Friday, November 16, 2007

Tree Lighting

Tonight was a very special night for our family and we loved getting to share it with my sister and her kids for the first time!!! Tonight was the annual lighting of the Christmas Tree in our town square. Ryan and I have been attending this event ever since we moved to the town of Greencastle. I remember being there three years ago when I was pregnant with Christian. It was especially fun to share it with him this year.
Our town gathers together in the square the Friday before each Thanksgiving. We sing Christmas carols, drink hot chocolate, eat popcorn (although we didn't get any this year) and all the children are given a jingle bell. At 7:30pm everyone rings their bell and the lights on the tree are lit! It's beautiful every year! One of my favorite things about our small town is it's lack of political correctness. It brings me such joy to stand with several hundred other people and sing about the birth of Jesus.
Our friends from Left to Right: Carter, Anessa, Emma, Abby, Nate & Christian.
Angie, Judy and Mandy. This is a rare picture, we're usually the ones taking the pictures!
Nate was all bundled up and was wondering what was going on!
Abby and Kate are great friends. They had a great time running around after each other.
Anessa, Emma and Ellie all go to the same school. Anessa and Emma are in Sunday school together and they go to Good News Club together! These three had a great time throwing leaves at each other.
Christian checking out his jingle bell. The mittens didn't stay on for long...he found them to be a little too frustrating.
Ellie and Emma!

After the tree lighting we went to our friends the Furnish's house! We ate too much yummy food, including pumpkin cheesecake (to die for) and Angie's pizza dip! Left to Right: Brian, Devon and Taryn. Taryn is a great babysitter!
Christian entertaining us with some music!

The girls had a great time with all the dress-up clothes. This picture shows just one of at least seven outfits Emma had on through out the evening.
Don't you just love a 15 year old who has enough humility to play with a two year old? Devon is such a great guy and a great sport when it comes to playing with Christian. Christian loves to play doctor. He was even listening to Reagan's (the dog) heart, although I didn't get a picture of it.
What a special start to a great holiday season! Traditions like the tree lighting are what make great memories and we loved sharing it with our dear friends the Houpts, Furnishs and Marshalls.




4 comments:

Anonymous said...

That was a very very fun night! I loved the tree lighting and all of my friends, and I loved playing in the leaves with all my friends.
-Emma

the mccollums... said...

It looks like you guys had a great time!! What a wonderful tradition. Daniel and I can't wait to start new traditions of our own.

Katy said...

How FUN is that? I"m a BIG crazy person about traditions, and these are such fun ones to do!! We went to our annual Christmas parade where they light up the skyline (hoping to blog about it today during naps...) and it's so much fun! Everyone looks so cute all bundled up (you look GREAT Miss Prego!)! Oh, and tell Christian that my boys are in agreement with the mittens - very annoying!

Anonymous said...

hey, love the pics. Now i know how you snap pics almost everyday and get them right up! you are a pro :) can't wait to see what goes on during the holidays!!!
-Jenn