Tag Archives: December Daily

Hello December

Posted on by under December Daily, Everyday, faith

Hi there, friends!  December is one of my favorite times of year and I was so excited to say Hello to December this year!  This morning we went to church and I was thrilled to find that it was Communion Sunday!  Seriously…what an AMAZING way to usher in this season of Advent!  It was beautiful!

My friend, Stephanie, posed the question today “What are you doing this Christmas to be intentional in making this a season of joy?”  I shared our family’s plans with her and thought I would share them here with all of you!  First and foremost, I want to keep my focus on the reason for this season, and that is Jesus!

So here are the things that we as a family will be doing to focus on Advent, document our memories, make fun memories together, & serve others this Christmas season.

ADVENT

I searched for devotionals that would be good for both Skylar and Hailey.  I wanted to make sure that they would interest Skylar, but also challenge Hailey.  I found the perfect resource!  We are using the e-book Reasons for the Season by Kathy Hutto. I’m looking forward to all the different activities we will do together as a family.

For my personal devotional time, I’m looking forward to using the Advent devotional videos from Ann Voskamp and also following along with the Advent devotional series from Good Morning Girls.

DOCUMENTING CHRISTMAS

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I’m really looking forward to documenting our December with a simplified version of Ali Edward’s December Daily.  This year I will be using one photo from each day, like the one above, dated with these digital elements.  It’s going to be super easy:  snap photo, print, back on chipboard, & attach all photos with rings.  I’ll be sure to show you as the month goes along.

MAKING MEMORIES TOGETHER/SERVING OTHERS 

We have a list of activities that we are going to do as a family.  Each day we will do one activity.  Here are a few examples:

-watch a Christmas movie together (this is one we will do multiple times)

-get cocoa and drive around to see the Christmas lights

-bake cookies for our friends and neighbors

-make a CD of our favorite Christmas music and share it with some of our friends

-go to ZooLights with our cousins

-pick out a new ornament from the Christmas Store

We will also choose different service projects as a family.  Some will be simpler than others, but we want to make sure the girls recognize that helping others is what we are called to do.

GRACIE THE ELF

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This morning marked the return of our friendly elf, Gracie.  The girls absolutely love her!  When Skylar walked into the kitchen and saw Gracie, she read the card and said “Oh Gracie!  I missed you too!”  Pretty sure that Chris and I enjoy this way more than the girls do.  Who would’ve thought?  I seriously used to poke fun at people that did this.  You can see the post of silly things that Gracie did last year, HERE.

We are looking forward to a fabulous December and I hope you are too!

What are you doing to make this December full of joy?

Whatever it is, make it great!

JuJu

December Daily: Day 1

Posted on by under December Daily

This year I am going to document our daily December happenings here on my blog! December Daily is a concept that has been made wildly popular by Ali Edwards.  She is an amazing mom, story-teller, documenter of life, and human being. You can check out her December Daily posts HERE.   I will incorporate the photos that I share here into both my Project Life album as well as a small mini-book.

We all know how busy the Christmas season can be, and because of that I want to add my photos and my journaling here so that I have it documented.  We are doing several fun activities during December, including our advent boxes, Ann Voskamp’s Advent Jesse Tree devotionals/activities, and silly visits from our Elf on the Shelf, Gracie.

ADVENT BOXES

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I made these cute little boxes several years ago and have displayed them several ways. This year I have them lined up on our piano.  Each box contains an activity for our family to do together.  Some of the activities are big and some are simple.

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We started off December with a full day of activities!  The first Saturday of December in Prescott is the Annual Christmas parade and Town Hall lighting.  Prescott is a pretty small town and the parade had a lot of neat elements.

Old Cars

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Little Ponies

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The Shriners in their Cute Cars

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Chris’ Cadets

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And our favorite part of the parade…friends!

This is Hailey’s friend, Maggy.  I love that this drum is bigger than she is!

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This is Hailey’s buddy, Owen.  They hung out the entire parade.  Thankful that Hailey has sweet friends!

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After a little break, we went back to the square and waited for the Annual Courthouse Lighting.  The lighting is one of our favorite events.  I wrote about it last year, here.

The square was packed with people all waiting to hear the Christmas story read straight from the Bible.  Several local school choirs sang various Christmas carols throughout the reading.  At the very end, the courthouse and all the trees surrounding the courthouse lit up.  We were thankful to be sharing this experience with several of our great friends.

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Following the lighting we had our friends over for home-made cocoa and cookies.  I made THIS amazing recipe that I found on Pinterest.  I have had WAY too much fun pinning various Christmas recipes and ideas.  You can check out and follow my pinterest boards HERE.

Thanks for stopping by today!  I know I’ve been absent for awhile, but I’m looking forward to sharing a fun month with all of you!

Make it great!

JuJu