Christmas Highlights

Our December was crazy busy. Real shocker, huh? I'm sure that none of you can relate. I am determined that next year, my December is going to be different. We'll see how that works out. But, I'm thinking that my family will have the chance at a fresh start at this whole Christmas thing. Moving to another continent, where it will be just our little family unit will certainly provide a clean slate, don't you think?
Don't get me wrong... I've always loved Christmas. It really is my favorite time of the year. But, I've been increasingly convicted over the last few years that our Christmas needs to be more about the baby in the manger and less about the baubles that our North American Christmas has become. We've made a few changes-some additions and subtractions over the last few years, but there are so many traditions related to our location and our relationships that I haven't really thought about, I've simply done them. I'm planning to put some real energy into re-thinking our "normal" before next year. I'm sure lots of the old favorites will stick, but there is definitely some revision to be made.
Okay, enough rambling. My objective in this post was to record a little bit about this year's festivities. Despite the chaos, it was a very fun and memorable Christmas season. We are thankful to have had this Christmas here in Canada, it provided some fun opportunities to be sure!
Our Christmas festivities kicked off with hosting a Christmas party for our team here. We had a fun night with lots of laughter and we were so glad that we got at least one opportunity to entertain, as that's usually one of our favorite parts of the season.

Here is one of Abe's favorite teachers from school, wearing the groovy hat that he unwrapped during the white elephant game. The hat has now made it's way to the preschool classroom at school!

The week before Christmas, we received a surprise package from some friends in NC. These girls were from a book club that Abby and I went to in the months before our move. Most of them didn't go to our church and they didn't really know our other children very well. Yet, each of the kids had cards in the box and there were a variety of little treats and toys too. Ryan and I both teared up when they opened it. It seems silly, but the burden we carry for our kids during this whole process can be pretty heavy. It's something that we pray through and discuss a lot. For some reason, receiving that package and seeing that the kids got so excited, not about the contents, but about the fact that these friends remembered them was humbling, overwhelming, and reassuring all at the same time. Lily kept reading and re-reading her card and saying how nice it was that they did that for us.

Ear to ear smile after reading her cards.

Lily, reading Abe his card.



We did a ton of baking this year, sharing with lots of folks. These are cookies that we made to take to some of our neighbors. Since we're in a "transition kitchen", there were several times that I would start projects and then remember that I didn't have my normal tools for the job. The night we decorated these cookies was no exception. However, necessity is the mother of invention and I learned several tricks that work great, including how to make my own colored sugar!

Here's a lovely painting that my husband made for me using a $4 canvas and Dollar Store paints (most of which were leftover from a Thanksgiving project.) It made a nice addition to the few decorations we had this year. Isn't he handy?

The highlight of our December was Grammy and Pa coming to visit. The fact that my dad doesn't exactly do airplanes combined with the fact that we had quite a bit of stuff we were hoping to get here from the States led them to drive cross-country to visit us. We were glad to see that blue van pull up with Mr. and Mrs. Clause inside!

Inside the van, they had two crazy big boxes of goodies from friends in KY. Nana and Pap's church had collected items to send us, and they ended up with a ton of treats. So, my parents ended up carrying them by van instead of mailing them. They stocked those 2 boxes full of our favorite American goodies and groceries along with a gift for each of us. It was a delight! In this picture, the kids have begun unpacking the box, while Nana and Pap watch on Skype.
We actually had one more day of class left after the grandparents arrived. Lily and Lizzy ended up being too sick to go (actually, we had sick kids for about 10 days- the whole holiday!) But, they were able to stay with my parents and I got to go to class and watch the kids do their little Christmas presentation. Abe's class sang several songs. In this photo, he has just finished singing, "The Reindeer Pokey." The older kids had memorized the Christmas story from Luke 2 and we got to listen as they recited that.

The kids decided a few weeks before Christmas that they were going to do a play for us on Christmas Eve. So, they spent their free time writing, typing, and rehearsing. Isaac played the part of Santa.
Lizzy played the part of the big sister who helped her little sister understand the "True Meaning of Christmas." Here she is reading it out of the Beginner's Bible.
Abby directed and played the part of the narrator. Here they are, taking a bow after it's all over.
Here are the milk and cookies they left out for Santa after their play had ended. This is something that Lizzy insists that we do every year, even though we do not, nor have we ever, pretended there was a Santa. We don't even have gifts that are labeled from Santa. Ryan always plays along and eats all or part of them, though all involved parties know it's a game.

Here's Isaac showing off his new jammies! My mom has always given me one gift on Christmas Eve, new pajamas. As our family has grown, she's maintained that tradition for all of us. This year, she made us all pajama pants with t-shirts. Isaac's were UK, of course!


Here's the tree, loaded down. I took this picture mainly because I know next year's paper and piles will be very different. This probably looks like a ridiculous amount of stuff, but when you divide it between 9 people, it's not as gluttonous as it looks!

This little red thing is our attempt to do something "Canadian." These Christmas crackers are very common here. You put them on the table with your Christmas dinner and after everyone has eaten, you cross arms, grab the end of your neighbor's cracker, and pull. There is a loud pop and a treat flies out. In addition to the treat there is a paper crown and some jokes to share around the table.
Lizzy and Lily, wearing their paper crowns.
Grammy and Isaac (don't they look a bit like Jughead, from the old Archie comics?)
Here's Pa, attempting to read the fine print on his joke.

I have lots more to share about the fun things we saw and did while Grammy and Pa were here, but that will have to wait for another day. At least I've broken my blogger's block, maybe I can get rolling again!