Troyer Party of 9: Preparing for Christmas

Christmas time is truly my favorite time of year. So many traditions, some meaningful and some just fun, and so much excitement and anticipation all around as we prepare for the birth of Christ. We've tried each year to become more purposeful in the way we prepare our hearts. One of the ways we've done this is by starting a little earlier so that by December 1st our tree is up and most of gifts are bought leaving us the rest of the month to really enjoy and prepare for Christmas. So the Saturday after Thanksgiving has become our tree cutting day.

I love nothing more than a seeing our tree lit and decorated!

Each year we buy the kids a new ornament representing something important from the year or something they liked that year. I keep a list because I can't keep it all straight and it's our tradition is to unwrap all the ornaments and then we go year by year and reminisce about the different memories as the kids hang up the corresponding ornaments. They get really excited to find theirs and love remembering trips to Disneyland and puppies and births and old pets and nicknames and old homes and so much more.

Mom and I also always enjoy our baking day. We bake treats for Brandon's job sites, teachers, and our own family gatherings. We've gotten pretty good at it and you'd be amazed at just how many goodies we can crank out in a day.

Cradle-to-Cross Wreath

This was a new addition to our Christmas traditions. At dinnertime as we sit down to eat we light the candles counting down the days until Christmas and then as the kids begin to eat we read an advent devotional that helps us reflect on the glory and sacrifice of Christ.

Jesse Tree

You can kind of see our Jesse Tree to the left of our Christmas tree. We started this a couple of years ago and it really helped us remember what we're celebrating rather than just getting caught up in the gift giving. Each night we read a devotional about a character in the family line of Jesus and open a corresponding ornament to hang on our tree. We remember that He uses broken people and that the birth of Christ is truly the greatest gift we will ever receive.

I got this idea from a friend. During the year this board contains all the Christmas Cards we received from friends. I love enjoying them all year but for the month of December I hung up all of our old cards and enjoyed remembering how much our own family has grown and changed.