Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room

We all know that the lead-up to Christmas can be stressful.

But you know what

 I love it.

Not the stress.

I feel that too, when I let myself get off course.

But I love Christmas.

The whole season.

The baking, the decorating, the music, the parties...

I love warm, sparkly Christmas lights inviting people up onto the porch and in the door.

And even better?

It snowed!

We had beautiful trees outside and inside!

And a house full of people, several times.  Our "little" neighborhood get-together drew in nearly thirty, which made for a very crowded cozy room!

Just imagine the table absolutely covered with cookies, and surrounded with kids.

But I didn't take any pictures (fail) because I was too busy visiting (win!).

When it's so dark so much of the time I love the way the snow brightens things up...

so cheery!

I sat at the window with Christmas music playing, tea by my side, and wrapped presents.

We actually made it through all of our Advent devotions, even if that meant doubling up some nights to make up evenings we missed.  And I made room for all my nativities... I'll show you some of them :D

But my favorite nativity was this one, at our little chapel.

This nativity (below) is very sweet... except for the sheep.

Which we all think look a bit like slugs.

I love the shepherds' little fake beards,

and the angels' tinsel halos,

and the mismatched bathrobes.

And I love the way all the kids participate.

Two of mine were readers...

... and one played his guitar (over on the right, against the wall).

I love the warm, cozy evenings...

... and the bright snowy days!

 I love the eagerness we all have for Christmas to come!

I love singing carols with the boys every evening.

(We never sing enough of them at church, it seems.)

All the preparation, all the build-up...

I know it's just stress to many people.

But no... we're getting ready.

We're preparing room for Him.