VERY JOYFUL SUNDAY

As morning broke on this third Sunday of Advent it was another beautiful day I said a thankful prayer for the Joy God has given me throughout my life and continues to give me each day.
Church was special today with the children giving the good news of the Saviors birth in a little skit with songs today instead of the regular sermon.
They were dressed in their PJ's and all looked they had a great time. G-son is in his red and black plaid pj's.

An angel showed up to teach the children the true meaning of Christmas.

The three same Wisemen have sang each year in these plays. G-son is on the left with Aiden and Nicholas.

The pre-school choir was really cute in the "manger animal" masks and they did a great job with their songs.

It was truly a blessed service delivered by these kids this morning, God bless each and every one of them.
We had no lunch today as everyone had other plans to get to today so hubbie and I came home to start preparing for our annual extended family Christmas gathering here tonight.
We cleaned the kitchen then started cooking, stumbling over each other in the kitchen but we got it all done with teamwork.
We did the chores a tad early and I got all the lights turned on inside and outside.
My nephew was the first to arrive with his wife and 2 little boys. His oldest son immediately wanted to know where g-son was. These cousins don't get to see much of each other and they enjoy each other very much when they do get together.
Soon everyone got here in our family and hubbie's brother's family. There are 8 adults on our side and 2 kids. On hubbie's brother, Marty's side there are 6 adults and 5 kidos. We had 7 kids ranging in age from g-son being the oldest at 9, to Kaylie-8, Maddox-5,Easton-4, Pasley 2 1/2, Noah-20 months, G-daughter-3 months, wow !!! Needless to say our house was an exciting place to be tonight !!!
They all played so hard and ate lots of food.

We always have an abundance of food at our gatherings !!  Hubbie and I fixed a 9 lb smoked ham , a 4 lb deep fried turkey breast ,mashed potatoes, green beans, deviled eggs, greek salad, sweet potato casserole,gravy, biscuits and sweet tea.  Everyone else contributed so there was plenty.

The present opening was the highlight of the evening and a blurr of activity with all the kids jumping in at once.

I wanted a group pic but we can never seem to remember to even try this venture, oh well !!!
All the kids acted like they had a wonderful time and after all that's what Christmas is all about starting with that precious child born in that manger filled with hay many years ago.
There was a lot of " JOY " in my third Sunday of Advent for sure.

The temperature at 11:30 tonight is an unbelievable 57 degrees but it looks like old man winter may be rearing his snowy, cold head again as the "E" storm Echo was named today.

A friend and I were discussing at church this morning that this must be what Christmas is like in Florida !!  But for us here in the mountains it seems really strange and not at all like Christmas.
The forecasters are saying by the end of this next week we will be more in the normal for us temperature range.
Thankful tonight for a wonderful Sunday with family, church and extended, and all the blessings that this season brings as we celebrate the birth of our Savior.
God Bless, Good Night and Merry Christmas