Christmas 2011

This Christmas was the quietest one we have ever had. Quiet but calm. It was different.
We had everything we wished to have done, done.  Many events attended. Presents opened and were all well received.  I did not get to go to church on Christmas morning due to Peter coming down with a head cold.  I caught it in the following week.  We are all on the mend right now, thank the Lord.
We had for the first time Pizza on Christmas Eve! Since Trader Joe's ran out of ham, we had steak for Christmas dinner instead.  It was different but the family all loved it.  I had no complaints.  Not many dishes to wash - a good break for me!
Due to Robert's unexpected work schedule, we did not have any advent devotion this year.  I missed that.  When the older kids were little, we had advent devotion leading into Christmas Eve. I really treasure those fond memories.  They are all older now and are very busy with their own schedules so many Christmas traditions were put aside.
I would like to start something for little Peter.  It is a bit challenging as he is the only young child under 10.  We will see.
Here are some recap of the Christmas 2011 with pictures:

 This is one of our Christmas traditions - the youngest child is to point at the star when the tree was first set up.

One of the wonderful events we attended - the Children Christmas Choir. They did an excellent job on the play "The Next Leon". (Read leoN backward)

Peter's Christmas Stocking went missing and Joshua improvised an substitute. Cleaver boy! Looked like a Charlie Brown stocking. Love it!

 One of the gifts we got this year for all of us - a TV and the cabinet. Joshua worked almost all day to put together this cabinet with wordless instruction (only pictures - he is very good in reading those type of instructions now).

The prettiest present I ever received. It was from a dear friend.  I have always wished to have tea time with my friends but I never had a pretty tea pot. Now I am excited to see whom the Lord would bring over to have tea and fellowship with me.

The biggest gift my family gave me - painting the inside of the house.  This is a project that may take a whole year to accomplish due to the fact we can only work on it at our spare time. None the less, it was started on the day after Christmas.

The hardest part of the painting has been having to work around the stuff.  I can't wait to see how much stuff I will be getting rid of this coming year.

Photo by Christine

Last look at the Living/Family room before it got a face-lift!

Photo by Christine

Hope you had a joyous Christmas and happy New Year!