[love] "It's The Holiday Season!" Recap

"and Santa Claus has got a toy for every good girl and good little boy..."

Gotta love Christmas music (and I am SO sad it is off the radio)!

Nate and I had a wonderful Christmas holiday! We spent a week out of town driving back and forth between Dallas (my family) and Tyler (his family), which are both about 4 hours from our house. It was a wonderful week catching up with friends, family, playing games, shopping, staying up very late, and eating delicious food!

Nate and I also celebrated our birthdays! Our birthdays are four days apart with Christmas Eve and Christmas in between, so it is a c-r-a-z-y five days, in all, for the celebrations! But we wouldn't have it any other way... although fingers crossed we have a baby in a month other than December! Of course, we would be fine with it- but you know what I am saying.

Here are some (er, a million) pictures from our wonderful holiday, celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior! Welcome to our world, baby Jesus!

Road trip! Chloe in her pajamas. Yep, we're those dog owners.

Oliver in his Santa suit!

The pups being introduced to Clara, our three month old niece! Adorable.

They matched in plaid! So cute. Love that big ol' bow!

She's such a good baby. Doesn't mind being passed around!

We built a gingerbread house with our nephew (4 year old), Wyatt! So fun!

Look at that face!

Okay, if you know our pups, you know this picture is impossible. They are both laying down, being still and quiet, amidst the chaos of opening gifts. Wow. We were so proud!

Nate with his grandparents!

Nate and his brother being goofy, laughing about a gift.

The wholeeee gang (from Nate's mom's side): love them and I am so blessed to have married into a wonderful group of people who love one another and put Christ first in their families. So blessed!

Family photo op!

Now to Dallas: a WHITE CHRISTMAS! Forgive my hair, Yikes. Thanks snowy wind.

 

My hair is under control once inside. Geez. And the pups are modeling their new sweaters that Santa left them at my parents' house!

 

The pups experiencing snow! Chloe saw/played in snow three years ago, but this was Oliver's first time (at least with us: we adopted him when he was 8 months old) in snow!

 

Opening, in my mom's' words, "little gifts" because our big gift IS A CRUISE IN APRIL!!! YEAAHHH! So excited! But they cheated and got us presents anyways: we had agreed no presents so we could all save $$$ for the cruise! Sneaky folks.

Birthday time! Me with my best friend, Emily, at Benihana, the birthday tradition for mine and Nate's birthdays every year. YUM. I know it's a chain restaurant, but seriously their filet mignon is amazing.

Us with our daddy's (mine sitting by me, hers sitting by her). We took a picture with our mom's too, but it came out all blurry. Ugh. Love this picture of the four of us though!

Back at my parents house for cookie cake (another tradition for mine and Nate's birthdays)! Emily is back with us, along with Scott & Sam, the newlyweds, and mine and Nate's best friends! Scott is a youth minister, so he and Nate share the ministry bond. Sam and I love to craft/create together and share ministry wife stories with one another. We treasure their friendship! If only they didn't live four hours away! 

So these pictures aren't in order... but look at me with my honey! He's so cute!

And back at the house... best friends!

Make a wish: Happy Birthday to us!

Love us! And Nate and Emily like each other, I promise.

Before we left town, my mom's family came over for chili and a game night. After all the aunts/uncles left, my cousins stayed and we played Boggle! Nate and I had never played: we all had a blast and stayed up until after 1am! Love nights like that with family and friends!

Are you still reading? A million pictures, I know! We had a wonderful time. Love when we are able to get together with family and friends! So how was your holiday? Busy? Travel plans? Do tell.

Happy weekend!

 "May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." 2 Corinthians 13:14

[Merry Christmas!]

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 

"Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." Luke 2:14

[O Holy Night]

I am so sorry I have been on a blogging hiatus (although I still have been reading your blogs)! From crazy Christmas responsibilities between school and home, as well as being sick for a week, blogging has definitely taken the back burner. If I wasn't working at school, I was resting and/or working at home getting things ready for our travels this holiday season.

However, now that we are with family, it is time to stop and truly realize what we are celebrating. It is not shopping, not gifts, not trees or wreaths or ornaments. It is the time to celebrate the birth of our Savior! God sent His son to earth in the humblest of settings: a stable, in the hay, with animals. He was born to one day grow up and save us from our sins by dying on a cross for us and rising again on the third day.

Tonight, I am reflecting on that holy night: the night before Christ was born. As you read the lyrics to "O Holy Night" below, use the words to create an image in your mind of what that night could have been like. We will never truly know, on this side of heaven anyways, what that night was like for Mary and Joseph as they awaited the birth of our Savior. But reflect and give thanks to God for this amazing gift!

O Holy night, the stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear Savior's birth
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
'Til He appeared and the soul felt its worth
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn

Fall on your knees
O hear the angel voices
O night divine!
O night when Christ was born
O night divine!
O night, O night divine!

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains He shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in His name, all oppression shall cease
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we
Let all within us praise His holy name

Christ is the Lord!
Their name forever praise we
Noel, Noel
O night, O night divine
Noel, Noel
O night, O night divine
Noel, Noel
O night, O holy night 

Merry Christmas from our family to yours! Enjoy the time with family and celebrating the birth of our Savior!

"Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.' When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.' So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told." Luke 2:13-20

[make] Ornament Swag

Who else enjoys holiday seasons for the crafty projects? I do, I do!

On Pinterest, I found Upside Down Grace and Madeline's ornament garland. It was adorable and oh-so simple to do.

You will need:
long-enough-for-your-project ribbon (the plainer, the better: your ornaments won't get stuck!)
ornaments; I used 100 shatterproof ornaments

I found a package of 50 ornaments from Walmart that had reds/greens/golds, which is what my color scheme for Christmas is, so I purchased two to make a swag of 100 ornaments. It turned out so cute! My friend Bonnie came over and we had a wonderful time of catching up and crafting!

String your first ornament onto your ribbon and tie a knot. Continue to string on ornaments and they will start to fall/lay the way they look on the swag. When you are satisfied with the length, tie a knot at the last ornament as well. Easy! Go to Madeline's blog for more step-by-step photos. Thanks for the inspiration!

See where I link up: Monday Made it @ 4th Grade Frolics, Blog Hop @ Naptime Review, Tips & Tricks @ Stringtown Home, What I Whipped Up Wednesday @ Sugar and Dots, Craft-O-Manic Monday @ Craft-O-Manic, Link Party @ Uncommon, Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts, Show Me What Ya Got Linky Party @ Not JUST A Housewife, {Wow Me Wednesday} @ Ginger Snap Crafts, Link Party @ Destination: Craft, The Creative Spark @ Clean & Scentsible, Before & After Party @ Thrifty Decor Chick, Weekend Wrap-Up Party @ Tatertots and Jello, What I Wore Wednesday @ The Pleated Poppy

Happy Monday! I'm home sick with tonsillitis and a bad cough today. I've had a fever off/on all weekend as well. I've been prescribed some medications, so because of this, I had to cancel my wisdom teeth appointment for this Thursday. Wahoo! Haha, it's rescheduled for January, but at least I won't have to dread this entire week/weekend! I have a few more weeks before I have to start stressing out again. 

"Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you." 2 Thessalonians 3:16

[dwell] Do You Have An Advent Calendar?

Since December began yesterday, I have been itching to get an Advent calendar of some sort going. I made one a couple of years ago that had various Christmas-y things to do each day (Christmas cards, movies, cookies, etc)... but then I needed the cardboard for another project, so it is no longer with us.

When we have kids, I want to have an ornament Advent calendar, where we hang an ornament on the tree each day as we count down the days to Christmas. But since we have no kids this year, that won't be happening. I really like this one from Bower Power:

Source: bowerpowerblog.com via Chrissy on Pinterest

I found this lovely list of scriptures to read on Pinterest: a sort of "scripture" Advent calendar, if you will? Nate and I read the first one last night, so hopefully we keep this up!

Source: Uploaded by user via Chrissy on Pinterest

I also found this list of Christmas goodies to do during the month of December. I may condense it to 25 items (and I'll need to double up on a couple of days since it is already December 2nd).

Source: heart-2-home.com via Chrissy on Pinterest

What do you do to countdown the holiday? Religious? Secular? Do tell.

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." Luke 2:14
 

[dwell] Deck the Halls

A sneaky peek at some Christmas decor happenings in the Johnson household! P.S. if you follow me on Instagram (chrissydj), you have already seen these :) We purchased a new camera during Black Friday, but it's been kind of wonky... so camera photos you shall see!

A look at the Johnson ornaments through the years... our engagement in 2008, first Christmas in 2009, first home in 2010, and a fun snowman ornament from 2011. Now I just need to buy a 2012 ornament for this year!

 Our other first Christmas ornament, from Hallmark

Where we will hang the Christmas cards we receive.

No fireplace or mantle for us, therefore we use our entertainment unit shelving for our stockings!

 

 Table setting! I need four more red chargers to complete the table, but it's pretty for now.

 

Happy Tuesday!

 "But the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.'" Luke 1: 30-33