Category Archives: Holidays

Book Review: Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter

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Over the last couple of years, I saw the book Come Thou Long Expected Jesus mentioned on several blogs. It was compiled by Nancy Guthrie and included excerpts from the writings and sermons of godly Christians through the ages. I read and enjoyed it very much last Christmastime, and then when I saw Nancy had put together a similar book for Easter, Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter I got it to read this Easter season.

The preface says:

Oh, what we miss out on when we rush past the cross of Christ.Oh, the richness and reward when stop to linger before it, when we take the time to “consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself” (Hebrews 12:3). In a culture where crosses have become commonplace as architecture and jewelry, how we need to truly gaze upon the cross of Christ in all its ugliness and beauty, in its death and in its healing, in the painful price paid there, and in its free gift of grace. Jesus, keep us near the cross.

And that is just what the book endeavors to help us do. Each of the twenty-five chapters is an excerpt from a book or sermon from various, mostly well-known Christians throughout the ages, from Augustine, Luther, Edwards, and Spurgeon all the way to John Piper, John MacArthur, J. I. Packer, and others. There were a handful of names I did not recognize, so please don’t count this as an endorsement of everything ever written or said by every author, but for the most part I agreed with everything in this book.

The chapters all deal with Christ’s death and resurrection, some in general, some on a particular aspect, such as C. J. Mahaney’s chapter on “The Cup,” exactly what was meant, what cup Christ was talking about when he said, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt’ (Matthew 26:39), or an exploration of some of the things Christ said from the cross, or J. I. Packer’s treatment of what was meant in Christ’s descent into hell and ascension into heaven. Just yesterday I found here a list of all the chapters and authors with a quote from each chapter, but today that link brings up a window about exceeded bandwidth: hopefully that will be rectified soon. Each chapter is 3-5 pages long, and it was very manageable to read one a day. I wouldn’t recommend reading more than that at a time: just soaking on one chapter and thinking over it through the day is rich meditation.

All the chapters did not resonate with me equally, but that may have been due to sleepiness or distraction on my part on given mornings. Probably my favorites were C. J. Mahaney’s on “The Cup,” C. H. Spurgeon’s “Then They Did Spit Upon His Face,” and Raymond Ortlund’s on “The Most Important Word in the Universe.” I shared several quotes from the last one yesterday, but two that impacted me were:

In human religions, it’s the worshipper who placates the offended deity with rituals and sacrifices and bribes. But in the gospel, it is God Himself who provides the offering.

And:

The God you have offended doesn’t demand your blood; he gives his own in Jesus Christ.

Overall the book did fulfill it’s purpose set out in the preface: it did cause me to slow down and meditate on what Christ did for me, to appreciate it anew, to revive my love for Him and thankfulness to Him. I plan to make this book a regular part of my Easter preparations in the coming years, but of course the topic is not confined to Easter: this book will help you contemplate the cross and what it means for you any day of the year.

Flashback Friday: Easter

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Mocha With Linda has begun a new weekly meme called Flashback Friday. She’ll post a question every Thursday, and then Friday we can link our answers up on her site.

The flashback question this week is:

What was Easter like when you were little? For example, did you receive a basket with toys and candy? Was the Easter Bunny part of your family’s celebration? Did your family integrate both secular and spiritual aspects of the day? Did you dye Easter eggs. . . .and did your family eat them afterwards? Did you usually get a new outfit? (Post a picture if you have one!) Does any Easter stand out particularly? You might also share how your Easter today is similar or different to your childhood?

We did receive Easter baskets with candy, but no toys. We did dye eggs (and eat them!) and talk about the Easter Bunny. Mine was not a church-going family — I usually went with my grandfather and aunt — but we did usually get new clothes, and I have a vague memory of learning somewhere that new clothes represented or symbolized new life. I don’t have any particular outstanding Easter memories from childhood.

When my kids were little, I was much more wary of the secular side of things, so we didn’t do the Easter bunny or dye eggs or any of that. I kind of regret that now. Several years ago I decided there was really nothing wrong with Easter baskets, so I started putting those together — just small ones with a little candy, and when they were younger, a few small toys. I didn’t see a need to turn it into another Christmas. I did get them new clothes when they were younger, but they went through a phase where they didn’t really care about getting new clothes, so I stopped doing that unless they needed them. No one here likes hard-cooked eggs, so it didn’t make any sense to dye any, but one year Jim got little plastic eggs and put different amounts of money in them and hid them, and now that has unintentionally become a tradition.

But the main emphasis is still on Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. Our church has a special Sunday morning service and a special cantata in the evening service.

I think this is the only Easter photo I have from when i was little: my brother and I in our new Easter clothes:

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Our most memorable Easter in recent years was when Jason was in a Living Gallery production. It wasn’t Easter week but rather the week before, I think.

Another thing that has become a tradition is making Resurrection Rolls, which is basically bread dough wrapped around a marshmallow: the marshmallow melts into the bread, leaving it with a sweet taste and a hollow place which looks sort of like the empty tomb.

Resurrection Rolls

The recipe for that and some other Easter treats are here.

Top o’ the mornin’ to you!

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stpat14

(Graphic courtesy of Anne’s Place)

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

We don’t really do anything special for the day, but these Shamrock Shakes look good, even though I don’t care for mint myself…and can’t have ice cream…but they’re cute! 🙂

I do like that it has become a celebration of all things Irish. I did a longer St. Patrick’s Day post with several related links last year, so I won’t repeat that, but I was reading a little in one of the links there and can say a hearty Amen to this from St. Patrick FAQ at IrishChristian.net.

Is Patrick A Saint?

That Patrick is a saint is no myth, although he has never been canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. When the Roman Catholic Church established the first list of Saints (the first official saint was Ulrich canonized in 993), Patrick was already on it.

But is that how one becomes a saint? According to the Bible, sainthood is not attained by what others think of us, but by who we own as our Saviour. At least six New Testament epistles are addressed directly “to the saints.” The authors were not writing to dead people, but to all those who believe this: “By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8).

Patrick did not become a saint because of his good deeds in Ireland, but because of what he came to believe while still a slave boy in that country. After his salvation, he was called by God to return to Ireland, “to dwell in the midst of barbarians … for the love of God.” He went, not to obtain salvation, but because he was already saved and wanted to share his faith out of love for his Saviour.

I was going to do Linda‘s Random Dozen, but I am a little late getting to the computer and have to go to the dentist in about an hour (NOT a fun way to celebrate anything!), then have an errand in another town. So…I might do it later or just skip it this week. I’ll be by to visit here and there as I am able today.

Meanwhile, I’ll leave you with my favorite Irish hymn, Be Thou My Vision:

A happy birthday, laudable links, and thoughts about Lent

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Today is Mittu’s birthday!

Hope you’re having a wonderful birthday! You are a sweet, lovely addition to our family — I can’t imagine our family without you!

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They went for a super-quick trip back to see Mittu’s mom and friends in OK for her birthday, and we’ll celebrate here when they get back.

This is one of those areas as a relatively new mother-in-law where I’m never quite sure what to do. Do we do the birthday traditions we always do? Or would they rather do something different? We’ve tried to always keep the lines of communications and options open, to offer but to let them know we won’t be offended if they want to make other plans.

We’re dog-sitting little Spresso, who doesn’t quite understand what’s going on. He finally stopped barking, but I haven’t seen him lie down or even sit down yet. We did take him back to their house to sleep at night — he’s used to being alone in their laundry room at night, so we felt he’d probably feel more at home there. As excitable as he is normally, I can only imagine how he’ll react when they get back! Our dog, Suzie, doesn’t quite know what to make of him.

I didn’t get a nap yesterday like I thought I would except for briefly dozing off in the computer chair, but I did fall asleep on the couch about 8:30 or so. I woke up and went to bed around 4 and then woke up again I think around 7 this morning. So I think I’m caught up again! I feel back-to-normal now.

On Saturday I often share interesting links I’ve seen through the week, and today just have a few:

Arguments Against Anxiety by Justin Taylor. I don’t know who Justin Taylor is and failed to note where I saw the link to this, but this is a great list.

A Whole New Perspective on the children’s song “Zacchaeus” by Mocha With Linda.

Bobbi at Blogging Along has some good thoughts in a Lenten Rant. I’ve never quite understood Lent, even though I was in the Lutheran church as a child and then again a few years as a teen, or felt compelled to observe it since there is no example or instruction about it in the Bible. Christ fasted for 40 days, but that was at the beginning of His public ministry and was nowhere near the time of His death or resurrection. I can see how it could be a deep spiritual exercise, but giving up something for 40 days just to say I did so for Lent doesn’t seem to be so. No offense to anyone who does observe it and gain from it spiritually.

I do, however, like the idea of reading through the narratives of Christ’s last week on earth, His death, and resurrection in the weeks leading up to Easter (or Resurrection Sunday, as some prefer to call it). BibleGateway has a daily plan for that here: you can click on different days in the calendar on the top left if you’re behind, and you can click on a drop-down menu for the Bible version you prefer.

I mentioned yesterday I ordered  Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter, various thoughts and essays from as far back as Jonathan Edwards, C. H. Spurgeon, and Martin Luther up to current day John Mac Arthur and others, covering different aspects of Christ’s death and resurrection, compiled by Nancy Guthrie. It just arrived yesterday, and I flipped through it a bit and am looking forward to delving into it. I’m in Genesis right now in my Bible reading and want to get to the end of that before taking a break for this book.

Last Saturday there were a few inches of snow on the ground: this Saturday it’s sunny and shirt-sleeve warm. I love it.

Happy Saturday!

Valentine’s links and favorites

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(Graphic courtesy of Until Then graphics.)

I admit it. I love Valentine’s Day. Maybe it’s because of all the pink and heart shapes. 🙂 No, not really. Well, I do love those…but I’ve mentioned before I love “special” days, days to do a little something different, days to have an excuse to show someone you care. Not that you need an excuse….doing so on “ordinary” days is special, too.

We’ve always celebrated Valentine’s Day as a family, not just as a couple (though I like the romantic part, too!). We don’t exchange gifts — there is no need for that, and it is sandwiched in between Christmas and a birthday, so we don’t need to be spending the money. It’s usually pretty simple: I make a nice dinner and heart-shaped cupcakes; my husband and I exchange cards; I get cards for the kids. Some years I do more.

I was inspired by Semicolon’s Love Links, Lists, and Quotes to post some of my own favorite quotes, poems, love songs, etc. So here goes:

Love poems:

To My Dear and Loving Husband by Anne Bradstreet.
How Do I Love Thee by Elizabeth Barret Browning.
The Blue Robe by Wendell Berry.
They Sit Together on the Porch by Wendell Berry.
The Blue Bowl by Blanche Bane Kuder.
O, Wert Thou In The Cauld Blast by Robert Burns.
St .Valentine’s Day by Edgar Guest.
Teamwork by Richard Armour:

A splendid team, my wife and I:
She washes dishes, and I dry.
I sometimes pass her back a dish
To give another cleansing swish.
She sometimes holds up to the light
A glass I haven’t dried just right.
But mostly there is no complaint,
Or it is courteous and faint,
For I would never care to see
The washing job consigned to me,
And though the things I dry still drip,
She keeps me for companionship.

From Odgen Nash:

To keep your marriage brimming,
With love in the loving cup,
Whenever you’re wrong, admit it.
Whenever you’re right, shut up.

Love Quotes:

  • From Jane Eyre: “To be together is for us to be at once as free as solitude, as gay as in company. We talk, I believe, all day long: to talk to each other is but a more animated and an audible thinking.”
  • “A happy marriage has in it all the pleasures of friendship, all the enjoyments of sense and reason, and, indeed, all the sweets of life.” –Joseph Addison.
  • “Marriage with a good woman is a harbour in the tempest of life; with a bad woman, it is a tempest in the harbour.” — J.P. Senn
  • From A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens: “”You anticipate what I would say, though you cannot know how earnestly I say it, how earnestly I feel it, without knowing my secret heart, and the hopes and fears and anxieties with which it has long been laden. Dear Doctor Manette, I love your daughter fondly, dearly, disinterestedly, devotedly. If ever there were love in the world, I love her. . . .”

Love songs:

“The Way You Look Tonight”
“Someone to Watch Over Me.”
“Unchained Melody”
“Star of the County Down”
“All I Ask of You”:

One of my favorite YouTube videos: scenes from different films set to “My Heart Will Go On” by the Irish Tenors. Love their harmony here!

Single on Valentine’s Day:

Singleness.
Valentine’s Day single?

Fun stuff:

Corny Valentine Jokes.
If you are a fan of the TV series Lost, you’d probably like these Lost-based Valentines.

Pearls of wisdom from Grandpa on having a long, happy marriage:

Whether a man winds up with the nest egg or a goose egg depends a lot on the kind of chick he marries.

Too many couples marry for better or for worse, but not for good.

When a man marries a woman, they become one. The trouble starts when they try to decide which one.

Trouble in marriage also often starts when a man gets so busy earning his salt that he forgets his sugar.

If a man has enough “horse sense” to treat his wife like a thoroughbred, she will never be an old nag.

Miscellaneous:

John 3:16 Valentine.
Valentine smoothies.
Your Divine Valentine.

Friday’s Fave Five

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Susanne at Living to Tell the Story hosts a “Friday Fave Five” in which we share our five favorite things from the past week. Click on the button to read more of the details, and you can visit Susanne to see the list of others’ favorites or to join in.

Here are my faves for the week:

1. Feeling better! I have still been foggy/draggy the last couple of days, but I’m a heap better than I was this time last week.

2. Ladies’ meeting at church Monday night. I seem to say that every month. But our guest speaker this month was a woman who works with the ladies and children at our local rescue mission. It was really neat to learn more about them, how they operate, what the Lord’s been doing there, and ways to help.

3. Valentine goodies. Mittu and I made the refreshments for the meeting, with a Valentine’s theme, and we had assorted heart-shaped cookies, brownies, and cupcakes left over. I usually make heart-shaped cupcakes for Valentine’s Day, but it’s been fun to have goodies all through the week.

4. Slushy orange juice. I am not a big fan of ginger ale, but we had some left over from the punch at the ladies’ meeting, and when that happens I like to partially freeze a cup of orange juice and then add a little ginger ale to it and stir it up til it’s slushy. It’s sooo good. But it made me cold afterward: I’ll have to try that again this summer.

5. Mini heart-shaped muffins for Jesse’s class. Sometimes I kind of miss doing all the fun things for parties for the kids’ classes (though, honestly, more often that not, I’m relieved not to have to any more). They have fewer parties and celebrations in high school, and that usually involves just sending soft drinks or money for pizza. But this morning I decided to whip up some mini-muffins from a mix to send to Jesse’s home room.

I have to admit…raspberries aren’t my favorites for muffins. But they were ok. I didn’t think to ask Jesse’s teacher ahead of time — hope it was ok to send them! If not, Jesse was going to pass them out at lunch.

Bonus:

This photo from the LEGO a day site.

They say we’re supposed to get a few inches of snow tonight. You just never know in our area, so we’ll see what happens. I wouldn’t mind if it passed us by, but I’m sure the kids would like some to play in since we just got ice last time. Speaking of ice — I was intrigued by how it froze around these pebbles just outside our door last time, so I thought I’d share them with you:

If we have to get some kind of frozen precipitation, I hope it is snow and not ice this time!

Happy Friday!

Spontaneity vs. scheduling

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This was originally posted two years ago almost to the day. I was working on post in which I was going to link to it, but as I read through it, I realized it said what I wanted to say already.
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933343_i_love_you.jpgI’ve always loved holidays and the opportunity to celebrate something special, to do something a little different from the ordinary. I look forward to them eagerly.

But over the last few years I’ve increasingly heard sentiments along the lines that, “I’d rather have spontaneous everyday expressions than a scheduled one dictated by greeting card companies with all the pressure and expectations.” I’ve probably heard it most in connection with Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day, but there seems to be a growing anti-holiday mentality in general.

Well, we do have to be careful about unrealistic expectations and pressures. Traditions can be wonderful elements in one’s life, but if they add pressure and we feel enslaved to them (“It just wouldn’t be Christmas without….”), then they’ve gone too far. If our schedules are over-flowing and we feel we have to add 50 things to it to celebrate a holiday, then we need to reevaluate. A commemoration of a holiday can be very simple: most years our Valentine’s Days have just involved a card by everyone’s plate at dinner and heart-shaped cupcakes for dessert, though some times we’ve done more.

And it is true stores commercialize just about every holiday. But commercialization in itself isn’t a reason not to celebrate.

I look at it this way: we’re supposed to be thankful every day, but Thanksgiving is a special opportunity to take the time to sit down and take stock of all that we have to be thankful for and to actually spend time giving thanks to the One who has blessed us. It doesn’t mean any less because we gave thanks according to a date on the calendar rather than spontaneously.

In the same way, I love my family every day and I hope I show it at least often enough that they don’t doubt it. But lives get busy and distractions multiply, so it’s nice to have an occasional time to focus on the other people in our lives and let them know how much we love them. It doesn’t mean any less because it’s a “scheduled” time to show love. If my husband gives me a nice card on Valentine’s Day, as he usually does, I’m not going to toss it aside and think, “He just did that because he felt he was ’supposed’ to.” I am going to enjoy it and appreciate it for what it is: an expression of his love. It’s the same with Mother’s Day: we should honor our parents every day, but there is nothing wrong with a special day set aside to sit down, take stock, remember how much we love them and appreciate them, and let them know that.

Holidays and celebrations can even be a reminder or add a bit of revival to the appreciation we should feel every day. I honestly don’t think about patriotism very much on an everyday basis, but patriotic holidays remind me that I am extremely glad to live in my country and I am extremely thankful for those who make it possible.

One quote in my files attributed to Samuel Johnson says, “The Church does not superstitiously observe days, merely as days, but as memorials of important facts. Christmas might be kept as well upon one day of the year as another; but there should be a stated day for commemorating the birth of our Saviour, because there is danger that what may be done on any day, will be neglected.”

“What may be done on any day” may be neglected because we don’t often think about it in the course of busy everyday responsibilities.

I’m not saying I think everyone should keep holidays. “He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it” (Romans 14:6a).

I’m just saying that a scheduled time for honoring someone or showing appreciation doesn’t negate the everyday expressions and doesn’t mean any less. It’s nice to have both the spontaneous and the scheduled.

(Photo courtesy of the stock.xchng)

More odds and ends…

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I like to change my blog header seasonally but this year I just did not want to put anything cold or snowy there, and I couldn’t find a fireplace photo I liked. This design was given to me free by Everyday Mommy years ago, and it just fits me perfectly! I like to put it in when I don’t have a seasonal photo there. She does great work.

There were a couple of photos from our fireworks New Year’s Eve that I wanted to share. I can’t remember whether this was something  Jim got Jeremy for Christmas or something one of them got “just because” or what, but it’s a clip-on thing for a cap that has little flashlights in it:

Without the flash he looks like a cyborg or something:

Sure, it might look a little geeky — but it is great when you need light but want to keep your hands free. 🙂

Last night we went to one of those places where you drive through and look at all the lights. These were the only pictures of the lights that didn’t come out too

blurry:

They had one area where the animals were roaming around freely, and this emu came over to say hi.

For a few minutes Jim had his hand shaped like a bird’s head and moved his fingers like a bird’s bill, talking to the emu, and the emu kept cocking his head looking at Jim’s hand, wondering, I guess, what this creature was and what language it was speaking. I was trying to get a picture of that but missed it. It was so funny.

But the funniest thing of the night occurred with this creature that looked part zebra and part donkey. It and another zebra were visiting the car in front of us (the place sold bags of food we could feed to the animals, but we didn’t get any this year). We watched for a while, but then it seemed it had been an inordinately long time. We were ready to move and were wondering why the car in front of us wasn’t moving. Then we became aware that the zebra/donkey had positioned himself in front of the car with it’s nose on the hood and was not moving:

I don’t know what it was doing — trying to warm it’s nose or what. And the other zebra was just looking on the whole time. As we were finally able to get past them, we were making up lines for it (“Hey, baby, come here often?” etc.)

The area had a place at the end with a petting zoo and a little shop and place to get hot chocolate, but it was way cold and seemed later than it was, and we just didn’t feel like stopping. Well, Jason did, but he acquiesced for the rest of us. It was a fun outing though I enjoy it more before Christmas, but there just didn’t seem to be a good time beforehand.

Christmas decorations come down today. I’m ready, but it does seem like it all went so fast!

I got the ladies’ booklet done yesterday and have to restock the missions closet today — one of our missionaries is in the area for just a few weeks, and I don’t know exactly when he might be at our church, but I want to be ready. We might have Grandma over for dinner and Scrabble tonight depending on how the rest of the day goes. It’s pretty slow going when she plays, but it is one of her favorite things to do.

Tomorrow will be a regular Sunday, then Monday, it’s back to the ol’ routine. I’m missing a lot of the specialness of the Christmas season already, but a part of me is looking forward to the start of a new year and gearing up to get some things done.

I don’t usually do “resolutions,” but the New Year does provide a good time to look back, reflect, and evaluate things and maybe set some goals. Things have been going pretty constantly for the past 2-3 weeks, and there hasn’t been a lot of time to think about it yet, but so far my mindset is just to continue on with what I’ve been doing. A lot of the goals I set last New Year’s are not done yet, to my shame, so I’ll just work on those.

Hope your New Year is going swimmingly so far!

Prayer for the New Year

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O Lord,
Length of days does not profit me
except the days are passed in Thy presence,
in Thy service, to Thy glory.
Give me a grace that precedes, follows, guides,
sustains, sanctifies, aids every hour,
that I may not be one moment apart from Thee,
but may rely on Thy Spirit
to supply every thought,
speak in every word,
direct every step,
prosper every work,
build up every mote of faith,
and give me a desire
to show forth Thy praise;
testify Thy love,
advance Thy kingdom.

I launch my bark on the unknown waters of this year,
with Thee, O Father as my harbour,
Thee, O Son, at my helm,
Thee O Holy Spirit, filling my sails.
Guide me to heaven with my loins girt,
my lamp burning,
my ear open to Thy calls,
my heart full of love,
my soul free.

Give me Thy grace to sanctify me,
Thy comforts to cheer,
Thy wisdom to teach,
Thy right hand to guide,
Thy counsel to instruct,
Thy law to judge,
Thy presence to stabilize.
May Thy fear by my awe,
Thy triumphs my joy.

From The Valley of Vision

Seen at Challies.

Odds and ends

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I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas week! Ours was very nice.

I thought I’d share with you just a few tidbits from the past week.

When we came back from our anniversary trip, Jeremy has already offered to make dinner that evening, and Jason and Mittu surprised us with balloons, a cake, some plastic goblets (I didn’t know they made such a thing), and “sparkling” grape juice. We had never really had an anniversary celebration at home before — having a girl in the family adds a new dimension! Not to fault the boys, though. They were used to us just going out to eat that day and only a couple of times over the years going somewhere overnight. But that was a nice surprise.

One of our silly little traditions on our anniversary is to put a card under each others’ pillow and then read them together before we go to bed. Somehow even though I bought family Christmas cards specifically before we left so the store selection wouldn’t be all picked over or all gone by the time we came back, I totally forgot about an anniversary card. I thought I might sneak out Monday morning before we left, but it ended up being so late before I was ready to go, I didn’t want to take the time, and there was no way to do it sneakily. So I thought maybe I’d find something in a little shop along the way. Nope. The places we went to didn’t have any and the places that might have had them weren’t open. So that evening in the hotel I was trying to decide what to do. I hated not having a card at all, though I knew Jim would understand. While he was on the phone with the kids I looked around and found the hotel stationery….so I wrote my little note for our 30th anniversary on that. 😳 At least having the image and name of the hotel on it made it somewhat commemorative. I was especially thankful then that I had posted my 30 things I love about my husband that morning!

Our church always has a Christmas Eve service, understanding that everyone can’t come because some have their family celebrations then. I had had to go to the store that day and then had multitudes of wrapping to do and was chafing just a little about going. But I always enjoy it once I get there. Our music director’s daughter and her husband were in town and they did a sacred concert for us: she plays the cello and he is working on a PhD in something to do with classical piano.  The cello is my all-time favorite instrument. It was lovely: a nice, peaceful time to stop and reflect.

The service itself was at 5 p.m. — kind of an odd time — I guess they were trying as much as possible not to interfere with anyone’s evening plans. But we ended up going out to eat afterward at Fatz Cafe. I wouldn’t mind making that a regular Christmas Eve tradition. 😀

Christmas Day was very nice with Jason, Mittu, and Grandma coming over. The Christmas story, presents, and what has become our traditional breakfast of Sister Shubert sausage wraps, cinnamon rolls, and sliced, cooked apples with cinnamon and sugar, then naps, puttering around with Christmas presents, dinner, naps, a couple of movies on TV, and time with family in between. A very restful day.

No after-Christmas shopping for me on Saturday! I went into one store looking for something I had seen advertised before Christmas in the hopes that they might still have it, but no such luck, and the crowdedness and lines reminded me why I don’t go shopping on that day.

Mittu and Jason had a little get-together Saturday night with us and a family from church they are close to whose daughters worked with them at Castlepoint. One daughter attends college in FL and one teaches in CA, and they were both in town, so it was a nice time of visiting. We played Pit, which was my first time playing. I had always thought, looking on, that it was a noisy, confusing game, but in the midst of it, it’s fun.

Today was a fairly normal Sunday. I have the ladies’ booklet to work on this week — I don’t know quite how that will work with everyone home, but I’ve been praying about it! We’re really looking forward to New Year’s Eve at Jason and Mittu’s. I grew up in a family that had fireworks regularly and I’ve chafed at our city’s restriction of them. But Jason and Mittu live outside the city limits! So we kind of invited ourselves over to do fireworks then. We’re not so much into the ones that just make noise: one of my all time favorite ones we had ages ago were little tanks that would send off little sparkles as they traveled a few inches. I wonder if they still make those…

It’s been understandably quiet around the blogosphere this week, which has been helpful as I am sure we were all otherwise occupied, but I’ve missed getting together with my blog friends. I imagine most people’s posting might be a little iffy this next week, too, but then we’ll get back to “normal.” I have a lot of plans for that first normal week!

Here are a few pictures from Jim’s camera during our anniversary trip. We don’t have many photos of just the two of us together, but he got some using Jeremy’s gorillapod and his time-delay setting on his camera.

In the hotel room:

In front of the hotel:

At a little tea shop where we stopped for lunch one day:

In front of the Heyward-Washington House waiting for the next tour:

Hope you have a good last week of 2009!