Anticipation of Christmas

Our family enjoys many Christmas activities as we anticipate the arrival of Jesus' birthday. Christmas parades, parties at school, visits with friends, Christmas lights, baking cookies, decorating gingerbread houses, and Breakfast with Santa to name just a few...

It's a busy time of year trying to fit in shopping, wrapping gifts, decorating, and all the other activities, but we always make time for activities where we can spend time together as a family celebrating the season.

We are very close to our small group friends at church. We try to get the kids together many times throughout the year. Here they are riding home from the Simpsonville Christmas parade in Mr. Stevie's truck. I think this was even better than the parade!

Ella and I participated in a new project this Christmas that was sponsored by the Jaycee's of Greenville and Walmart. We helped children from inner city Greenville pick out Christmas gifts for their families. These are the two boys Ella and I went shopping with. We had a great time going through Walmart picking out gifts with our new "friends." I learned that they aren't any better at making decisions that I am so we took advantage of the entire hour that we were allowed to shop. Finally, we checked out with great gifts for the boys' families. Ella and I enjoyed donating our time to help these boys.

Each year the girls get together with all the neighborhood children in our cul-de-sac to decorate gingerbread houses. The Townsend's are so generous to have the children over to their house. Mrs. Chris is always organized with many houses ready to be decorated and so much candy to choose from! It's always fun to see the children use their creativity. We are blessed to be surrounded by great neighbors!

Our church small group got together another night for a hayride through a live nativity scene called "Journey to the Manager." It was a chilly night so we had to bundle the kids up for the ride!


We went to Hollywild one night to see the Christmas lights and feed all the animals. Each year we return, there are more animals and attractions. We were able to drive through the deer forest and feed deer from our car. We also walked through the "winter park" to feed baby animals. Hayley and Ella loved feeding the animals crackers and baby bottles. We were even able to feed and pet some reindeer! They also had lots of Christmas lights to enjoy. This was well worth the long car ride out to Hollywild.

Breakfast with Santa at Chic-Fil-A is one of my favorite traditions. We enjoy a yummy breakfast and get to visit with Santa. It is never rushed, it's very organized, and we can get many great pictures. This year, Ella wasn't comfortable sitting on Santa's lap or even getting near him until we went to Chic-Fil-A. Somehow, she found the courage to sit on his lap with Hayley. I think she wanted to be sure that he knew exactly what she wanted for Christmas...a "Potty Doll" (a baby doll that goes potty). Hayley told Santa that she wanted an art kit and a toy pony.

Hayley and Ella chatting with Santa