New Christmas Tradition

For as long as I can remember, we have always had an artificial Christmas tree. My parents liked the ease of it and even after we got married, I inherited that same tree.  I've always wanted a real tree though for the smell and just the fun of it really.

Well this year, before leaving the mountains at Thanksgiving, we decided to go pick out a fresh tree.  The boys were feeling ok so we said why not.  We drove a little ways to choose and cut farm.  We really just picked the first one we came to, but it turned out to be awesome.  The farmer drove you up the mountain in a hayride to a mass hill of trees.  You picked up a measuring stick and wandered around in the forest until you found one. After you picked the tree, one of his workers came by on the 4 wheeler and cut it down and took it back down to be tied up.  They gave you free hot chocolate and coffee too!

The older boys on the hay ride (please forgive the poor quality from my phone)

Hayride up the mountain

All the trees on the mountain ready to be chosen

Jeremy sizing up the tree

Trying another tree

The man cutting down our tree

Family shot before going down the mountain

It really was so much fun and a new tradition that I hope we continue for many years to come!

Jesse Tree: Day 6

Day 6: Jacob's Ladder

Later Isaac would have a son named Jacob.  Jacob took a long journey to another country to find a wife.  One night while on his journey he laid down on the ground, using a rock for a pillow, and went to sleep.  That night he had a dream where he saw a ladder reaching from the ground to heaven.  Standing at the top was God himself; this symbolized that Jacob was not far from the arms of God.  This ladder is also a symbol for Jesus; he is our connection to God. Jesus left his place in Heaven and descended to become a man. Because of his death, he the gap between heaven and earth was bridged forever. God used a helpless man to become the source of blessing and means of salvation to the entire world.

Tonight we hung a ladder on the tree.
 

Jesse Tree: Day 5

Day 5: Isaac and the Lamb

God's promise to Abraham was coming true. Abraham and his wife Sarah had a baby name Isaac and later God would Abraham to do the unthinkable, to kill sacrifice his son.  Abraham obeyed though and took Isaac up on the mountain to sacrifice him.  As he laid on the alter, knife coming down, God told Abraham to stop.  Abraham had proved himself faithful and God provided a ram as a replacement sacrifice. God would later provide another replacement lamb,  His Son Jesus.  He would serve as our replacement. Today we place a lamb on the tree to remind us that Jesus is our lamb.
 

Jesse Tree: Day 4

Day 4: The Call to Abram

Abram was called by God to leave his country, his relatives, and his father's home to go to another land which he would inherit. He was a man of faith who listened to God, believed and obeyed him. God promised Abram that he would be the father of many and even changed his name to Abraham. It is through Abraham that the Savior of the world would come.  Today we place a tent and camel on the tree to remember Abram's faithfulness to follow God to a new land.
 

Jesse Tree: Day 3

Day 3: Inside the Ark

After Adam and Eve were sent out of the garden, the sin in the world grew worse and worse. Soon there were so many people who did not love God and God was angry.  He decided to destroy the world by sending a great flood .  However, there was one man named Noah who loved God and followed Him in all of His ways.  God told Noah to build an ark and put 2 of every animal along with his family.  Inside the ark, Noah and his family were safe.

The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. Those who do not turn to God will be lost forever, just like those who turned against God during Noah's time. But God has provided us life through His Son Jesus.  Through Jesus' death on the cross, we are forgiven for our sins and can have eternal life with Him.

Jesse Tree: Day 2

Day 2 is The First Sin. When God first made the world He saw that everything was perfect. That was until sin enter the world. Satan disguised as a snake deceived Eve, making her question God. After eating the forbidden fruit, sin enter our world.  But God knew this and that day He promised a Savior who would come and take our sin away and bring us back to God.

Today we placed an apple on our tree.

Jesse Tree: Day 1

To lead us through our Jesse Tree, we are using the The Advent Jesse Tree by Abingdon Press.  Each day it has a devotion for children and for adults along with a memory verse, song suggestions, questions, and a prayer.  We also purchased a small 4 ft fake Christmas tree to serve as our Jesse Tree and place our ornaments on each day.

Day 1 is the Light of Creation. Gen. 1:1 and John 1:1-4.  In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth. He has always been and He created all that we can see and hear.  He created man and woman. Everything He made was good.

Today we put added the globe to our tree.

An Advent Tradition: The Jesse Tree

A few years ago I saw this awesome advent tradition called the Jesse Tree. The Jesse Tree is named from Isaiah 11:1: "A shoot will spring forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots."  It is a vehicle to tell the Story of God in the Old Testament, and to connect the Advent Season with the faithfulness of God across 4,000 years of history. The Branch is a biblical sign of newness out of discouragement, which became a way to talk about the expected messiah (for example, Jer 23:5). It is therefore an appropriate symbol of Jesus the Christ, who is the revelation of the grace and faithfulness of God.

The Jesse Tree seeks to tell the story of God's redemptive plan for the world through 25 symbols of the Old and New Testament. The symbols trace the heritage of Jesus Christ from beginning of creation to His birth on Christmas Day. Each day of Advent, there is a Scripture passage to coincide with the symbol, which most families portray as an ornament for their tree (their big family tree or a separate small tree).

After reading up on the activity, I decided it was something I definitely wanted to do with my boys to help us focus on the true meaning of Christmas.  Making 25 ornaments though, is no easy task.  An old friend told me how her mom's group got together for a craft night and did an ornament swap.  Last November, I presented the idea to my moms' group and they were sold. I coordinated the whole night and scheduled for all to get together on Dec. 2nd.

Oliver, however, decided to surprise us all and come 20 days early.  I, therefore, did not make it to my own craft night but it went on without a hitch. Beautiful ornaments were made (each lady made 25 of one symbol) and exchanged. It went so well that I was asked to coordinate it again this year, though I'm not in the group anymore.

Because of Oliver's birth, we didn't get to start the tree last year so I was excited to do it this year. For this next month, I'll be sharing more about our tree so stay tuned.

Put It in That One

In my opinion, Easter would not be complete without dying eggs. Though we don't really do the Easter bunny, there is just something about brightly colored eggs that screams Easter. This was Owen's first year to really participate in the whole process and he proved to be quite the supervisor. He told everyone what color their egg should be and even made me drop an egg in a color when I was only trying to dye half of it. He was very disappointed when there were no more eggs to dye, but we promised him that he could eat them the next day. To be honest, I could have dyed more eggs too, but who really needs more than a dozen hard boiled eggs.

Is it ready yet?

Ok give me some eggs..
Mommy, you put it in there.
You have to stir it around.
What is this for?
Is it ready?
The finish products

We enjoyed the eggs for breakfast on Easter morning then again as deviled eggs for lunch.