Christmas and birthday party are getting near!

People ask me almost daily “So, what does Blake think about Christmas?” Well…. He has reacted the same as he has in about every situation since he has been home. He goes with the flow. He is excited, but no more than he is on any other day. He joins in singing Christmas carols like he actually knows the words. He hovers around the advent calendar each morning waiting to see if it is his turn to open it.

When Brady and Maddie were much younger, Justin and I were not… shall we say ‘active’ Christians. So Christmas was solely about gift giving and getting together with family. Now that we have matured in our faith the focus has shifted more to the celebration of Jesus’ birthday, helping others in need, being tremendously grateful for family, and of course still gift giving. Blake understands that birthdays are a time for celebrating and so he is very excited for Jesus’ birthday aka Christmas.

I remember at one point in the adoption process last year, my mom suggesting that by this Christmas we would have our new family member celebrating with us. I thought she was being very optimistic and I was full of doubt. Boy oh boy am I glad she was right. We are so excited to have Blake home for this Christmas!

Here are a few pictures to share….

First visit with Santa. Don’t you love Blake’s hair sticking up in this picture! And look how grown up Miss Madison seems!

Here are Blake and Madison at Blake’s Christmas party. Brady ended up getting sick right before it was time to head out so he and Justin stayed home.

Here are our Salvation Army bell ringers. It was reported to me that Blake was the best bell ringer ever. He would go up to people and smile, hold out his hand with a candy cane in it and ask “Candy Cane?”. As soon as he got the people’s attention, he would then say “Money”. I guess everyone that it was so cute or felt guilted into giving. One person even had to go back into the store to get change so he could donate. When the person came around to collect the kettle, he graciously let Blake keep his jingle bells as a token of his first experience!