Last weekend we headed to Rudolph’s to pick out a Christmas Tree. The boys ran around playing tag and gave Emma a piggyback ride through the hilly rows of trees.
Yesterday we pulled out our box of decorations and sorted through all the memories as we hung them on the tree with Christmas music playing in the background. I was filled with Christmas spirit as I watched our beautiful tree adorn a lifetime of experiences I’ve shared with John and our sweet kids. My favorites are our newlywed and then children birth ornaments. Emma’s is a stork bringing in a little baby girl, and I just think it is so fitting.
Emma kept climbing up the little step stool pretending to put ornaments on the tree and then climbing down and smiling at everyone so proud of herself. We all agreed she was simply gifted to have figured out how to imitate her siblings in this way! Goodness she is cute.
A lot of life happens in 16 years, and our tree really displays the joy we’ve experienced amidst it all.
After the tree was done we did our scripture advent and sang some Christmas hymns together and read the story of Silent Night while the boys assembled their Lego animals from the advent calendars.
We had chicken noodle soup and sourdough bread for dinner. I set the table with a Christmas cloth and napkins and lit candles. We then moved to our bedroom to watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional while nibbling Chex mix candy (a recipe my mom used to make.) Throughout the devotional, Emma kept taking ornaments off her Birthday Tree and then placing them back on and clapping. Whenever the choir sang she froze and was mesmerized by the music. They sang Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus and Cate is learning it in choir so she really enjoyed singing along to that number.
We closed the night tidying up the house then having a Come Follow Me Lesson. I think my highlight to the day was when William was too sick to attend church (much to my chagrin), he cuddled on his bed and I read the Little House Christmas Collection to him. We watched church from home and saw Cate, Matthew, and Johnny bear their testimonies. Matthew said he believed in Jesus, Johnny said he loved Christmas lights and that they reminded him Jesus is light and he feels the spirit every day at Christmas time. Cate talked about how in Come Follow Me she was learning about how God is light and love, and what that meant to her. All the while Emma crawled around the floor in her first ever pigtails. It was honestly just a beautiful Sabbath full of that special Christmas feeling that comes as we celebrate the Savior.
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