This post is sponsored by James Avery Artisan Jewelry
Hello my lovely friends!
Christmas is in full blown mode now that December is almost here. It sure gets here faster and faster each year, doesn’t it? I’ve decided that my parents were right in that time flies as you get older and when the years creeped by, now the decades are flying by at lightening speed. I still have some fond memories of Christmas growing up though, do you?
How many of you have been an angel in the annual church Christmas play? I know I was an angel a few times. How I remember being in my Daddy’s little church and the children had parts to recite in front of the whole church. I was always sooooo nervous doing that, but it’s so cute when I see the children now up there being kids. There’s nothing like Christmas through a child’s eyes.
The memories are vivid of standing behind the curtain, which was nothing but sheets hung up on wires with safety pins. Oh, those sweet memories of peeking out at the audience who were making their way in the church to see the Christmas program on a Sunday night. It seemed as if we were about to make our big debut and boy, was it scary. We wore angel costumes, which were more white sheets and glittery tinsel on our heads.
Anyone else?
Angels we have heard on high!
How angels play a big part in the Christmas story. The real Christmas story of Jesus’ birth and how the angel came to Mary and Joseph to tell them of His coming birth. Oh Holy Night! Angels are just such a special part of Christmas and the story of our Savior’s birth.
So, it’s no wonder that I chose an angel charm.
Today, I’m partnering with James Avery for A Charmed Christmas. And one of you will win this cute sterling silver angel charm too, so stay tuned.
This charm brings back sweet Christmas memories for me as I think back on my wonderful childhood and what a special time it was. I hope my cute great nieces and Mark’s grandchildren have wonderful memories as well. We were both very fortunate to have great parents who made Christmas special for both of us. Our childhood Christmas’s were not as big and showy as Christmas has become now, but I think we were so blessed to have those sweet memories of by-gone Christmastime.
James Avery is more than just jewelry. I love that James Avery started his Christian jewelry company in 1957 by mail order. It’s a family owned company offering sterling silver, 14K and 18K white and yellow gold jewelry, and gemstones for men and women.
And the artisans that make this beautiful jewelry are located in the Hill Country of Texas. You will see many Christian symbols in James Avery jewelry, so I hope you’ll check them out and see what they have to offer in the way of unique gift items.
Tis the season!
Kathy has been collecting James Avery jewelry for over 30 years. She loves charms but always had a hard time deciding on which ones to get. When her mom passed away, it gave her the perfect opportunity to get the Tree of Life charm which honors her mom’s life. She remembers that her mom always had interesting stories to tell about family members, so that was the perfect keepsake to remember her mother.
What’s your story and favorite memories of Christmas?
That’s such a sweet story and I love that she started an ancestry bracelet that she’s added to over the years.
And she looks forward to passing her charm bracelet on in the future so it can stay in the family for generations to come. I had a silver charm bracelet when I was a teenager and I wish I had kept it and added to it over the years. I don’t even remember what happened to it!
Today, I’m sharing an angel charm with one of you, so one of you will win the same angel charm I have pictured here. All you have to do is leave a comment and tell me:
What’s your favorite Christmas story or memory from your family?
I’ll choose a winner in a week and leave it here on the Rafflecopter. Just fill out the Rafflecopter with your email address, checking that you are leaving a comment and then leave a comment on this post.
I haven’t been great about announcing these winners, but when I do a giveaway, the winner always shows up on the Rafflecopter widget a week later. I always email the winners too, so they know who they are! I can assure you that someone wins!
That’s it! Enjoy browsing at James Avery and see what you find that you might love for yourself or to gift a loved one. This is a great time of year to discover a fun piece of jewelry that will be a wonderful keepsake in the future.
One of my favorite memories actually happened for years–I would go with my Daddy to buy fruit(at the Farmer’s Market) that was then made into fruit baskets and delivered to needy families and older people in our church and community. The baskets were put together by the Masonic lodge he belonged to and they also did toys for the children. They actually did this long enough that my own children got to see this taking place at Christmas. What a wonderful way to learn about the giving spirit of Christmas–just watching it happen for years. This Christmas will be my first without my Daddy as we lost him in August, but at age 91 he still gave at Christmas–what wonderful lessons he taught us all just by the life he led–he didn’t have to lecture us at all–I am Thankful for him everyday!!!!
Oh and I now have a James Avery charm bracelet (from my husband) which I love and I also still have my silver one with the charms from High School. Most of the charms given to me by my husband while we were dating in school–we celebrated 50 years last year.
Hi, Brenda, oh what wonderful memories for you with your sweet Daddy! Those are great life lessons to learn. And the fact that you have a James Avery charm bracelet and the one from high school is wonderful.
Hearing my Dad read the Christmas Story from the Bible and pray before we opened our presents!
My family didn’t really celebrate Christmas when I was a child. I remember getting towels, underwear, and socks from my Aunts as presents. Definitely fulfilled our needs, and I’m grateful for them.
When my children were small, we would go to a tree farm, pick out our tree, cut it down, had hot chocolate, and rode around the farm on a hayride. We also rode on hayrides around the neighborhood, then had hot chocolate and photos with Santa at the clubhouse. We don’t do these things anymore, but I’m glad my kids were able to experience those wonderful Christmas events. We still do some things, like attending Candlelight service, and I look forward to it this year!
We love James Avery jewelry. My husband still uses the James Avery keychain he received as a groomen’s gift from 30 years ago. My daughters love their charm bracelets.
Thanks for the giveaway!
So many wonderful memories! When I was about 5 years old and my brother was 8 and a half, we woke up on Christmas morning to run down the hall to the living room to see what Santa had brought. My brother had received a remote control king kong….. at just the right moment, my Mom turned on the controls and he (king kong) started toward us as we came down the hall. Our eyes got huge as we held on to each other with Mom laughing hysterically! (She’s always been a cut up and still is at 81!)
Lisa, that’s so cute and what a great memory!
My favorite Christmas memory is when our oldest son proposed to his girlfriend on Christmas Eve. They were high school sweethearts that went to separate colleges but maintained their strong relationship through the bond of their commitment to God. During college, our son felt called to the ministry and his girlfriend supported him whole-heartedly. The original proposal plan was to climb a large hill behind our house and for Adam (our son) to ask Lauren (his girlfriend) to be his wife at the peak of the hill. There was so much snow that year on Christmas Eve that was not possible. So, instead he called our Pastor and arranged for the proposal to take place at the end of the Christmas Eve service. The sanctuary pews were filled, the lights were dimmed and everyone lite a candle and sang “Silent Night” together. After the song, our son was called up to the platform by the pastor and then proceeded to share about his love for Lauren and he called her up to join him. He got down on one knee and asked her to be his wife. She said “YES” and the entire congregation broke out in cheer. Fifteen years later, they have three beautiful children and are serving God together in the ministry. That will always be a very special Christmas memory for our family!
HI, Cathy, oh I just love that story. Love stories are the best!
Christmas Eve with the family!
My favorite is when the whole family get together and it’s always the Saturday after Christmas (it is still Christmas to us) we started that tradition so everyone would attend and that it would not conflict with beliefs our family is spread out (different states)and this is the one thing that my grandmother look forward to seeing all of her children and grand and great grand kids. We would eat and do our gift exchange, and play games and at the end we would pull names again and have a whole year to buy the gift for the next year.
my mother falling in a box and eveyone was laughing she was she couldnt get out it was a huge box like 6 feet i dont know what was in it but it was the funniest thing and we all actually made homemade ice cream after that yes it was cold outside and it was so good
My fondest memory was when I got to help play “Santa” for my younger sister, Nadine. My mom had broken her knee and was on crutches, she explained that there wasn’t money for Christmas presents since she hadn’t worked. I was 12 and had $20 of baby sitting money. She let me play hooky from school and my mom and I walked very slowly 2 miles to the Ben Franklin store in the snow where she and I giggled and laughed and picked out little presents for my sister to open on Christmas from Santa. She was 8 and still believed, she had to have presents from Santa! But I had the best present of spending the day with my mom, even though it was very cold and it took us more than half the day to get there and get home before my sister came home from school, it was the best Christmas I ever had as a child!
OH, Angela, what a precious story of you and your mom and sister’s Christmas together.
Loved coming down the steps and seeing my first shiny new bike under the tree…
Making ornaments for our tree…Our tree to this day only has ornaments made by my husband and I, my sister, mother, grandmother, family, friends, coworkers, and from my patients over the years….Each ornament has a story and I love this and so look forward to decorating every year!!!
Christmas at Grandmother and Pappy’s with all the family together.
James Avery is a wonderful quality company. I had to run put on my St Francis of Assisi charm bracelet before I could write this. So many memories! We always went to my country grandparents in the piney woods of central Louisiana and chopped down a pine tree to decorate and there were no liberties to be taken, always had the same decorations, new ones were allowed to a point. It never occurred to me a tree had a pretty side or a big hole, they were all stunningly gorgeous. Lots of family and food. Our city grandparents (Baton Rouge) had 6 grandchildren, country grandparents had 35!! Even though we were mostly Catholic, we made Baptist pallets of dozens of quilts to sleep on in the long hall of the country grandparents farm house. Kids everywhere. To this day, I cannot imagine where all the aunts, uncles and our parents slept. We filled up half the little church at Midnight Mass. Our city grandparents had beautiful 4 poster beds and we were treated like royalty any time we went there. I love all these stories, you and your readers are The Best.
Hi, Nancy, thank you so much for contributing your sweet stories too, I just love this. City and country grandparents, what a lot of love on both sides!
My favorite memory was going to my Grandparents house on Christmas Eve along with all of my cousins, aunts and uncles. We received small gifts and enjoyed many treats but the best part was just playing and being together. Some years Santa would stop by and I can still hear him stomping on the porch so all of us kids would know he had arrived. I didn’t realize how quickly those years would be over and we would all grow up. Most of all it still warms my heart when I take time to reflect.
I have far too many favorite Christmas memories to share at this one time but since we are talking about charm bracelets I will share this one. Long ago when I was a young girl, probably around 10 my grandmother we called MaMaw gave all of us granddaughters a silver charm bracelet. It had one charm on it, a Georgia state charm. Most of us lived in Georgia and I don’t remember if she gave the ones who lived in LA a different one. Anyway, I lost mine and my Mother was so upset because that was a very special gift Mamaw had given me. Mama was so afraid Mamaw would find out I had lost mine and went out and bought an identical one, charm and all for me. I still have it to this day.
Hey, Lynne, oh I love that! Hate you lost your original but glad you got a duplicate one to treasure.
When I was a child growing up,we lived in a small town and went to a small church. Every year on the Sunday night before Christmas ,our church would pass out fruit bags to all the children. I remember this being such a wonderful gift. There was always oranges and an apple ,raisins, orange slice candy,peppermint candy pieces and the story of Jesus’ birth. First there was the church musical and then the fruit bags. I couldn’t wait!
Yes, Teri, our church did those bags too and I was always so excited to get them.
Rhoda,
Memories are such gift !!Mom loved Christmas and always made it so special for us six kids! I remember we six kids would all sleep in one bed so everyone of us would get up together Christmas morning!! When we finally got mom and dad up to open presents (very early) we would rip thru all those presents with excitement, I;m sure mom was filled with joy watching us !! , then dad would say go get ready for church!
Memories are a blessing indeed! Mom is truly an angel !!
May you and yours have a joyful Christmas season.
Joys of Jesus
Paula
As My favorite Christmas memories are of midnight mass, where I always fell asleep and the sights, smells and sounds of Christmas morning.
Love the tree of life charm!
What a sweet memory you shared about the angel. I reminded me of my oldest son in his grade school Christmas program as an angel. The little golden tinsel halo he wore in that play has adorned our tree every year since. As you can imagine our tree is filled with memories. It will never fill the front cover of a magazine but always fills my heart.