It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

It's my favorite time of year.  I can unabashedly listen to Christmas music, there are pretty lights to look at around the neighborhood, and that smell of the glorious fir tree in our home.  Our family still gets a *real* tree every year.  We don't even own a fake tree.  For years, I've been wondering if we should just get one so we can save money, but I just cannot do it. I love that smell too much.  And I love the unsymmetrical look of a real Christmas tree.  So, yes, we will spend our $30 a year and put up the real thing (trees are cheaper in Oregon because they are abundant and supply most of the Western US with Christmas trees).  And, for the past few years, we've supported local non-profits with our purchase, so that is another way for us to give and share our blessings.  If we're feeling adventurous one year, we might even go as far as to get the $5 permit and cut our own tree from the woods nearby.  Talk about a cheap tree!  Maybe next year....

Hope you all enjoy the season.  Please check out Advent Conspiracy for a way to celebrate the season without consumerism.  Shop local.  Make gifts.  Give the money you save to an organization that can give clean water to a whole community.  Give your time.  Love.  Worship.  And remember WHO we're celebrating.

Happy Advent All!

Advent Calendar handmade by Peter's Mom.  We love it!!!

The stockings were hung under the archway with care....

Nativity (minus the Magi, who weren't at Jesus's birth)

Advent Bible Verse Chain

Homemade decorations

Missing him....He LOVED the Christmas tree.  He would stare at it for hours.

Tree!

Kiddos