Christmas on the Farm

We are Christmas decorators here at Red Robin Farm. Adam loves to do up the outside and I've always been an inside decorator. I love Christmas. I will admit to being a bit tired at my age of all the hauling of boxes and going up and down the attic stairs. More and more I need the children to help. And less and less are they home!
Anyway, Adam has been doing up the front porch with its gingerbread look. Isn't it great?

He cut the greenery from the cedar trees on the back of our property, attaching them to strings of lights with boat tape.

It all looks so very pretty at night when I'm driving home from work in the dark.

We put up our little tree today.

And Julia set up the Christmas houses in their seasonal village.

Then a friend brought her 3 year old daughter over to pick up Julia for babysitting, and oh my!!! Did those two ever have a ball playing with that village! It was darling to watch. They were far, far into Pretend Christmas Town.

I have it set up on top of my trunk this year. We are rather squashed for space in this little house.

This is my wooden tree, made and given to me by a friend's husband years ago. I place the same few ornaments on it each year.

This year I've added a new ornament to the wooden tree. If you look closely, you'll see "Philip 2002" on it. I have a selection of personalized ornaments like this for all the kids. I'll be sending Philip's set to him since he's married now, but he said I could keep one. I chose this one. As the kids marry or otherwise permanently leave home, I'll do this each time, I think.

And my nativity scene ~

Adam made the stable years ago from some wood removed from our 1870s Victorian home in Mississippi back in the early 1990s.

Last but not least, our Jesse tree, looking bare right now. But each day we add an ornament that reminds us of Jesus and of how He is found in all of the Bible -- how God's Word always points to Him.

It's a good reminder of why all the other joy of the holiday (Holy Day) is here in the first place.