Early December

The annual take the nativity scene to the front yard ride.

At the right spot.

Biscuit came to check it out.

The kids were all invited to a birthday party at Pump It Up.  Needless to say, they were thrilled.

Anne and Catherine paused for a picture.

Heading up the big slide.

All the party kids.

With the very sweet birthday girl.

A picture of two of our Advent traditions, one old, one new.  We have had the magnetic Advent calendar for a long time.  Each day you open a door and add a piece to the nativity scene.  As you can see, one of the kids has put a shepherd up on top of the roof.  The two items in front were something new for 2013.  I've been wanting to have a manger to which the kids add a straw every time they do a good deed/make a sacrifice.  I mentioned this to the kids and the girls took the idea and ran with it, covering a shoe box in brown paper and cutting many lengths of yarn for hay.  And boy did I like it, even though it does not look fancy at all.  I had kids asking me many times, "What can I do for you, Mommy?"  I could use a box like this all year!

We celebrated St. Nicholas' feast day with little gifts and chocolate coins.

Chocolate coins, oh yeah!

Each child got a set of St. Therese sacrifice beads that they can clip onto their pants.

Anthony dug right into the chocolate, of course.

Coin eyes!

A picture of some of the potato pancakes I made, using up our Thanksgiving mashed potatoes:

Yummy!

Early December

Early in December, we had Grandma come to visit:

Grandma Brungardt with Dan and the kids

St. Nicholas stopped by and left some gold coins:

Oh, this is so good!

Chocolate is yummy!

 And some new books:

A couple of days later, Dan hitched up the stable:

 And the kids had the all-important job of keeping the nativity figures from tipping over:

Heading to the front yard.

Of course, it's a fun ride, too!

Anthony took special care of Baby Jesus.

Before Christmas

A few weeks before Christmas, when the weather was nice, Dan got the outside Christmas decorations out.

Bringing a load from the shed.

Hold on tight!

The kids check out the reindeer.

Anthony was fascinated, especially when the reindeer's head started moving back and forth.

A few days later, when we had cousins here, Dan pulled the nativity over to the front of the house.

A few little munchkins hitched a ride.

Joseph, Mary, Baby Jesus, and the adoring children!

Adding To The Nativity

One day a couple of weeks ago, a donkey arrived at our house. 

So Daddy carried him outside to the nativity scene in our front yard.



Where he made himself right at home.



The Holy Family Comes To Stay

We've been wanting to get an outdoor nativity set for several years and finally this year we took the plunge! So early one Monday morning at the end of November, I got a phone call from the delivery man. "I'm almost at your house." I looked out the front window and the truck was at the end of the driveway. I guess one minute is calling ahead.

So that night Dan unpacked Jesus, Mary, and Joseph and brought them into the house. The kids were extremely excited and we all admired the Holy Family.



Joseph was enthralled with Baby Jesus and gave him many kisses.



Then over the next week or so, Dan spent almost every evening, after the kids went to bed, out in the big shed, building and staining a stable for the Holy Family. Go to this post on his blog, Haus of Brungardt, if you want details of the stable-making. So on the second Sunday of Advent, we moved the completed stable with Holy Family to the front yard for display, complete with spotlight. It has been awesome to see every time we come home, especially at night!