We have been having such a beautiful and meaningful Christmas Season and have been in awe of the Lord's tremendous blessing in our family and lives. He is so good!

I hardly know where to start in telling about our Christmas, and I had a terrible time choosing which photos to post. But here are a few highlights.

Sunday, December 23rd, we left our home at 7:30 a.m. and drove down to Doug and MaryLynn's. Spending time with them close to Christmas has become a very special tradition for both of our families over the years.

Simona and Abigail are great friends.

We went to church together. Their church meets in one of the portable buildings on the campus of a Christian school. It's a long ways from the parking lot to the building and there was no protection from the rain except for a small section that had a covered walkway. Jim was quite chivalrous and gave his jacket to protect Mom Lynn from the elements.

At the dinner table, we had lively, enriching, and encouraging conversation as always. There was much laughter as well as many happy and some sad tears intermingled throughout the conversation that was held in the day and a half that we were together.

Blackberry is a very special kitty whom our family has come to adore. He had an unfortunate incident this summer (of which only he knows the precise details), in which he became a one-eyed bandit. He still purrs and cuddles in spite of his misfortune and one bonus for him has been that he has now become, without question, the King of the house and is waited on hand and foot (or would that be "paw and paw"?)

Mary Lynn and Mom Lynn gave me a beautiful necklace and a book that I will treasure throughout my life entitled, "The Loveliness of Christ" by Samuel Rutherford. Every page of it contains gems of wisdom and faith in Christ. It is beautiful.

You know who these two people are...

We enjoyed singing numerous Christmas carols together, praising the Lord for His wondrous gift!

Monday morning, the 24th, MaryLynn, Simona, and Sionna fixed a delicious and elegant brunch in honor of Natasha's birthday. They do this every year that we are able to be in their home on Christmas Eve.

One of our gracious hostesses, Simona.

The birthday girl with Isaac.

Home again that evening, we had Natasha's birthday dinner and then she opened her gifts. Grandpa and Grandma were able to be with us for that celebration.

And here's a picture of Pumpky on Christmas morning. He didn't get to open any presents, but he enjoyed a good nap under a blanket of bows.

After church Christmas morning, my brother Dan came up with Joel, Alison, Mandy, and Jeremiah. We thoroughly enjoyed our day with them and are so thankful that they were able to come!

Our six beautiful children were relegated to the "little kids" table. Don't ask me what Seth is doing in this picture.

Mandy, Jeremiah, Titus, and Jim played a good game of "Froggy Boogie".

I will post a "Part Two" later. Our Christmas here will continue on until the 30th when my side of the family meets up at my sister's.

Hope you all are having a lovely Christmas Season, rejoicing in the greatest gift of all...God's Son who procured our salvation!

Last night I decided I had better get to work wrapping some gifts. I went into our room and closed the door when I noticed that Tom was asleep on our bed. I hated to disturb him, but figured he would probably move after I started getting things out. But he is an old kitty (at least 16 years in people years) and I guess he was just too tired to move. He's been sleeping an awful lot lately.

I had to crop this picture a bit so that certain persons wouldn't get a sneak preview of their Christmas gifts!

It didn't matter how long I worked or how cluttered the bed became. Tom slept on and on and on...

Isn't he sweet? He's been a good kitty for all these years and deserves some long naps!

Several of you have been inquiring about the house, so I guess it is time for another update on our remodel! We continue to work on the house, although not as much now that the days are so short and the weather colder. There isn't near as much that the kids and I can do while Jim is at work each day. We really need him here to show us what to do. A lot of the work that has been done in the past month and a half is work that isn't visible at a glance, but is important to complete. For instance, Jim and Seth put an access from inside the house into the attic. He and the boys also did a lot of bracing in the roof, and we had a new gas furnace installed. Personally, I think it is beautiful, but am not including a picture since I wasn't sure that it would interest all of you. We have also been doing a lot of prep work for the new siding and windows. So...progress is happening!

Here are some pictures of the finished roof. This is the back corner of the garage.

View from the back yard. This spring we hope to cover all the paved areas with a porch with railings. This will give us a large area on which to have barbecues with friends and family.

View from the side yard. See our new bedroom window that Jim is putting the finishing touches on? That is the first window to be installed and a happy milestone to come to! Hopefully, by next spring, the area which our window overlooks will be a beautifully landscaped flowerbed complete with fountain.

Another view from the side yard. This one is of Jim's and my bedroom, the boys' room, and our dining room. Can you see all the freshly turned areas of soil? Isaac helped me plant over 200 bulbs in all of the flower beds the day after Thanksgiving. He shovelled, I placed the bulbs, and he covered them up. So really, he did most of the work. Although deciding where to plant them all was difficult! It will be so much fun to see them bloom beginning in early February all the way until next October!

View of the front of the house.

And a close up look at our new bedroom window. I think it is so pretty. Once all the windows and doors are installed, the kids and I will be able to put up the siding while Jim is at work. Then gutters, painting, and porches!

I took Cassie out to dinner the other night and came up with a question for all of you. What would you do if you hadn't parallel parked in 21 years and suddenly found yourself in a situation where you had to? Well, you might have a 3-second panic attack after which you would slowly back in to position (well, sort of) and then pull forward a little, and then back a little, and then forward a little, and then back a little and then discover that somehow your rear wheel was up on the curb and then look at your daughter and say, "There now, that ought to do it!" and get out of your vehicle and notice that there is a man across the street sitting on a park bench drinking a bottle of wine, blinking his eyes tight and shaking his head as if he is thinking, "She's had TOO much to drink!"

But then, I wouldn't know...

Yesterday we went up to my sister's for Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful time with her beautiful family!

Today we worked around the house all day. After dinner we decorated our tree since we wanted to do that while Cassie is home. We usually do it the day after Thanksgiving, but it's a bit earlier this year since Thanksgiving fell quite early in the month.

Here's our traditional "kids in front of the newly decorated Christmas tree" (plus Pumpky and Tom) picture.

Jim and I.

I'm at school with Cassie for a few days visiting until Tuesday, when we will both head on home for the Thanksgiving Holiday. I arrived last night (Friday) and we have been having a great time together catching up. We had brunch this morning (Saturday) and then went to clear up a parking ticket that Campus Security had left on my van. Thankfully, it was no problem. We went to the music building next. There are at least a dozen practice rooms with beautiful pianos in each one. Cassie practiced in one room and I in another. After an hour, I was tired, so went to listen to her. Wow! I was amazed at how much she has accomplished since I last heard her play in August! Right now she is getting ready for Juries (the first movement of Beethoven's 25th Sonata, Opus 79 for that) and she is also working on Bach's concerto in D minor that she will be playing with an ensemble in February. Breathtaking! Next we went shopping from 1:30 until 7:00, by which time we were both famished so enjoyed a great meal at Thai Country. Now we are back at the dorm settling in for a quiet evening and looking forward to the Lord's Day tomorrow. On Monday and Tuesday, I will be able to sit in on several of her classes, one in which ten other music majors will be playing their Jury pieces. And then...home!!!

We had a strong windstorm here all through the night Sunday and woke up Monday morning at 4:30 a.m. to no power. The wind continued throughout the day with 80 mph gusts and sustained 30 mph winds. Isaac had invited a few of his friends to come over last night since they had no school yesterday but upon waking to no power, wondered if we should cancel. We decided to keep with the original plan except for having a back-up plan for dinner in case the power didn't come on in time to make the Mexican lasagna that Isaac had requested. The kids started arriving at 4:30 p.m., we had to light a couple of dozen candles by 5:00 and shortly thereafter they began a candlelight game of Monopoly.

We had a hard time getting the flash on the camera adjusted just right, so just kept playing with it. It wasn't quite this dark with all the candles...

...but it wasn't quite this light either.

I like the way this picture turned out.

The candles in this one give it a little different effect.

Seth says they are all debating in this picture whether or not Alex is a cheater. We had to watch him very closely!

I left to buy pizzas at Little Caesar's at 6:00 p.m. Just as I paid for them, my cell phone rang with the news that the power was back on! We enjoyed pizza and pop for supper, read a chapter of 'Trial and Triumph' for family worship and then sang about six hymns followed by a good time of prayer. After that, we had apple pie fresh out of the oven (thank you Christiana and Shianne!) with ice cream and then played 'Snorta' (great game!) and 'Bang!' At about 10:30 p.m., we all realized what time it was and decided the party had better end. It was a great night!  

Friday night Jim and I had the opportunity to go bowling with a great group of young people. I'm not sure who had the most fun, us or them, but a good time was had by all. There were a total of 17 of us. Wish more of you could have come. Maybe next time...

Isaac and I had a camera war while Anna cooperated and smiled for me.

An enthusiastic group cheers for another strike!

There was lots of visiting going on all evening.

Sarah Ann had a good time.

More visiting going on...

And we were all impressed with Jim's unique form. Hey! It works!

There are so many hymns that I dearly love, but throughout my life I have come back to this particular hymn over and over again, pondering the richness of each phrase. It's a beautifully written prayer asking the Holy Spirit to sanctify every corner, every pulse, of our hearts. Its abundant richness has blessed, encouraged, challenged, and convicted me innumerable times. May you find it so as well!

Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart

Spirit of God, descend upon my heart;
wean it from earth, through all its pulses move;
stoop to my weakness, mighty as thou art,
and make me love thee as I ought to love.

I ask no dream, no prophet ecstasies,
no sudden rending of the veil of clay,
no angel visitant, no op'ning skies;
but take the dimness of my soul away.

Hast thou not bid us love thee, God and King?
All, all thine own, soul, heart, and strength and mind.
I see thy cross-there teach my heart to cling:
O let me seek thee, and O let me find.

Teach me to feel that thou art always nigh:
teach me the struggles of the soul to bear,
to check the rising doubt, the rebel sigh;
teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.

Teach me to love thee as thine angels love,
one holy passion filling all my frame;
the baptism of the heav'n descended Dove,
my heart an altar, and thy love the flame.

George Croly, 1854

Our family has been working on memorizing Romans 6,7, and 8 during some of our family worship times over the past eight months. Last night we had just begun working on the next verse to learn (Romans 8:32) when my cell phone rang. Usually if a phone rings during family worship time, we ignore it. But I looked at my phone and it said, "Cassie" so I answered. I told her we were just beginning family worship time and did she want to join us? She said, "Sure!". So I put the phone on "Speaker" and we continued on (after all the "Hi Cassies!" "We miss you Cassies!" and Titus grilling her on when exactly she would be home next and then when would she be home next after that, etc.) After working on the verse until we all knew it, we reviewed from verse one of chapter 8 and then Jim closed in prayer. It was an extra special time just having Cassie "with" us even though she was so far away. Modern technology can be pretty awesome!