Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Happy Boxing Day!!

Merry Christmas


You don't think about apples and snow together really, but here the
apples that don't get picked don't tend to drop to the ground all winter.






Christmas at our House this year

Well, I have not had a chance to blog for several days since we've had a house full of company since Saturday. Kevin's Mom and Dad came last week in preparation for Christmas, and then his sister and their 3 kids faced the snowy mountains and drove the 8 hour trek from Alberta. They survived with a 4 month old, a 2 1/2 year old and a 10 year old. Along with my brother- in-law and his wife, we had 4 full days together of lots of food, some games- not enough for my liking, I'm a bit of a game fanatic - and lots of laughter. Of course some crying and whining, a few near death experiences for Pepsi the little puppy who was trying to hold his own with Ditto, but ended up being a bit more of a chew toy. Towards the last day we had to separate them for fear of his life.


The backdrop for the "real Christmas story"......
the cast: Kevin filling in for uncooperative, 2 year old shepherds
Ditto the donkey, Pepsi the flocks of sheep


I think the highlight for me was Christmas Eve. Our tradition is to go to church and then come home and have the kids open 1 gift each and then the adults stay up late and fondue once the little ones are in bed. This year our daughter reached the arbitrary magical number of 12 and joined us at the adult table. I think it has something to do with little hands spilling boiling oil; this was the first year we had to decide on the age. It'll be 2 years before the next 2 join us. Then I will begin to feel like my Mothering Days are slowly ending. Our church service this year was packed and had the best music! I think it is the best Christmas Eve service in a long while! We sang Christmas carols by candle light and celebrated the birth of Jesus. The music was just so amazing this year, our church has been blessed with talented musicians!! We concluded with the congregation pretending we were all in a choir singing the Hallelujah chorus it sent shivers down.... or up... my spine. The only problem with all the house guests was that we often will all sleep under the Christmas tree as a family til Christmas morning (we usually sneak the kids to bed once they are asleep) and that didn't happen. I was glad for my cozy warm bed though and thought of all the people sleeping somewhere cold and alone tonight. If they have hope in their hearts, maybe they wouldn't feel so cold at least.

With the first of the kids waking up at 6:37, we managed to see the sunrise, an unusual sight for me, who is not an early morning person. I'm fine once I'm up, but just don't like getting up.


A little Christmas sledding in the orchards


Lovingly titled, Linda the Lioness by "Uncle Juice" (the photographer)


My sled got spun around backwards by the dogs

2 comments:

Randi~Dukes and Duchesses said...

You always have such storybook photos of your life. That looks awesome - the great sledding in the orchard, the beautiful outdoor photos (love the one with the apples), the play the kids put on (great backdrop) ... why can't we be neighbors?? I miss you.

Sandra said...

Brilliant story telling ~ both words and pictures! The photos are so lovely.

I love how consistently you write here...I always know there will be something new to see! Thanks for sharing your life. :0)