joy!

merry christmas from the campbell kids!


"For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
Isaiah 9:6

brothers

watching the baby sleep

Never gets old does it?

and he's pretty fun to watch when he's awake too…

let it snow!

Back in Florida we had quite a time scrounging up enough winter gear for our family of six, but between the attic and the local thrift shop we managed to pull it together. (Also I had to buy everyone socks since winter in Pensacola usually just means trading flip-flops for Toms.)

And it's a good thing we came prepared because today the kids prayers for snow have been answered! It's coming down fast and we're heading up to the mountains for the weekend with coffee and sleds and excited kids. I'm blogging from my phone (so pardon any strange formatting and spelling errors) but will be happily unplugging for the next few days. Happy weekend and Merry Christmas to you!

advent images

We are leaving town soon for a long overdue trip to Spokane, Washington, where we get to spend a cold but cozy Christmas with my sister's family. We did not get a tree and the Christmas decorations will remain tucked away in the attic this year, so we have been doing our best to add touches of festive to our days wherever we can. There have been cookies, crafts, movies, games, special tea times, and of course stacks upon stacks of Christmas story reading. All this, of course, in between bouts of nearly losing my mind as I try to accomplish laundry, cleaning, packing, and gift shopping with four mini-tornadoes in tow. So while these photos seem rather warm and peaceful, look closer and imagine baking chaos, screeching tin whistles, and card games ending in cries of, "not fair!" There is no quiet here. But there is Joy.

{Remember, you can see more of these images of advent at Christie's page. I hope you have been following her incredibly beautiful advent series!}