'Tis the Season

Happy December!  It's the most wonderful time of the year, and we've been celebrating this festive holiday season all month long.  We kicked off December with a visit to Santa Claus.  Our friends hosted a Cookies and Cocoa with Santa party at their house again this year, and this was such a fun way to take family pics with Santa and share the kids' wish lists with him:

It's Millie's first Christmas, which means that we needed to find a "puppy-proof" tree this year.  We decided on a smaller, tabletop tree that was out of reach of curious paws, but didn't count on this puppy's ingenuity...

...or how hard it was to keep a straight face when she had this look of shame at being caught:

Millie's curious nature and willingness to "help" with putting ornaments on the tree did provide some cute photo ops.  Here are all 3 kids decorating "Tiny Tim": 

L&L's 2019 ornaments truly capture the highlights of their year.  It was an easy choice to select a tuba for Luke.  This boy LOVES being "Tuba Dude" at school, and his favorite part of each day is band:

When Luke's band teachers sent out the following invitation to us, we knew that we HAD to check it out:

There was even Tuba Christmas merchandise for sale!  I couldn't really believe that this was an actual thing:

The concert was amazing!  Luke loved it so much that he'd like to be a part of it next year.  Later, we did research and discovered that there are Tuba Christmas concerts each December all over the world, celebrating the love that people have for this special instrument:

Our purchase of the Tuba Christmas hat ended up being worth every penny.  This kid has worn it to bed every night since and calls it his "good luck charm":

Priceless!

Leah's requested that her 2019 ornament have a photo of herself with Millie.  These sweet girls are smitten with each other, and I can't think of a more perfect ornament for our dog-loving Leah:

Leah's Girl Scout troop visited Old Salem earlier this month, and we attended the annual Moravian Candle Tea there.  We had a lovely morning exploring this historic community, which is rich in its beautiful Christmas traditions:  

The village was decked out in live greenery and festive holiday wreaths.

Old Salem Square.

We tasted yummy Moravian sugar cookies and toured the Single Brothers House, where we learned how people lived when the village was settled in the mid 18th century.  We also watched demonstrations of handmade Moravian beeswax candles, thousands of which are still used today for Lovefeast Advent services:  

Boxwood Advent wreath topped with a Moravian Star.

Candle making.

Another special early Moravian Christmas tradition that we enjoyed on our tour was the "putz", which included a detailed miniature wintry scene of Old Salem as it was in the early 1900's:

Part 2 of the putz was the presentation of  the Nativity scene, which was lit as the Christmas story was read from Scripture.  This was a very moving experience for all of us, and was beautifully done:

"For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." 

After leaving Old Salem, we headed back home where we enjoyed front row seats for our town's afternoon holiday parade:

The parade was part of the annual Light up the Night event at the Town Park, where there was free hot chocolate for all, Christmas carols playing, mock snowball fights, and a snow making machine (which delighted all of these NC kiddos who don't often see snow!).  Children were laughing and running around, families took photos with Santa, and the Christmas tree was lit that evening.  Thousands of luminaries were spread around the paths of the park, and they shone brightly in the night.  It really was like our own little Hallmark movie, and this event always one of my favorite annual Oak Ridge traditions. How we adore our sweet, precious little town!  

The Christmas Spirit continued last week as we attended Luke's 6th grade winter band concert.  This is a BIG band, with almost 90 students, and we were impressed by how much these kids have learned in a few months.  They serenaded their families with Christmas carols and classics, and a dessert reception followed (much to the students' delight!).

Our favorite tuba player, grinning at us!

Somehow Aiden sits right in front of Luke, which is awesome for these BFFs, and spells t-r-o-u-b-l-e! 🤣

On Sunday, we had our Children's Christmas program at church.  Leah was the innkeeper, and did a great job in her role:

This face is too sweet to tell Mary and Joseph that there's no room at the inn!

After weeks of rehearsal and preparation, it's always a big relief to have the program be a success, and these precious children are dearly treasured by our church family:

After the church service, our Life Group joined with friends to assemble 100 Blessing Bags for the needy.  These kiddos look forward to this service project each year, and what better time to do it than during this season of giving, as these children spread joy and serve their community?!

This week, our calendar is packed with class parties, evening Christmas events, and lots more holiday fun.  'Tis the Season!

***P.S.  I'm catching up on our fall blog entries.  Click here for our October 2019 update.