Christmas

On Christmas Eve Grandma Joan and Aunt Tiffany joined us for our traditional dinner: Chicken Curry with dried fruit and cashews. We finished our Advent reading and lit all the candles of our Advent wreath and listened to a John Piper poem - The Innkeeper.
We let the kids open one gift before they go to bed - it's typically new pajamas.

Ron and I stayed up late stuffing the stockings and listening to Christmas carols by the fire in our room.

On Christmas Day, the kids woke up early and opened their stockings while we drank hot coco or coffee in our jammies. Dad made our traditional Christmas breakfast: egg, ham and cheese croissants. After our breakfast we opened presents.

This year, we had the kids draw names with each other and we bought each kid one special thing.

Ashley got her guitar, Taylor an American Girl Doll (Samantha), Paige received art lessons and supplies, Courtney got camera accessories and Zach cologne and clothes.

After we cleaned up, we all pitched in to get ready for Christmas Dinner. The girls and I spent the entire afternoon making bread, pie, chocolate triffle, stuffing, potatoes, ham, salad, veggies... Grandma Joan and Tiffany came around one o'clock with Rib Roast, carrots, pecan tassies, shortbread and homemade fudge.

We invited a new friend from church who grew up Jewish and is recently converted to Christianity. We spent the afternoon talking, playing games, eating dinner, enjoying great desserts and playing more games. We even had a fun, web-cam conversation with our family in Brazil.

In the evening, we all gathered around the computer to listen to John Piper read the Advent Poem of Hosea and Gomer - and were deeply affected as we were reminded of the reality of God's unrelenting love toward us.

All in all, it was a good day - celebrating God's goodness with people we loved, connecting with family that live far away, welcoming a new "brother-in-the-faith" to our family... with lots of good food, fun and laughter. It was a great Christmas!

Advent Poems

We've been searching for new ways to celebrate the Christmas season and I found these on John Piper's website: Desiring God. He writes advent poems each year as a gift to his congregation. We are enjoying them as a family.

Click on the blue link below, and it will take you to the website where you can read them or listen to John Piper read them aloud (candles two, three and four- are recorded). Poetry is better listened to than read - so I highly recommend listening to these (or read them aloud). Also, you might want to listen to John Piper read one first, so you can figure out the meter and the rhythm of the poem.

Some of these are long --but it's worth taking the time to listen and savor them. Ron just preached a great sermon on Hosea and Gomer --that's why I included this poem - it encapsulates all that Ron said last Sunday.

Enjoy!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!



Candle One Foreknown and Predestined in the Son
Candle Two Called
Candle Three The Innkeeper
Candle Four Hosea and Gomer
Christ Candle

Wii (we) had a great day!!

We've been looking for several weeks to buy a Wii (a computer game that hooks up to the TV) for the kids for Christmas,but it's sold out everywhere. When we asked the clerks at all the stores when they expected a shipment, no one could tell us. Last week, as the girls and I were shopping, a clerk told us a shipment would come in on Sunday and we should come early to stand in line. We gave that job to Zach - and the three girls begged to go with him. We thought that it would be a great memory for them to make together - even if they weren't able to get the game.

So, at 6:00 this morning Zach set off with Paige, Taylor and Ashley on a quest to purchase a Wii. After visiting three different stores and standing in line--outside in the cold...(they were the 20th spot in a line of over 100 people)they emerged victorious with the prize - after only 2 hours of time invested.

We decided that the whole experience of making a memory with their big brother, going out to Starbucks, hanging out together and having an adventure was all a part of the Christmas present - rather than waiting until Christmas morning.

Later today, we had our Pastor's Family Christmas Dinner with the Bairds. We all went out to Macaroni Grill and had a lovely lunch. We then went over to the Bairds' house and took our Wii with us and we all played - golf, tennis, bowling, and boxing!! This game is a great way for kids, parents, and grandparents to interact with each other. We had a blast!

Making Tamales

Today, the girls and I spent the day making tamales with our friends, Jennifer and TJ Vigil. They have a Christmas tradition in their family, where they make dozens (and dozens!) of tamales to give away as gifts or to freeze for future use. Courtney, Paige, Taylor, Ashley and I made it our "Girl's Day Out" together. We had a great time learning new recipes, cultivating new cooking skills and practicing "building" the perfect tamale.

Although it was a lot of work, we had fun sharing a new experience together- chatting and laughing the entire day. Not only did we make some awesome tamales, we made friends and some memories that will last a long time.

Thank you, Jen and TJ!!

Care Group Leader's Christmas Party

Tonight we hosted a Christmas Party for our Care Group Leaders from our church.

Big Bear Lake

Since we had rain over the weekend, there was snow in the mountains. So, today, we took our annual Christmas Snow Day and headed up to Big Bear where the kids went sledding.
Here are a few pictures...

Jesse Tree

This year, we are adding a new family tradition: a Jesse Tree. For several years now, in December, we have read a book: One Wintry Night to the kids that puts Christmas in context of God's over-arching design in history. Now, we are adding another step: daily Advent readings that correspond with ornaments that we will make and hang on a smaller tree. The readings trace major themes in the Bible: of creation, the fall, the promise of redemption and the fulfillment of that promise through the birth of Christ.

Christmas Trees

We started our annual tradition: "Hunt for the Perfect Christmas Tree" this week. We visited a few lots but couldn't agree on which tree was the BEST. We'll continue the search later this week.Here are a few pictures...

Spa Night and Dream Dinners

I've had a busy week so far... on Tuesday, I hosted a "Spa Night" for the moms in our homeschooling academy. Instead of our regular, monthly Teacher Support Meeting, I transformed our meeting room into a Spa and treated the ladies to a night of pampering. We had fun decorating and creating a soothing ambiance with candles, flowers and soft lighting. We sectioned off the large room into stations - buffet and drinks, massages, manicures, pedicures and foot massages.

I hired two certified massage therapists, a cosmetic/skin care consultant (to do facials) and asked some friends to come and help with manicures and pedicures. I also asked a friend who is a gourmet caterer to do up the appetizers and desserts. She outdid herself and brought fantastic food! We had a great time! It was alot of fun.

Today I spent the afternoon with four friends at Dream Dinners where we made 13 meals (each) for our families. So, for the next month, I have in my freezer, 13 dinners all ready to put in the oven. It's been so nice to have these already planned and waiting for me in the freezer. So now, when we are crazy busy and I don't have time to cook, instead of eating fast food junk, we can come home and eat a gourmet dinner that's healthy!

Thanksgiving

A few photos from our annual Thanksgiving Hike...

Another Song of Gratefulness

A couple of weeks ago, my dad was diagnosed with colon cancer. He had a surgery on Thursday to remove a malignant tumor. The good news is that the cancer didn't spread to other organs. The surgery was successful and he is recovering nicely. We are waiting to hear whether or not he'll have to do chemotherapy treatments.

Medieval Times

We've spent the past several weeks studying the middle ages. Our curriculum stresses hands on activities, so besides reading and writing, we were busy making costumes, building castles, doing calligraphy and making illuminated letters.

Paige invited two of her friends over weekly for a sewing class - where I taught the girls to sew and Paige helped out with their projects. We made three medieval dresses. I only have a picture of Paige's for now...

Last Friday, our school group got together and put on a Medieval Feast where we celebrated the end of our Unit and had a small history fair - children displaying projects they had made throughout the quarter.

We dined on some authentic foods from the time period. One of our desserts was taken from a recipe from the year 1625! One student's mom had been in a choir in college and sang the wassail song as we drank our cider and also sang the "boar's head" song as we presented the meat. Some of the children dressed up and read reports about heraldry or falconry or medieval manners for children. One student dressed as a court jester and entertained the crowd with juggling and jokes.

California Wildfires

Although fires are burning all around us - in Malibu, Santa Clarita, Canyon Country, Arrowhead, Irvine, San Diego...we are not personally experiencing anything but a brown haze gathering on the horizon and an increasing smell of smoke. We have several friends in the San Diego area (that belong to the Sovereign Grace Church in Rancho Bernardo) who have been evacuated but no word yet on how their homes (or the church building) have fared. Families in our church are standing prepared to take in anyone needing housing - but so far, no one has needed it.

The closest fire to us is the Saugus fire - about 30-35 miles to the north. We're keeping a close eye on the news and watching the progression of all the fires- but it's doubtful that it will get close to us.

One good thing we've observed as we've watched the news and listened to interviews of people who've lost their homes - is that the reality of facing trials of this magnitude helps strip away the frivolous in our lives and leaves us with what's most important. Now, on the news, we see neighbors helping one another, families grateful for the health and safety of their loved ones, and communities banding together to help the displaced - instead of stories concerned with the latest celebrity gossip.

(Photo: This photo taken from space Monday afternoon shows smoke rising from the wildfires in Southern California. Photo courtesy of NASA).

Kansas City

Here are a few photos of Providence Community Church:

Click on the pictures to see a close up view.



Main Sanctuary


Foyer between Offices and Sanctuary



Matthew's Office


Small Chapel


Main Service


Reception Hall


Gymnasium



Matthew and his Secretary

A New Stage for Paige

This is a milestone season for us - Courtney recently got her braces off - and today, Paige got hers on.

Kansas City

We just returned from a long weekend with some dear friends from Kansas City - Matthew and Anna Hoffman. We went to celebrate their church's 5th Anniversary and the purchase of a new church facility. We had a great time touring their church, rejoicing in God's goodness and of course, spending time just talking and catching up with old friends.

Our favorite time was waking up to a wonderful midwest thunderstorm on Saturday morning. We all sat in the living room, all comfy in our sweats and slippers, watching the lightning and listening to the rolling thunder as we leisurely sipped our coffee and talked for hours. I can't think of a better way to spend a Saturday morning!

Matthew and Anna surprised us with a couple of nights at a special hotel called The Chateau Avalon. We had a couple of days to be alone and celebrate our 25th Anniversary. Here are a couple of pictures:









As we entered the bookcase lined den, we were a little puzzled as to where the bedroom was. As we stood wondering if we had missed something (like the door!), Ron noticed that one of the bookcases was pulled a little away from the wall. We pulled on the shelves and it was a secret door! We went through it and found a lovely room with a jacuzzi, rose petals on the bed and sparkling wine chilling in a silver bucket. What a great, romantic surprise! Thank you, Matthew and Anna!