On the 21st we went to our friend's the Norquist's for our annual viewing of White Christmas.
The 22nd the girls did Christmas themed painted nails and we went to the Evarts for an LC3 Players Christmas party, where we watched the last couple years of Christmas productions.
On Christmas Eve after going to the Christmas Eve service at church we had a hot dog dinner thanks to our free coupons from 7-11!
Then we opened up our matching Christmas jammies!
And we let the kids eat popcorn and watch a movie, while Dada slept in his Dada chair.
Peter and I have been putting on this family pageant at LC3 for a couple of years now! Peter came up with the idea when we went to Rainier View Christian Church, but they didn't really see it fitting in with their vision of where they wanted to head. So when we started going to Lake City, we pitched the idea to Miss Niki, who said, "Yes! Let's make it happen!" and about two weeks later we had our first Family Christmas Pageant. It's a simple reading of Luke Chapter 2 by any kids who want to read interspersed with songs sung by everyone while all kids who want to participate put on a costumeof their choice and join Joseph and Mary (who are chosen by lot minutes prior to starting) on stage. We love it because it takes practices and little prep work. And now we even have our 4-6th grade student serve team help out with clean up and they have their Christmas party afterward! This year Eben chose to be a camel, Kivi, Jasper and Berg were shepherds, Opal was a wiseman, Pella was an angel and Tuff made a brief appearance on stage as a sheep. Mama directs all the kids and Dada leads the singing. We end the night with candlelight Silent Night and cookies and cocoa. It's simple and precious and really makes you think about all that was going on during Christ's real birth, the busyness of Bethlehem, noisy animals, distractions and amidst it all a perfect Savior, just waiting for us to notice Him, come to Him and adore Him.
I love this picture that Dodie took this year!
Steve and Dodie and Peter's whole family came to the pageant this year!
On December 19th, Peter's dream of renting out a movie theater and having a private viewing of the new Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens, came true. (The movie came out the day before, on Dec. 18th!) Our first 100 friends to buy tickets from us were able to come along, in costume, at 9 in the morning and join us in the theater to eat donuts, fruit and have some coffee before we all enjoyed the new movie together. Peter put together a couple of those bad lip reading Star Wars videos to watch and Uncle Jeff entertained us with some accordion music and we even got pictures of all those who came in costume. We had been working on our costumes for a while and got pretty decked out! Pella and Tuff stayed home with Marlee since we didn't think they'd make it through the movie. It was a fun morning!
We made our gingerbread Bethlehem again this year! While we were baking and putting together our pieces, Jasper built a nativity out of Legos too. It always takes a while to do this tradition, but it's worth it. Each kid gets to pick out what building they will do so our Bethlehem gets a little bigger and is different every year.
This year, we had the Gingerbread Party over here at our house! Eben made a sheep pen, Jasper made Herod's castle, Berg made a house, Opal made the inn, Pella made the market place and Kivi made the stable.
December 9 - Tea Day: The kids wrote Christmas poems for a Poetry Tea party with the Homes.
By Berg:
The Light
That point us to
A special night
By Opal:
On Christmas Day we all wake up
To Mama saying, "Shush".
We slowly go up the stairs
Trying not to push.
Dada's at the top step
Holding Jesus' birthday cake.
We sing "Happy Birthday" with beautiful sounds
We are all trying to make.
We all sit on Dada's lap
And we read Luke chapter two.
The story about when Jesus
Was born for me and you.
We eat a cinnamon roll breakfast,
Then open stockings on the floor.
Then we look under the tree,
There are presents more and more.
(I'll have to put Jasper's in here when I find it!)
By Kivi:
On Christmas day
Christ came to stay
With us on this earth
He came as a baby
Short and small
Of a virgin birth
By Eben:
Christmas is coming!
Hear what I say!
Run, hurry home, this is Jesus' day!
In a small manger, all tiny and cute,
Small, little Jesus doesn't cry, but stays mute.
The parents of Jesus, called Joseph and Mary,
Make sure that He's warm, and easy to carry.
And now we rejoice! For our Savior is born!
Son of God, Prince of peace, Holy Father and more.
December 10 &11 - We filmed Eben's Christmas movie
December 11, 12, 13 - Dada stars in the Christmas Play at LC3, "Christmas is __________". Mama and Kivi were also in the play.
December 14 & 15 - We film Kivi's Christmas movie
We also watched all of the Star Wars movies at Auntie April and Uncle Jeff's house to prepare for the upcoming Star Wars 7 movie almost every night that week.
