Merry Christmas To One And All

We had a very merry Christmas yesterday, and we hope everyone else did, too!  We try really hard at our house to center our Christmas around Christ.  We read stories and scriptures that keep our thinking along those lines.  We have several Nativity scenes as decorations.  Another thing that I think helps is doing most of the Christmas shopping in November.  My kids know if they ask for more presents in December, they aren't  going to get them. 

We started off the week before Christmas with our Bethlehem dinner.  I love exotic food, and I've collected several recipes for food that people might eat near Bethlehem, most of which I probably couldn't spell or pronounce correctly.  Of course, we also had traditional stuff like pita, olives, figs, and dates.  

On Christmas Eve, we especially like to take time to remember the "Reason for the Season."  This year, we spent Christmas Eve with Wayne's family.  We read Luke 2 and told some Christmas stories.  We were also excited to have Wayne's brother Devyn there because he just returned home from his two-year mission to Chile. 

On Christmas day, we opened presents and went to visit family.  We visited Wayne's grandma, and we went to see my parents.  There were a variety of other relatives at both houses.  It was great to visit with so many people that we love!