A SNOW DAY!

The girls had their first snow day of the year -- no school due to the 14 inches of snow that we've received in the past 2 days! The fun part was that both Eric and I were also off work, so we enjoyed playing games --inside and out. Eric, Avery & Ella headed out to make a snow fort but found that it wasn't good packing snow (per Eric, the expert snow-fort-maker). So instead they made tracks throughout the backyard and had lots of laughs. Thank You, God, for giving us special surprises like today!

TWINS?

We have two redheads. The red hair is about the only thing they have in common. They are several inches different in height and if anyone looks beyond their hair they see that their faces are completely different (it is said that Ella looks just like Eric and Avery looks just like me). Nevertheless, I frequently get the question, "Are they twins?" Judging from the following photo of Kristy and me, maybe it runs in the family . . .

STARRY NIGHT

Last Friday we enjoyed a special Christmas show at North Baptist Christian School. It was an evening of singing, dancing, instrumentals, skits, poetry and artwork -- created by the students and produced by the amazing teachers and staff. Avery and her two friends, Maria C. and Serena, recited a fun poem titled "I Call First". We are so thankful for our wonderful school!

CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS

With so many wonderful traditions from the Connor and Tillis families, it has been hard to decide which traditions to continue in our little family. Our main goal is to keep CHRIST in CHRISTmas. With that in mind, here are a few of our favorites . . .

1) Mom W. made us an ADVENT TREE CALENDAR, complete with felt ornaments to hang -- one per day, starting on Dec. 1. This calendar is identical to the original calendar that the Connor boys used in their home, every Christmas as children (thanks, Mom!). This year, Maria added to the tradition by writing devotions to go along with each ornament. Today we added the candle ornament. We read 2 Timothy 1:6 and talked about how God wants us to "fan into flame" the unique gifts that God has given each of us.

2) Our second tradition comes from the Tillis family. Throughout advent, our nativity sets are MISSING BABY JESUS! On Christmas day, the first thing we do is put baby Jesus in his manger. This makes precious memories for the girls year after year, and reminds us that we are celebrating Jesus' birthday.

3) And speaking of birthdays, our BIRTHDAY CAKE gets to stay out for the entire month, anticipating our celebration of Jesus' birthday on Christmas day. This special "cake" comes out 4 times per year in our house -- to celebrate each of our birthdays. After Eric's birthday (Dec. 1) we leave it out until Christmas. On Christmas day we will have a birthday party, complete with a real cake, streamers, etc. to rejoice in the birth of our Savior 2000+ years ago!

FIRST SNOW

Today, December 3, shows our first "real" snow of the season. Over a foot of snow is predicted by Wednesday! Eric is out of town today, so when Ella got home from school she announced that she was going to shovel the driveway :) As you can see by the photos, she has learned well from her father -- nice straight lines across the driveway and not a hint of ice or snow left! It is amazing how strong those genes are!!

PUSHING 40

Maria had a milestone in her aging this year -- her first pair of glasses! Actually, I think I had glasses in 7th grade just because I thought they would look cool. But this is the first time I've actually needed them. Just for reading but . . . could I really be getting old??