Merry Christmas

One of my favorite verses from the scripture account, Luke 2:19:
"But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart."

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmastime 2010

When I was a young 'un, we got the World magazine for kids. I think National Geographic put it out. On the back cover were always pictures - close ups - of things that you then had to figure out what they were. That was my favorite part of the magazine. So try and figure some of these out - most are straight forward. But this is what is going on at my house during this Christmastime.

I made a conscious choice not to take a photo of our UPS/Fedex/Postal Carrier and me pulling my hair out. :)
And if I never step foot in my kitchen again, it will be just FINE with me.

Night in Bethlehem

For our church party this year, a Night in Bethlehem was held.
We were encouraged to dress up (which I forgot to do) but most others were.
Above are some of our favorite villagers.
The young women below are cute, too, but just older.
(Abby's in the middle in the pink sweatshirt.)

The place was decked out to look like stalls and even a palm tree.
We could eat on blankets if we wanted to.
Lots of delicious Middle Eastern food.

The (unbiased) highlight of the night for us was that Brad got to dress up as a
Roman soldier. Someone lent us their costume (fabulous) and sword (heavy and a bit scary).

**For a mean face, I told him to think about coming home from work and the house is a mess, there are tons of dishes in the sink, and kids are all fighting. It worked. **

He did a great job proclaiming that all needed to return to their city of birth to be taxed.
One little girl saw him walking by and said,
"Daddy, that's the guy who KILLED ALL OF THE BABIES!"
Someone knows their bible history better than our kiddos!

Of course, Brad said he would do it (I signed him up while he was attending another congregation) - somewhat begrudgingly - but you should have seen him work the crowd still costumed! Maybe I should get him one for Christmas!?

Super good job to all who helped organize/set up/clean up.

Kristin Lavransdatter

I just finished reading Kristin Lavransdatter, by Sigrid Undset**, last night. It is three books but many times they are published into one very large book (1100+ pages) which I couldn't take a bite out of but they were much more manageable (mentally?) as three separate books to me. If you are going to read the first, plan on reading all of them. They are set in Norway (which has been added to my "Must Travel to Someday" list) in the middle ages (1300s) and were translated from Norwegian. They tell the epic life story of Kristin - who is a strong, religious woman. I just loved her. I could see myself in some of her traits and decisions and was always cheering for her to come out on top. She did pretty well when she got out of her own way. It was fascinating to me to see the culture - the extreme emphasis on honor and everyone's lineage and the huge role the church had in their lives - from the spiritual to the very temporal. Ms. Undset won the Nobel Prize for literature for this series.

One tip: There are a ton of characters and they are hard to keep track of because their names aren't always referenced in the same way. Do yourself a favor and print out this and this and the list of characters from Wikipedia to reference while you read. Sometimes I got lost in the politics of the book but it didn't ruin it for me at all. So glad I read this.

This book is one that I think girls should read before they decide to get married. That, and Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner should be required reading before you can buy an engagement ring. (My girls are going to LOVE me for this!)

I love the covers of the three books. Viva le difference between "The Wreath" and "The Wife"! Apparently, a movie was made and I may have to check it out to see how they interpreted it all. Maybe... maybe not.

**Funny story: My mom told me that her book club read this many moons ago. She called a book store to see if they carried the book. The lady came back and said, "I'm sorry, ma'am but we don't carry a book called Secret Incest " --- WHAT!? Someone mis-heard not only the title but the author's name. And besides, isn't all incest secret??? Just saying.

Good to remember

One of my dear friends gave me permission to post this link to her blog which is a great reminder for me. I'm sure I have judged people in this situation and I will definitely stop and think (hopefully) next time.

Check it out here.

Holiday Stroll 2010

Last year, our town started a "Holiday Stroll" where the most store-laden section of main street is closed off. There are performers and bands and refreshments and all sorts of good stuff. This year, we participated in the hat parade which started off the festivities. Max and Samantha walked with their school group in the parade. They loved it! Max was especially thrilled with being able to walk down the middle of the street ON PURPOSE. The joy!

His classmate, Zachary, was there as an elf.

Samantha got to help hold the banner for her school.

Here is a shot of the parade going down main street. We got to follow the high school marching band.

We saw Santa at the hardware store, had some treats at the quilt shop, saw a couple of ice sculptures....

..and the kids got to pretend they were nutcrackers.

And then we bolted home and got warm. Brrrr!

I absolutely love the town we live in.