Christmas

Jaden and Cody's school Christmas program this year was the best we've seen since moving here. The K-2nd graders sang "Go Tell it on the Mountain" and "What a Glorious Night" towards the start of the program. The kids sang beautifully! Later in the program, there was a video of various kids reciting portions of Luke 2. Jaden was included in this video and did a wonderful job.

Both of our boys are in the top row-- Cody on the left hand side of this pic in a black sweater, while Jaden is mid-right in red, behind the microphone.

Here is a clip of the first part of "What a Glorious Night."

At the very end of the program, the entire student body gathered on stage and sang Silent Night while holding candles in the darkened church. What a touching moment! We loved seeing the whole school come together to proclaim the wonder of our Savior's birth.

And here are our three favorite Salem kiddos-- Cody, Abby, and Jaden

On Christmas Eve, we worshiped at Salem's evening service. Adley was NOT happy about putting on her Christmas dress, as you can see in this picture!

By the time we arrived at church, however, Adley was all smiles and couldn't wait to "show Daddy my pretty dress!" She happy twirled around to show it off to everyone. Sigh. Gotta love these 2-year-old extremes!

Many thanks go to Grammy and Papa for buying our children's Christmas outfits. We thought the kids all looked so sharp!

We were actually able to catch up with Daddy after church on this busy evening to take a family Christmas picture. Hooray!

Since we were attending a Christmas Day service with our extended family at their church, we actually opened presents with our little family on Christmas Eve morning. Adley fully understood the concept of presents this year and was very eager to open gifts! It was so fun seeing her excited smiles and hearing her joyful expressions.

Cody was particularly excited about receiving the new Dog Man graphic novel. He started reading right away, and we had to remind him to open the rest of his gifts! 

Both of our boys were thrilled about getting new Pokemon cards.

We also splurged and got the boys their first video game system this year-- a Nintendo Switch. Various family members gifted Jaden and Cody with some games and Switch accessories. We are sure the system will provide them with lots of entertainment in the months and years to come!

We are so thankful for these three smiling kiddos, but most of all, we are thankful for the birth of Jesus, our Immanuel. He came to earth to dwell among us and show us His redeeming love. What a wonderful time of year to focus our attention on Him, the best Gift of all!