Christmas 2023

With all of our kids home, plus one extra friend, our house was full of joy and laughter and Christmas celebration.

We played many games.

We took daily walks.

Aaron even found mistletoe on one of the walking trails.

So he picked a sprig, and we tried it out before we took it home to hang over the doorway.

Group photos made our personalities shine.

But we did get a nice shot of everyone together after church on Christmas morning.

Then the festivities really began as we opened our home to extended family.

We're so grateful to live nearby so many of our family members

and to have the opportunity to spend time with them.

We went Christmas caroling,

played more games,

reveled in the hugs,

ate delicious food like gingerbread waffles,

and tried to soak up every possible minute

with these amazing humans God has given us.

Happy Birthday, Benjamin! (aka gingerbread house building day)

Birthdays and holidays don't always get celebrated on the correct day. During our years in the Solomon Islands, we learned that sometimes the church "transferred" a holiday, so we became adept at transferring special days.

As our family grows and spreads out, our times together grow more infrequent and more special. We celebrated Benjamin's birthday after everyone had finally gathered at our home. He didn't really want a big fuss and didn't even have a request for his birthday cake. So, we made a blackberry cobbler from the summer's blackberries in the freezer.

Not only is our time together infrequent, but it is also short. We jumped right in with creating this year's gingerbread house masterpiece.

Over the years, we've tackled various themes...like a traditional nativity scene, King Herod's Palace, Moses and Egyptian pyramids, and the fiery furnace that housed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Other years, we just get a little bit goofy, and we don't try to follow a theme.

Christmas 2023, everyone worked together to build the Tower of Babel.

Appropriate because 1) Aaron is a Bible translator and

2) We all worked together toward one big project.

The tower, intentionally unfinished, was a delicious, architectural masterpiece!

Yum.

Advent 2023

"Our wreaths and ribbons and colored lights,

our giving of gifts, our parties with friends -- 

these have never been ends in themselves.

They are but small ways in which we repeat 

that sounding joy first proclaimed by angels 

in the skies near Bethlehem."

~Douglas McKelvey, "Every Moment Holy"

 

We wanted a unique way to say thank you to the CARTI staff for the many compassionate ways they serve their patients. So, we asked for permission to play Christmas carols in the lobby just after one of my radiation treatments. In a place usually filled with a mixture of fear, exhaustion, and sadness, we made music that proclaimed joy and hope.

One of my cello students (who makes me smile every single week!) also wanted to make joyful Christmas music, so he and his friend met me at a retirement home where they often play, and we performed Christmas music for the residents.

Some of our Advent traditions are more fun when shared.

Like fondue.

We joined some friends to sing Christmas carols and ring the Salvation Army bell outside a department store.

We continued the beloved tradition of new Christmas pajamas, reminding ourselves to be clothed with compassion and patience and kindness.

Looking back at pictures of this tradition also reminds me of how much Katherine has grown!

St. Nicholas Day always reminds us to be generous and share with those around us.

Making purse cookies is another Advent tradition that reminds me of how much our family has grown and changed during the years that we've been incorporating the practice of Advent into our family culture.

December 2023

 So many good things happened in December!

My gym buddies continue to encourage me. One morning, I was fruitlessly searching for the jump rope that should live with the other equipment. Amy noticed my lack and mentioned she had begun to bring her own jump rope. She finished her workout, said goodbye, and I continued to sweat through my assignment. A few minutes later, Amy returned with a brand new jump rope. For me. It now lives in my backpack.

Our family made our annual trip up to JBU for Christmas Candlelight, one of our favorite traditions.

We delight in the beautiful music and the way this worshipful concert kicks off our Advent season, 

but we especially enjoy the people we get to see,

and the laughter that fills the air when we are together.

December also included breakfasts with our now familiar friend, "The Art of Advent",

weekly coffee and calendar dates while Katherine rehearsed with the AYSO,

traipsing around parks and trails while enjoying the crunching of leaves

and golden hour that arrived a little earlier each week.

Advent was smaller and quieter,

with only three of us participating this year. I missed sharing the connecting traditions across the country,

but as our family continues to grow and change, so our traditions also morph to meet our needs.