Lully, Lulla...

In case there was ever any doubt that my family is cool, I offer this picture of my siblings as evidence of said coolness. That's Adelle on the

oboe, Erik on the cello, and Krista on the violin, engaging in the spontaneous playing of Christmas carols.

It was quite a musical Christmas--multiple occasions of caroling, the playing of a game with friends that required the singing of songs containing a given word ('Mary' and 'lamb' were very successful words, given our sacred music background), and of course, singing at our family New Year's Eve liturgical service that Adelle put together last year and is fast becoming a tradition.

Another conclusion from this Christmas: the Coventry Carol and All My Heart this Night Rejoices are amazing carols! That's not to say that they are my exclusive favorites, but they would fall into the category of favorite carols that my family sings. If we're talking about carols that the Choir of Kings College, Cambridge sings, well, that's another story. I don't even know that favorites are possible in that case. However, on the occasion of decorating Knox's Christmas tree and finding that almost the only ornaments available were apples (???) , my choir-loving friend and I discovered that there multiple Christmas carols involving apples: Adam Lay Ybounden and Jesus Christ the Apple Tree. Both have been sung by the King's College folks and rank high on my list of favorite carols. Check out these last two links to see some adorable and hilarious choir boys!