It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

Ever since 2005 when Steven brought Christmas to Dubai for the kids, they have been obsessed with Christmas.  Before we moved out here they would call us every year and ask, “When are you coming?? You come for Christmas??”  So now that we are both here for Christmas this year, we thought we would make the most of it with the kids starting December 1^st. We invited the kids over for a Christmas tree decorating party and Christmas movie sleep over, which they totally loved. In order to prepare, we had to put the tree together, something that was new to me as I have always been blessed with a real live pine-scented, add-water, fresh tree (something I always hated as a kid, ask my mom).  Now we have the “joy” of using a fake, put-me-together-yourself, no water needed but I’ll still drop needles everywhere tree. Real trees can be found here in Dubai, if you are willing to pay an arm, leg and liver for them.  It actually looks really good!

But by the time we got it all together we realized we didn’t have nearly enough lights or decorations for an 8 foot tree (the tree btw, was barrowed). I have always been a fan of getting a shorter tree and putting it on a box or suit case, that way you have room for all the gifts to fit under it (a trick I learned from my mom) plus it saves you money. So we took the tree half way apart, using only the top half, and it was the perfect size!

Sammy, Missy and Yousef were so excited to help decorate the tree that they hardly noticed Mariah Carey’s Christmas album blaring in the back ground, something Steven insisted on. We busted out the decorations and got down to it, but not without some dancing on Yousef’s part.

We finished out the night with some Christmas movies on Mega-Couch, starting with Earnest Saves Christmas and falling asleep to a classic: Elf. Steven and I set up the Christmas village later on along with some other decorations:

We also have this advent tree that we got at a white elephant Christmas party that the kids love. Each day you put a new ornament on it and whenever the kids come, they rush over to it to see if we forgot or not and if they will get to put the days ornament up.

We are hoping in all the excitement that we will get the opportunity to teach the kids the real meaning of Christmas and that it isn’t just about decorating and getting gifts, that the advent tree is counting down to something more than just a day. Pray that the opportunity will rise and that we will be able to share the truth with our loved ones.