December 2011--up until Christmas

So here are several pics of some of the high lights of December--before Christmas Eve. We always enjoy decorating the tree, and this year was extra fun because we had a new tree! There are a couple of pics that were taken after the adult cantata and during the kids' musical. Those were both such wonderful events. We felt such a keen awareness of the Holy Spirit working, helping, moving in and all around those experiences. There's one pic of Stan at a band concert. His bands sounded great this year. His huge 6th grade band puts out this wall of sound!! Amazing! :) We were so glad to be able to zip over to Savannah for a quick visit with the Atkinsons on the weekend of their church's children's Christmas performance. Carrie Beth has worked very hard and those kids are really coming along! We got to go to Savannah Christian's "The Journey" which is like a re-enactment of the journey that Mary and Joseph took to Bethlehem. We all loved it! Very cool experience. It was quite a production. There are some pics from Benjamin's Noah's Ark preschool program, too. He did such a great job as a reindeer. He was pretty shy around Santa, and when I asked him why he wouldn't talk when he sat in Santa's lap, he said, "Mom, I already wrote my list. Why should I tell him again?" :) There are a couple other Santa pics with both of the kids from a Girl Scout event. Olivia looks so big on Santa's lap all of a sudden! When did that happen? After school let out, we had a week before Christmas, and we really enjoyed resting and playing as a family. One day was particularly warm and we went to the beach for the afternoon and had a picnic. Truly gorgeous! Well there are a million more pics coming, but here are a few to start! :)