The beginning of our Christmas celebrations

The first weekend in December we went to Manthey's Christmas Tree Farm to pick out and cut down our Christmas tree. Their selection was pretty limited so it didn't take too long! 

Searching for the right tree! 

Found it! 

Opening their first presents...they each received their Christmas ornament, Christmas PJ's and a Christmas dress that they could wear all month long!

Haleigh was checking if they were the right size...not that it mattered.
Neither she nor Annaliese liked them so they only wore them once!

The next weekend we went over to Kim and Thane's house to continue our tradition of decorating gingerbread houses. Instead of getting the pre-made kits, this year we used graham crackers and homemade frosting. 

Each of the girls also had a Christmas party at school complete with snacks, crafts, and games. 

Haleigh's class:

Annaliese's class: 

Christmas Bingo

The kindergarteners and first graders sang a few songs at their school Christmas concert.

The other thing that we did this month was called Truth in the Tinsel; it's an advent calendar that has a short Bible reading and a simple craft to do each day leading up to Christmas. We did a pretty good job keeping up with it and the girls enjoyed all of the crafts. It was a good way to remind the girls repeatedly about the true reason we celebrate Christmas!

We've been listening to Christmas music all month long, have enjoyed looking at Christmas lights, reading Christmas stories and shopping for Christmas gifts. I think the Christmas season is going to be more and more fun each year as the girls get older and have a better understanding of what we are celebrating and also are able to participate more in the gift-giving!