The Month of December

My friend Holly at Happenings of our Home posted this today. I think she says she got the idea from another blog, but I'm going to give her all of the credit for this amazing way to 'Capture December' as she calls it. In my mind, this is how I'm going to remember and capture what the Christmas Spirit means to my family.

So, every day during this wonderful month of December, I will post a photo of something we are doing to honor Christmas. All month long! Now, for those of you that follow our family blog, you know that I go days without posting...and if for some reason I miss a day, as I've missed the first 5 days of December, don't worry, I'll catch up!

Here it goes!

December 1st

Decking the Halls!

There's something so magical about transforming your home into a Christmas, winter wonderland in the month of December. And that's just what we did in this first day of December. Parker has really gotten into the Christmas decorations this year and he even gave me new ideas for trimming the tree! And, while I love all of our decorations, the tree really is my most favorite part of decking the halls!



December 2nd

Downtown

We love living in a small town. And, one of our most favorite things to do this time of year is drive downtown in Ottawa and look at the lights. We know, we know, it's not the plaza, but as Brandon commented on Friday night, "It's like we've been transported back in time to the 1950's (except for the street lights) and downtown has never looked so beautiful." If you've never been to downtown Ottawa, you need to visit. We have an old movie theater, restaurants that serve everything from Mexican to the best Italian food you'll ever eat, antique shops, boutiques, and so much beauty! This photo (taken with my phone, while trying to drive) does not do any justice to the beauty of downtown Ottawa in December. You'll just have to drive on down and see for yourself!



December 3rd

Santa!

Every year we visit Santa and this year was special because we got to visit Santa at the movie theater in Ottawa and then go into the theater for a special showing of Santa Buddies. Of course, Parker was so excited and sat right up there and told Santa that he wanted a big boy bike with no training wheels this year, Parker smiled for the photo, and then hopped down. Andrew, on the other hand, wanted absolutely nothing to do with Santa. So, while we have a beautiful photo of Parker smiling with Santa, Andrew has no photo this year (while I was trying to get Andrew to be happy with Santa, Brandon decided not to snap any photos of sad Andrew, saying it wasn't pretty). We'll try again next year...good thing Andrew's been good all year!



December 4th

Vespers

We love Christmas music. We listen to it everyday. It helps to remind me and my family of what this season truly means. It reminds us every day of our reason for celebration during Christmas. And, while the church sermon on Sunday also did this, I decided that this year, I would be taking Parker to Vespers at the University. What an awesome display of talent of the Ottawa University orchestra, the choir, and the music faculty at the University. And, while I remember my mom taking me to Vespers at KU when I was little and I remember the goosebumps I would get when the choir would walk up through the auditorium singing....



December 5th

Elf on the Shelf

Our elf has actually been here since December 1st, but today, yes today, our elf, Sammy, is going for a ride on the ceiling fan! Ever since Sammy showed up on our fireplace mantle, Parker has been wondering and asking if I thought Sammy ever went for joy rides on the ceiling fan while we were gone during the day. I'm almost sure that he has. So, tomorrow morning when Parker and Andrew wake up and find Sammy up on the ceiling fan, oh boy, are they gonna be excited!