Hi! Just wanted to jump on really quickly and share a few photos of our 1st Bethlehem/Shepherd’s dinner which will be happening on a yearly basis in the future… the timing might change a bit but we definitely want to repeat this!

The kids enjoyed helping make the dinner plans and shopping for everything… Shyanne’s shopping rule is that if you stop to look at something then you need to put it in the buggy… lol. They also enjoyed helping to decorate with some of the candles they had made and some materials that we had left over from other crafts.

It was so nice and simple and pretty easy to put together and it was so beautiful… and so many ands could be added. We combined this with our Advent candle lighting and then ate by candlelight… so pretty and peaceful.

We did make some smoked chicken and fish plus some lamb chops to our meal. We also had some lentils, baked potatoes, and macaroni as sides as we weren’t sure if others would be satisfied with what we normally think of as ‘appetizers’ or finger foods. Our desserts were apple pie and some Baklava… yummy.

After dinner we made eggnog, Mr. Awesome’s family has a secret recipe and they make it every year for Christmas, and we sat and talked for a bit with Nanny and Papa. Papa reminisced about Christmas as a child and that gave me an idea of something else to try… it turned out well and the recipe will be posted soon 🙂

It was a beautiful evening and it created an atmosphere that was peaceful and calmer but also exciting as we await the coming of Jesus again.

We also watched a short video called ‘The Christ Child’ on YouTube and it was simple but lovely. I encourage you to watch it, if you haven’t.

We encourage everyone to do something special this holiday season. It doesn’t have to be extravagant or expensive and you don’t need to go overboard or stress yourself out… it can even wait until after Christmas as we should keep Christmas in our hearts all year long.

We didn’t get to go look at lights yet but that might be something we can still do later this week. We also have some more movies and activities that we wanted to do but just haven’t had the time… maybe we’ll have another 12 days of Christmas as we head into the New Year?

We want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year … I’m not sure if this will be our last post for 2024 but we want you all to know that we appreciate everyone!

God Bless!

P.S. We also want to encourage everyone to share some of their favorite traditions, current and past, as we are always looking for ways to make memories and keep old traditions alive!