Sunday night for a couple of months. It was a bit of a sacrifice on my part. I asked Leif what it was that he enjoyed the most about taking the time to be in the choir. He said that he loved having the time set aside where he was able to sing the praises to the Lord that are in his heart. With that answer, how can a wife complain? We went to his concert on Sunday. It was beautiful. Leif was able to sing a few small solos. They should have given him some of the longer ones. He is a great singer. He loves to sing bass, But the directors always seem to have him sing tenor. I think that's a compliment. It shows the range that he can sing. Anyway, the night was beautiful and it was one more way to invite the Christmas spirit into our lives. Thanks My Love!

It snowed this week! It snowed at least 6 inches! This is an incredible amount for us! It is still on the ground too. It has been a beautiful site. But it sure makes me grateful for all of the improvements we made on our little home. We are warm and cozy! Jakob has been so excited to get out and play in the snow. Unfortunately he's also been down with a head cold. Hopefully he'll get better and we can play in the snow in SL.

Yesterday Jakob and I had preschool at home. Jakob wasn't feeling great. And when I opened the door to decide whether I was up for taking the kid's out to the car, it only took the gust of wind in my face to make my decision. Jakob was thrilled to have school with me. Just the fact that I was able to give him that hour of uninterrupted time was a miracle. His class was learning about the Ginger Bread Man story. So, we did too. We read the story together. Then we made sugar cookies cut out as ginger bread men and decorated them (Praise be for pre-made cookie doe!) We had a great time!

Last night we carried out our family tradition of singing Christmas carols by the light of the Christmas tree. With Jakob growing up we had to include a few of the silly Christmas songs too.:) It actually ended with a few comical story routines by Leif. He has to teach the kid's at school about different character traits throughout the year. Often times he'll make up stories that portray what he's trying to teach. We love to hear them at home too.:)

So, all in all we're doing well. Both Leif and my finals for school are complete. We only have today and tomorrow filled with Christmas party set up and presentation. Then, We're On Vacation!! We are so looking forward to it! Leif and I both have books that we're looking forward to reading with nothing else planned in the day except meals. We'll be at my parents house for an unspecified amount of time:) We have some things already planned. But we hope to have a few days where we just relax. The kid's should be able to let up do this with the fun gifts from Christmas.... We hope!

Merry Christmas Everyone!