Advent Complete

Tonight, we hosted the last installment of our Musical Christmas Advent series (aka "sing songs and eat cookies"). I'm a little sad it's over. It was great to be with friends and family singing all kinds of Christmas music, especially the traditional carols and hymns that aren't in the LDS hymnbook. Each night left me happy and peaceful instead of the usual post-party feelings of, "Aw man, why on earth did I think this was going to be fun?!"

I was lucky to be a part of that little Advent group with my sister Heidi and her cool friends so many years ago. I'm quite thrilled to have a copy of their Advent notebook with all the music.

Did it prepare me better for Christmas this year? Yes.

Will I do it again next year? I hope so.

Did the kids like it? Yes! Alice even opted to stay and sing while the others played elsewhere. And there's nothing like a good old fashioned binge on cookies and cocoa to make the season brighter, right?

Since this was the last night, I let it go a lot longer than I should have. We sang until 8:40, then started in on the treats. It was 9:30 or so before people started leaving. And poor Robert, with his hands and face sticky with innumerable treats and goodies, practically fell asleep on my shoulder as we said goodbye to our guests. He asked to be put "straight to bed, but not because I did anything bad, just because I'm so tired."

It was a good idea. A good fit for us this year. I'd like to feel this good about Christmas every year.