'Tis the Season

December has been a fun month for us so far. We put the Christmas tree up early in the month, I don't remember which day, but it was sometime in the first week.



Audrey was given the honor of placing the star on top of the tree.



I love our tree decorations. Jeana got the wood ornaments when she was in Jerusalem (1998). Each one is something to do with the nativity, carved from olive wood. Jeana also bought a olive wood nativity set carved by a man named Omar.

Jeana added the picture frame idea to our tree this year. The idea is to frame a picture from each previous Christmas to hang on the tree as a reminder of what our family was like each year.



Kate and Audrey like playing behind the Christmas tree. Now that there are presents under the tree they are big into climbing on the presents.



Some neighbors organized a neighborhood party (paid for by the HOA) over by our pool. The HOA bought a Christmas tree, which was decorated with lights. Each family was asked to take an ornament to contribute to the community tree. The organizers arranged for cookies, hot chocolate, apple cider, a caroling choir, and of course, a special visit from Santa Claus.



As you can see, Kate was not a big fan of Santa Claus. Audrey wasn't either her first Christmas (at a Seattle ward party when Randal Thatcher dressed up as Santa). Jeana told me to keep Kate facing me up until the last second when Jeana was ready to take the picture. That was a good idea, but Kate was too smart for our tricks.



For family home evening last Monday night (December 11th) we went down to Zilker Park with some friends, Ben and Suzanne Harman, to see the Trail of Lights. The park trees were decorated and different companies placed lighted scenes along a walking path. Because we took a few pictures at the beginning of the trail, Audrey felt like it was necessary that we stop at each scene to take a picture of her.



We forgot to take the stroller, so I carried Kate a lot of the way. My back was tired. Audrey did a pretty good job keeping up with us. And the rest of us did a good job too trying to keep up with Mr. Long Legs, Ben.



December is such a fun time of the year for me! Historically, I have been horrible at keeping secrets, but this year I've done well. Jeana and I are really impressed that Audrey hasn't blown our secrets. She and Kate have only started opening one present so far - Audrey's present to Kate.

Only one week left until Christmas Eve! We'll mix traditions from each of our families. On Christmas Eve we'll have a big dinner (Jeana's family tradition). Before bed we'll read the Christmas story from Luke 2 in the Bible (standard tradition from both families). Last year we acted out the story. I played the donkey that Mary (played by Audrey) rode on. We'll finish the evening by me giving spiritual gifts to each member of the family (a tradition from my Dad). I have a small hymn book still from Christmas Eve 1986, when I was 8 years old.

This year Jeana's brother Brad is spending Christmas with us. It is so fun to have him here. We golfed yesterday - it was almost 80 degrees in the middle of December!