1. advent

Yesterday morning I received a beautiful e-mail from my sister, Kathy, wishing us a wonderful first advent. Since all the years that I moved out of my parents home I never thought much about advent and we certainly never had an advent wreath. Well, with Kathy's reminder and Sophia getting really excited about the story and meaning behind the wreath, we now have one.

I did have to buy one, as there isn't really any green in our area suitable for a wreath. Sophia however, went outside and collected many little objects to enhance our little wreath. We lit the first candle yesterday and the lighting felt magical.

After dinner we started reading one of my childhood favorite books. Sophia is now old enough to understand most of it. As she loves listening to stories, this is a meaningful way for me and her to spend time together.

We also put out some other christmas/holiday decorations. Our gnomes from last year are still our favorite, so they had to come out first!

happy first advent and a magical beginning of this years holiday season!