Christmas in the Country

Usually we stay home for Christmas and have a quiet celebration with "just the four of us." This year we decided that our family gift would be a trip to Arkansas to spend Christmas with my parents.

We left on the evening of Christmas Eve. As we traveled on Christmas Day we "enjoyed" scenery similar to this:

Most of the time the blowing snow wasn't a problem, but occasionally it limited visibility just like fog. We were happy to arrive safely at my parents' house on Saturday evening... and they were excited to have us come.

My sister and her family were also there part of the time. My parents were thrilled to have the house ringing with the bustle and activity of children again-- but no doubt they'll appreciate the peace and quiet once we've all gone home again.

We had our gift exchange and Christmas dinner on Sunday. It has been nice to get away and spend time with our extended family this holiday season. We'll start home again on New Year's Day and hope to be back to our normal schedule on Monday.

Hope you had a blessed Christmas! Happy New Year!

2010 Reading Challenges

I have decided to join a couple of reading challenges for 2010. Not that I need an excuse or motivation to read more. I don't have any problems in that department! But I thought it would be an interesting way to keep track of what I read. I plan to update this post once a month throughout the year.

The goal of the 100+ Reading Challenge is simply to read more than 100 books in 2010. So here's the start of my lovely blank list...

1. Raising a Modern-Day Princess
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

The other challenge that looks fun is What's in a Name? The idea of this one is to read books with titles which fit into 6 different categories. It can overlap with other challenges, so I thought it would be interesting to see if I end up with any titles that fit the categories.

The categories are:

1. Food:
2. Body of water:
3. Title (queen, president):
4. Plant:
5. Place name:
6. Music term:

Happy Reading!

Waiting for Christmas

Our tradition is for gifts to accumulate under the Christmas tree as they are wrapped throughout the month before Christmas. Our tree had been up for a couple of weeks this year before I put any under it that were for our kids. I told Lyle I kinda hated to because I knew it would start the begging. "Can we open just one now?" And it would be fun... to let them open just one! But the next day, it would be one more. And by the time Christmas came around there would be no gifts left, and what kind of let-down would that be? So... Mom had to be "mean" and say, "No. You have to wait till Christmas!"

Waiting's hard, isn't it? I think the hardest thing for me to wait for is answers. What will happen in the future? Will things work out the way I think they should? What if they don't? When I don't have all the answers right now, I tend to worry and fret about all the what-ifs. With the uncertain economy this year, the stress increases. I'm learning (gradually) that it's just a pointless waste of time and energy to worry about such things.

When the future arrives and the answer comes, it's kinda like Christmas. Sometimes things work out exactly how I wanted them to. Often they work out even better than I could have imagined. And occasionally it's not what was "on my list" at all, but it's what my Heavenly Father wanted me to have-- so I'm learning to be content... and trying not to worry!

Christmas Cookie Recipe Party

I'm joining in the Christmas Cookie Recipe Party hosted by Darlene @ Our Creative Life. It's been going on for several Fridays, so if you need ideas for yummy cookies for Christmas, be sure to check it out! Here's a favorite in our family:

Monster Cookies

6 eggs
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups white sugar
1/2 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 tablespoon corn syrup
4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 pound butter
3 cups peanut butter
8 cups oats
8 ounces chocolate chips
8 ounces M&Ms

Mix together. (No, this recipe does not have flour!) Bake at 350 degrees approximately 12 minutes.

Living Nativity Scene

Our family had the privilege of experiencing a "living nativity" this past Sunday evening. It was located at a church about an hour away from where we live. To be honest, I wasn't expecting it to be any big deal-- a few people dressed up to portray the Christmas Story out on the church lawn or something. One of our favorite "traditions" is to go for a drive to look at lights and listen to Christmas music and stories on the radio one evening during the Christmas season, so I thought it could just be an extension of that.

I had no idea how popular this particular program is! We thought it was a little odd that the directions said to go to a particular middle school to pick up our "pass" to get in to see the Nativity, but when we got to the school we realized why. The school parking lot was a maze of cars lined up two abreast waiting to make the short drive down the street and around the corner to the church. Ah-ha! This was how they kept the line from backing up on the highway. It was a much bigger production than I had imagined.

I would be interested to know how many cars were lined up. I would estimate several hundred, at least. It was a big parking lot and at one time while we waited it was completely full. The program was to run from 6:00 to 8:00. We got in line at 6:25. An hour later we got to the man (dressed as a Roman soldier) who was handing out glow rings to hang from our rearview mirror. That was our "pass". During the next half hour we were offered candy canes and served hot cocoa while we continued to wait in line. At 8:00 we were finally at the front of the line to drive over to the church.

When we got there, we realized that our wait was not over yet. The cars were backed up down a service road! Just before we got to the entrance we were given an audio CD to listen to as we made our way through six different scenes.

The whole thing was very well organized, and very moving. I thought it was worth the two-hour wait! (But I have to admit I'm glad we have XM satellite radio in the car! We enjoyed several Christmas OTR programs while we waited.) The unfortunate thing was that the battery died on my camera, so I ended up with not-so-great cell phone pics.

First, we passed the shepherds "abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them... and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God.." 

Every time the spotlight glory of the Lord shone on the "heavenly host" they would raise their arms. Then when the light moved back to the shepherds they put them back down. I overheard someone say that some of the angels got too cold earlier in the evening and had to be swapped out, which slowed the waiting line down some. It was a very cold night... about 20 degrees... so I did feel sorry for the angels and other participants.

Next we passed the bustling marketplace of Bethlehem, where the census was being taken and taxes collected. We were impressed by how elaborate this scene was. Becky especially liked the baby goat one child was leading around.

We got to the inn in Bethlehem just as Mary and Joseph were being turned away. This was the only place in the whole scenario where any of the characters overlapped.

The Holy Family in the bitterly cold stable moved me to tears. I know it probably wasn't actually that cold the night and place where Jesus was born... but just to be reminded again... the circumstances of His birth were no accident. The lowly stable was all part of His plan.

Nearby, in the shadows, a choir softly sang traditional Christmas carols. (The CD told us to roll our car window down to hear the singing.)

My picture of the wise men with their camels didn't turn out at all. The CD said that since it was some 2 years later when the wise men arrived in Bethlehem, they portrayed them on their journey, following the star. We wondered where they found live camels in eastern Washington in December!

The last scene was the cross. It was simply spotlighted with a lamb tied to the bottom of it, to remind us of the Lamb of God. Greater still than the humble circumstances of His birth was His willingness to die in such a brutal way... for us.

I think our family has discovered a new Christmas tradition...