About six years ago our family began a new Christmas tradition. Every night during the holiday season we gather around advent candles. Then K reads a chapter of one of three books designed for this type of reading. All were written by Arnold Ytreeide. They are "Jotham's Journey", Bartholemew's Passage", and "Tabitha's Travels".
Each book is designed to read one chapter per day, and each chapter ends with a cliff hanger. In our family, there is the challenge to remember the title of the next days reading, and what happened in the story.
Listening to the retelling of the previous day's reading is interesting as everyone seems to remember different parts. The athlete tends to recall the action moments...ie a fall, the bad guy, or losing track of someone. The techie recalls the cliffhanger, and I remember the sentimental moments.
The stories are all set in bible times and involve the adventures of fictional children during the time of Jesus' birth. The stories weave together and the characters end up appearing in each of the books. Yet somehow there is just enough time between readings that we never remember what is happening. Each ends with the birth of the Savior.
After the story, the boys take turns blowing out the Advent candle. This is always a special moment and a treat for them. I'm sure it is because of the meaning of Christmas, and not because the blower gets a small chocolate treat.
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