December Magic

December.  Everyone's favorite month of the year.  There's just something so magical about it.

This year is no different.  Our elf, Johnny, made his first appearance of the season on December 1st.  The big kids found him hanging out on our front porch right before they left for school. 
That tricky rascal!  

Lila's basketball team, the Murphy Magic, kicked off their season with a big win. 
These girls are awesome.  Go Magic!

We are all about trying new experiences every holiday season. We did the Journey to Bethlehem at a nearby church and were so impressed with it.  It's a drive-thru nativity scene...

where people tell the story of Jesus' birth.  The narrators read a few important pieces of scripture at your car window, as you check out the scene.

So cool!

The live animals were the biggest hit, for sure.

I loved the wooly sheep that was looking at the Star...

but my favorite was the camel at the end!  Cami said her favorite was Baby Jesus, which made me feel bad for not saying the same thing!  Out of the the mouths of babes.  #truth #jesusisthereasonfortheseason

Our night of new things didn't end there. 
We journeyed on to the Galleria to introduce our kids to the magic of ice skating!

Standing in line wasn't half bad, since we had a view of this magnificent tree AND got to watch ice skaters wipe out left and right.  Ha!

A half hour later, we were on the ice!  Maddie was the only experienced skater, so she helped out Jackson at first.

Jared and I switched off between helping Cami and Lila.  Both were pretty unsteady, but then Lila finally got the hang of it.  Miss Cameron looked like she was .2 seconds away from wiping out at all times.  By the grace of God, we avoided that!

"Look mom, I'm ice skating!"

We ended our weekend with a magical time at church.  All three big kids went to the service with us, joined in by singing some Christmas Carols, and listened to the message. 
I love this time of year.