Christmas Day and the Journey Home

First of all before I tell about our Christmas Day, I would like to say Happy Birthday to Aunt Michaela! Okay, here we go.


Mom's little dog Beatrix was beat after everyone left Sunday night. You can see a bit of trauma yet in her eyes as Mom held her on Christmas.


She later perched at her spot near the fireplace.



Christmas Day was a day to enjoy peace and fellowship. At noon, we had a Christmas Dinner of smoked turkey and ham, and Red Velvet Cake to celebrate Edward's birthday.




Grandma gathered the children for "Grandma Thank You Letter Writing School" as she does every year. Some of the younger kids found the address part to be a challenge since it was not an e-mail.


Soon, it was time to head back to Michigan. Back to reality.

Melodrama

One thing that is kind of fun at Mom & Dad's house is the blood pressure machine that they have. I can probably say it's fun since I have normal blood pressure, but my sister Marianna has high blood pressure. In the above picture, her daughter is taking care of her and they were having a good time of it.

Christmas Eve

We woke up Sunday morning in Celeryville and I must say that I enjoyed looking at Mom's Christmas decorations while I drank my coffee.



At 9:30am we went to the church where I was baptized 44 years ago and where John & I were married over 18 years ago.



After the Christmas Eve Cantata at 6pm, my 3 sisters & their families came over to Mom & Dad's to celebrate.



It was Nephew Sam's turn to read Luke 2.




The cousins all had fun together - Trey, Tiffany, Edward, Maria, Sam, Hunter, Bridget, Allie & Paige.

Going Home for Christmas, the 23rd

We strapped up Leo the red-nosed kitty, but he just got mad.



The trip usually takes us 4 hours, but we did it in 3:45 since we were so excited to get there.



Yes, there is such a place.



If you know anything about northern Ohio, you know that it can be very flat and gray and brown in the winter. Despite the monotone driving, I came down with a slight bit of car sickness from trying to read in the car. This was soon cured when I was greeted at my Mom & Dad's house by some color. And a bowl of vegetable soup.



Mom was already getting ready in the kitchen for Christmas eve. Here she is posing with Edward's Red Velvet birthday cake.



We went over to Andrea's for pizza Saturday evening and everyone was there. I only took a picture of Andrea in her kitchen. It was so clean you could have eaten off the floor. I always notice that about Andrea, probably because she was in the military.



More later...

Seventeen

We celebrated Edward's birthday today with Opa & Grandma, and Tom & Paula & family. Our Christmas celebration with the whole family was on Christmas eve, but I'll blog about that perhaps tomorrow and maybe longer. It's hard to believe we have a seventeen year old, but then sometimes I feel about 80.

A King is Born

We can celebrate life because Jesus was born!

Friday Night

We spent last evening with John's side of the family to celebrate Christmas/Edward's birthday. We had a fun time complete with birthday candles in peppermint stick ice cream and Christmas carols and Luke 2 and presents.



The cousins always have fun together. I should have taken more pictures.

Trying Hard to Remember

Yesterday was one of those days. At supper, we all recounted the things we had forgotten that day. Bridget forgot her lunch and her toga and clothespins for Greco Roman week. She borrowed a toga from a teacher and I brought her lunch. I went to Bridget's program at school and completely missed seeing her in the 2 events she was in even though I was sitting in the stands trying to watch her. I forgot my camera because when I was getting ready to leave for work, I couldn't find my keys. The kids all thought this was pretty funny.

Maria & I went to the store to get toilet paper, and as we were checking out, we remembered that we forgot to get it. On the way out to the car, we realized that we also forgot her orthodontist appointment which was to start a half hour ago. When I called the office, they graciously allowed me to blame it on this time of the year. Edward used somebody's phone and called at 5 pm because he locked himself and his phone and his car keys in church downtown where he was cleaning. This involved an hour long ordeal of getting him during rush hour and picking up John on the way because he had the spare key for Ed's car.

John seems to be the only one who had his head together yesterday, but at supper, he graciously recounted a funny story of how he locked himself out of his car at a gas station and the next week, he did the same exact thing. When he went in for help, they graciously gave him the same straightened clothes hanger he had used the week before to unlock his car.

So all this is to say is we are trying hard to remember the true meaning of Christmas and how grace and forgiveness get us through each day.

Still Swinging

Mom & Dad returned from their 45th anniversary celebration and I'm happy to report that they survived parasailing.

Here is the happy couple up close:



We will see them Saturday when we trek down to Celeryville for Christmas!

Old Favorite

Eight Years Ago

This picture will probably always be on our mantle.

Due Date

December 19 always, always brings to mind the date on which Edward was due to be born 17 years ago. John & I were so excited for him to be born, and then he was 6 days late! I'll never forget when an old lady from church came up to me a week before he was born and told me I was cheating my baby having him be born so close to Christmas as if I had anything to do with it.

So John & I waited and waited and spent a quiet Christmas eve at home alone. We went to the hospital, Joseph and Mary-like, and Edward was born at 12:36 am. The nurses cheered and put a Santa hat on the first Christmas baby of the year. At the parent's luncheon at the hospital, ours was the only baby of 18 babies who was not named Christopher (after Christ or Kris Kringle, I suppose) or Holly or Nicholas.

And now for the 17th year in a row, Edward gets to celebrate his birthday as we celebrate the birth of the Baby Jesus, and he is very blessed in that it is an exciting time of year with family all around and double the presents and the promise that no one will ever forget his birthday.

Christmas Concert