Advent: Day 24

Lego Star Wars Calendar:

Activities:

make lefse

go to church

open gifts under upstairs tree {grandparents/friend gifts}

watch a christmas movie

camp out by the upstairs tree

 it's tradition to roll and eat {lots of eating} lefse on christmas eve day

landon and mauryn helped to turn and transfer lefse

while morgan rolled and rolled lefse

eventually she kicked the two little ones out of the kitchen

she spent the morning rolling and turning out the lefse

and guarding it so we all wouldn't eat it before christmas dinner

after lefse rolling, football game watching {boo for broncos loss}, and dinner eating

we headed off to our candlelight service at church

 this is what i get for trying to get a picture by the tree before christmas eve service

i love the candlelight service

i love listening to my kids singing their hearts out to traditional carols

there are usually a few tears shed

 when we come home the kids throw on their christmas pajamas

except this year, mauryn thought her pajamas were too big

so she sported tinker bell instead

after they get their pajamas on, we do our advent reading for the day, 

and the kids get to open any gifts that aren't from lance and i

once the gifts are opened and the wrapping paper is cleaned up, we put on a christmas movie

this year is was santa clause 3

the kids camp out by our upstairs tree

or on the couch

or recliner

its something they look forward to every year

camping out together waiting for christmas morning

Bible Verses:

 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”

 They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”

 Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.

Zechariah’s Song

 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, 
   because he has come to his people and redeemed them. 
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us 
   in the house of his servant David 
(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), 
salvation from our enemies 
   and from the hand of all who hate us— 
to show mercy to our ancestors 
   and to remember his holy covenant, 
 the oath he swore to our father Abraham: 
to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, 
   and to enable us to serve him without fear 
 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

 And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
   for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
to give his people the knowledge of salvation
   through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
   by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
to shine on those living in darkness
   and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

 And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.

Luke 1:57-80

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Matthew 1:18-25