Yesterday, when Olivia read the Advent tag for the day, the kids discovered that we were going to a Christmas tree farm after school. Normally, we gratefully put up our small artificial Christmas tree to kick off our Advent celebrations.
This year, we found a small Christmas tree farm, Yesterland Farm, nearby and drove over to cut our own tree. One of the things I've noticed since returning to the States is the lack of decorations representing Jesus or anything Biblical. I was so happy to walk into the little gift shop at Yesterland Farm and find plenty ornaments with nativity scenes or references to Jesus. We had a nice chat with one of the owners.
Sarah wore one of her beautifully crocheted headbands. She's having a lot of fun with the variety of yarn we can find in the States! I love watching my kids blossom.
Since we left all of our books in the Solomon Islands (and we love our books!), we raided my mom's bookshelf and our small library to find books about Christmas trees.
I hadn't realized that Christmas trees used to be hung upside down to represent the trinity with their three-cornered shape. Glad we don't observe that custom anymore. Nor did I know that tinsel was made out of real silver until the mid-twentieth century!
We did leave a handful of ornaments in the States, like Aaron's small collection of Pittsburg Steelers ornaments.
And we brought a handful back with us from the Solomon Islands to remind us of the home we love so much.
Of course, we have to cart our tree topper back and forth. A sweet student made it for me when I was still teaching school. Glory to God in the highest!
3 comments:
We went to pick out our tree yesterday too when daddy got off work! We will decorate it this evening:)
Looks like you had great fun!
How fun to cut your own tree! And I'm impressed that you actually cart a handful of ornaments and decorations FROM Solomon Islands TO the U.S. I always leave my stuff in Turkey, but that gives a wonderful sense of tradition and continuity!
I love all your Christmas pics - the kids look great in their red and green :D Love that tree topper,
Julie
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