Merry Christmas!

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus....

Tonight we anticipate the celebration of the birthday of our King. My heart is full of joy. I am overwhelmed with the truth that without this day, life and hope would be impossible.

Our babies opened their Christmas Eve pajamas, we read the story of the three wise men from the Jesus Storybook Bible, and sang Away in a Manger and Hark the Herald Angels Sing (2 of Mekonen's favorite songs this year). Mekonen has been saying "Tomorrow is Jesus' birthday!!!"

The best of about 15 pictures. Haha. Meko's facial expression is too funny and Evie is chewing on baby Jesus. 

E&M have loved playing with the Little People Nativity Set and Mekonen loves to talk about Mary, the angel, and the Shepherds. 

Interview with Mekonen about Jesus' Birthday.  (He answered them exactly as written, some in complete sentences, which is hilarious). 

"Where was Jesus born?" In a manger in Bethlehem.
"What was Jesus' mother's name?" Mary by name (a phrase one of our nativity books says when talking about Mary and Joseph)
"What was Jesus' father's name?" Joseph by name
"What did the angel tell the Shepherds?" The angel told the Shepherds that Jesus was born!
"What did the angel tell Mary?" The angel told Mary to name the baby Jesus. 
"Who is Jesus?" Jesus is God.
"Why did Jesus come to earth as a baby on Christmas?" to teach us about God

We started the Jesse Tree this year and are excited to add to this tradition each year as our children get older and can understand more. The Jesse Tree is an advent tree that tells the story of God's salvation plan, beginning with creation and continuing through the Old Testament, to the coming of the Messiah Jesus. We want our children to learn the truths of Scripture in light of the "big picture" of Jesus' redemption of mankind, and we found this Christmas activity to help do just that! As we tweak this tradition each year, we might change some things, like making our own Jesse Tree ornaments, but this year I just used these printables (picture to correspond with story on one side, the Scripture on the other side), mounted them on wooden disks and made them into ornaments. We corresponded the Scripture readings with the stories in the Jesus Storybook Bible, and some days also read right out of the BIble.

Our little Jesse Tree

Merry Christmas

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. 

Matthew 1:21