Christmas Lights

One reason I love the Christmas season is the beauty of it. I love the lights people use to decorate their houses and buildings. Beginning after Thanksgiving, whenever we drive at night Alyssa also enjoys looking for them. It's one of our favorite things to do this time of year. Last week we drove down to the historic Mission Inn in downtown Riverside to take a look at their lights and other decorations. They go all out with thousands of lights, moving figures, carolers on each balcony, and other decorations. We were joined by many hundreds of other people, so it was hard to get around, but Alyssa and Jonathan were fascinated by it all.
Alyssa takes her doll Celine with her everywhere.

Our Christmas Tree

Our Christmas tree is one of our Christmas traditions we started a couple of years ago. All the ornaments on the tree represent Bible stories or verses. Beginning on December 1 when we put up the tree, we read a story or verse or two for our family worships and then the kids - Alyssa at this point - put the ornaments on the tree to represent what we read. She loves it, and it makes our Christmas tree both beautiful and meaningful while keeping our focus on the true meaning of Christmas. Many of the ornaments can represent more than story or verse. Every year when I go shopping I keep my eyes open for a few new ornaments, and I have a list of things I want to look for. If you have any ideas, leave me a comment below. Here is a picture of our tree this year.