tis the season

This year has been a lot of fun getting ready for Christmas.

Ari was thrilled to be able to help decorate the tree. He would hang all of his ornaments on the same limb. So it might have taken us twice as long to decorate (or should I say redecorate), but it was fun getting to explain what Christmas is all about.

 Every time he sees a Christmas tree now he exclaims "A Christmas tree for Jesus' birthday!"

We tried to capture Evangeline watch all the commotion but Ari was more interested in getting his picture taken.

AJ and I enjoyed our 8th year of going to his banks holiday party. It was the first date he took me on so it's fun to have the same tradition every year.

Saturday was an all day occasion of making cookies. All of my family came over and we baked cookies from 9a until 5p. 

The kids are at the ages where they entertain each other. They wore themselves out from playing so hard the afternoon was quiet for 3 hours because they all took good, long naps.

This was the best shot I got of them. Ari did a good job at smiling, Lynlee refused to smile, Nolan wanted to hold the baby, and Evangeline was focusing on not getting squeezed too tightly.

It's easy to get wrapped up in all the activities that come along with the season and let time get the best of us. My goal is to be intentional with how I spend my time this holiday season, helping my son understand that Christmas is about celebrating the birth of our Savior and not about anything else.