Sarah's Favorite Things

This season is filled with some of my very favorite things. I absolutely love the month of December and the activities it includes to prepare our homes and our hearts for the celebration of Christ's birth. I know my favorite things aren't quite as exciting as Oprah's, but here's my list of the things that make me smile during this Christmas season...

My boys' very favorite thing to do when we decorate the house is to get out their Little People nativity set. They absolutely love it and so do I. They play with it everyday and creatively reenact the Christmas story. Lightning McQueen sometimes makes an appearance and Mary and Joseph have also been known to arrive at the stable by airplane. Who knew.
I love a white Christmas. I don't know if we'll have one this year, but the view out our back door right now is absolutely beautiful...
One of the highlights of my days is getting the mail and finding pictures and letters from friends all over the country. I absolutely love Christmas cards. They just make me smile.
I think I have always loved nativity scenes. I remember spending a long time organizing my mother's when I was little, and I am blessed when I set out these pieces each year...
Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without lots of yummy sweets. While they might look small and not that exciting, these little cream cheese press cookies are my favorites this year. We have made them about 5 times so far this month. The boys love decorating them and we all love eating them!
Putting up the Christmas tree signifies the beginning of the Christmas season for me. And this year it was a much happier process as our old Christmas tree had been duck taped together too many times and we purchased a pre-lit, much-easier-to-put-together tree. We had no clue how much time we were wasting all those years! Oh, and here's Levi's tree...And Ben's...
There is nothing more precious than little kiddos getting together in their Christmas best to celebrate the birth of Christ. This little group is just too cute...
I was sitting in our hearth room the other night after the boys went to bed and I couldn't help but smile as I looked at our fireplace with 5 stockings hung from the mantle. Wow, I am richly blessed. Our family is ready for Santa. My prayer is that we are ready to celebrate the birth of our King.
The countdown to Christmas is so much fun, especially with wide-eyed little guys who can hardly stand all the excitement. Each morning we wake up to something new in the pocket of our advent calendar. Whether it's a little candy cane, a Christmas book to read together or a fun activity to celebrate the season, they are always excited. It's such a perfect picture of simple joy.
It's truly a blessing at Christmas time to be a part of helping others to have a special holiday. While generosity and empathy aren't traits I see often in my toddler and preschooler, it brings me such joy to see the boys genuinely care about others. Here they are with their shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child (Trust me - they were a lot more excited than they look.)...
I'm one of those crazy people who loves wrapping presents. There's just something about a simple, well-wrapped box with a thoughtful gift that speaks a thousand words. My mother-in-law gave Michael and I a silver bell the first Christmas we were married, and she has continued the tradition. Each bell has the year engraved on it, along with the significant things that happened that year. I hang these in the garland going up our stairs, and it's so fun to look through them and see how much has occured in the past 9 years. Wow - it's hard to believe this will be our 10th Christmas together!
Lastly, these 3 little guys are definitely a source of great joy this Christmas season...
I hope this Christmas season is filled with some of your favorite things!