Christmas is one of my favorite time of the year, so I like to make a big deal out of it. We have so many fun traditions to help us remember why we celebrate Chrismas. Instead of counting down with an advent calendar, one of our tradition is counting down to Christmas using the Advent Jesse tree devotion. The Jesse tree is the family tree of Jesus. There are 25 stories from the Bible to go along with each day in December until Christmas. It begins with creation and goes through the old testament until the birth of Christ following the genelogy of Jesus. Everyday we read a devotional and then hang up the coordinating ornament. The kids love to dig through and find the ornament that coordinate with the story. When we skip a day for any reason, we must make it up because they want to hang up all the ornaments.
My family usually have our feast on Christmas Eve. This year we had hot pot because the weather has been sooo cold. And I love baking in the winter. Now that I have time, I tried to make our family's favorite apple pie. I love warm apple pie with cold vanilla ice cream. My pie was a hit with the boys, H, and my extended family. I must make it again. But sad to say, my pie did not meet Master Chef's standards. I didn't have enough apples, the apple was slightly over cooked, and the crust cracked, but the taste was right on. I am usually my worst critic. Since this is my first time, I can make a better one next week. My sister is out of the country and not with us this year. C said that Christmas is not the same without Yiyi. We miss ya Yiyi!
