Party & Friends

The story of Christmas; December 21:

"Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,"Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means "God is with us." When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had condensed him and took his wife into his home. He had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus."(Matthew 1: 18-25)

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Our Story:

Last Tuesday was our Christmas Party. We got together with our friends, played, and Bri led us in making cinnamon ornaments.

She read them a passage and then they took turns helping her make the dough for the ornaments. While they were baking, we had lunch and they played, romped, dressed up, pretended until their hearts content. We had previously rescheduled our gathering due to sickness, so they were beyond excited to get together. Too much time had passed. I'm thankful for Bri and her friendship, support, and encouragement. She is also a fellow homeschooler, and provides me reassurance when I need it most, and I try to do the same for her. I'm blessed with her friendship and I know our kids are so happy to have each other. Give it a week and the kids will be asking when we will get together We played the new Clifford movie for them but as soon as the popcorn bowls ran out, so did their attention to the movie.

Once the ornaments were done, the kids decorated them using glue and glitter. We finished out our afternoon playing outside on our friends' new power wheels. They took turns as drivers and passengers riding in the jeep and the Barbie camper/van.

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Im feeling extremely blessed in this season. Watching our babies grow, remembering Christmas from when I was growing up; making our own family traditions and blending them with some of our old ones. I'm loving the time with the kids, and Zach since he took vacation days in-between Christmas and new years. We continued our magic memories and moments last week leading right up to Christmas. Although I will still be journaling these "25 days of Christmas" memories, they won't be in real time. I have plenty of time right now, as we are road tripping! We are finally going to get to show the kids where Jojo's new home is. We left the house in complete shambles, with the aftermath of gatherings and gifts. That mess represents a lot of good things, but man does it make me crazy.🤣 Only 9 hours of driving ahead of us. (Are we there yet?) In the mix of memory making, preparing, shopping, catching up with friends & family, wrapping, playing, praying and everything in between, this gal was tired as a mother! The good news is that Christmas came with or without my completed Mommy journals.😉 I have really enjoyed doing the 25 days of Christmas and journaling them (or should I say 21 days so far?) I have also enjoyed reading from the Bible with the kids each day to help provide us with the true story of Christmas. Xander even started asking me when we were going to read our verses for the day, which made me happy that he looked forward to them. I feel like it added a lot of meaning to our Christmas and helped to better our understanding. We had a blessed Christmas and I'm grateful.

💛 Maisy got to come home today. Thanks for all who have prayed for her and her family. God is good 🙌💪

💛 Thanks for reading