Holiday Festivities

Well, the holidays are here! Thanksgiving has come and gone and our house is full of Christmas decorations!

Thanksgiving Day was extremely busy for my family, as we spent the entire day at Gina's Place. We served a special meal during lunch and dinner, and while only about 30 people came at noon, around 160 customers were there to eat dinner.

It was packed. We had people standing outside the restaurant by the elevator waiting for seats. A couple of people actually ATE out by the elevator. It was quite amusing to see, actually.

Every table was full

This relatively small play area was overflowing with little munchkins... literally.

People eating and waiting out in the hallway by the elevator

Regardless of how busy our Thanksgiving was, it was a very good day. There was much to be thankful for! Our friends were surrounding us, in the evening there was a great concert, we had a ton of business...

It's a family tradition to put up our Christmas tree and take out our other Christmas decorations on the day after Thanksgiving. This year my family was even more exited than usual, because it was Hanissa's very first time to help us decorate. And help she did.

Hanissa helping me unpack

Charis and Dad setting up the tree

Hanissa was (and still is) enthralled with the lights!

Putting on the ornaments

Admiring our hard work :)

One of Santa's elves

Another interesting tradition my family has is that every year we add to our Nativity Scene. That's right. Our entire Nativity Scene was made from scratch. One year we made the stable, Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. Another year we made the shepherds, sheep, and angels. Then we got around to making some wise men. And last year, we made Anna, Simeon, the temple, and a couple more shepherds. I think this year we are planning on making more angles and wise men. Two angels, after all, are not what most people picture when they think of "a heavenly host." And as for the wise men... Right now we have two of them. Mom does not want there to be three. So, we'll probably end up having four or five.

The temple, Simeon, Anna, and the wise men

My sisters playing with the Nativity Scene :)

Decorating our house for Christmas and enjoying the holiday season together as a family is something we do every year. I love it and so many memories have been made from these precious moments.