O Christmas Tree...

On December 1, I invited all the youth girls to my house to help decorate my Christmas tree. I did this last year, and it was a ton of fun. Last year four girls attended: Mili, Sandy, Sandy Paz, and Ana. We had a good time, and my tree was beautiful. This year, NINE girls attneded including Sandy, Mili, and Ana (Sandy Paz is no longer in the area).

Here we are!
Left couch (L-R): Claudia, Sandy, me
Back couch (L-R): Adie, Mili, Cintia
Floor back (L-R): Ana, Cecilia
Floor front (L-R): Gabriela, Tencha

I bought my own lights that have 16 different patterns (they were borrowed last year), a few more decorations (these were actually a gift from Sandy...9 handmade porcelain ornaments that are designed like toys from Santa's Shop), some more ribbon, and a tree skirt.

These are the ornaments Sandy bought me for my birthday! They are my favorites of all! The doll is actually a bell!

I made muffins and brownies and apple cider, as well as little finger sandwiches and sweets. Flavia also had given me a bowl of Soy Cebiche (soy product with carrots, lime, and some other veggies..very yummy...eaten with tostadas). So, we had a mixture of light lunch foods and desserts, and everyone enjoyed the time.

Cintia & Tencha enjoying goodies in the kitchen

Gabriela & Adie enjoying hot homemade apple cider and coffee!

The girls made record time decorating the tree. Most had never decorated a tree before and had no clue how to go about doing so, but they did it with passion! It was rather interesting because just that week one of the three plastic feet to my tree broke and I couldn't fix it. So, I had to fill a bucket with rocks in order to get it to stand up. So, it was a little precarious with 9 girls crammed into a corner trying to decorate my tree in a way that it wouldn't fall over. But it was finished, and it's exquisite!

After we finished, the girls decided they wanted to watch Narnia. So, we popped it in and snacked away. Then it was time to get ready for youth group which was that evening! We had a really great time of fellowship, and my tree is just beautiful! It puts a smile on my face every time I see it, and its light totally changes the ambiance of my living room! Yea for Christmas trees!!

Ana & Cecilia decorating the tree while the rest of us get other ornaments ready

Since I had no tree topper or star, the girls fashioned a tree topper for me using a candle wreath ornament and the porcelain doll ornament. I love it!

Ana enjoying some sweets.


Claudia (& Sandy...half pictured) watching on as the decorating frenzie continues.


Mili with the musical "snow globe" that my step-mom sent me for Christmas last year. This is a favorite decoration among my youth girls! It plays music and "snows"!!


Ana and Cecilia beginning to put the ribbon on the tree. I prefer ribbon to garlands..it sparkles prettier in my opinion! I had two kinds this year. One is blue and gold, the other is sparkly white!


All done!!