Our Christmas

We had a nice time visiting with family in Pennsylvania for a few days. One of the highlights for the boys was checking out the fox that Unca-D (my brother) shot on Saturday. I wish I had a picture to share, but suffice it to say, it was pretty cool!

Of course, there were lots of nice gifts. It would be hard to say which was the overall favorite, but I think the coonskin caps were riding high on the list this year. :-) See below for pictures.

Here is the newest addition to our "family!" Mr. Blue-Eyes received a hedgehog from Grandma! It isn't a stuffed animal. It's a real hedgehog, dead and preserved for the last 30+ years. It originated in Scotland. Of course, our animal-lover is fascinated.

Here are the kiddos with their Cuz in front of the tree at Grammie's house.
Both boys got Crockett-style coonskin caps for Christmas, boy, were they a hit!
Here's a nice one of the boys in Great-Grandpa's chair.

A Flop

Here is our lovely gingerbread house...
...and here it is after Mom tried to move it. :*(

Thankfully, Mr. Blue-Eyes thought it was really funny. And it meant we got to eat it a lot sooner than we planned. Yum!

A Sad Loss

Just last night we heard that the brother of Stephen's sister-in-law lost a baby. His wife was 33 weeks pregnant with their first child, a boy, and now the baby has died in the womb. How tragic a loss for this young couple! We are encouraged to know that they are believers and that they are trusting the Lord in all things, including this great trial. Pray for them, that they would know the closeness of God's Spirit and be comforted.

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What a reminder to us to be thankful for the blessed little ones God has given to us. Cherish each moment with them! Teach them well. Just yesterday I explained to my older son that disciplining them is not a choice - it's a command from God. Proverbs tells us that the rod and rebuke bring wisdom but a child left to himself will bring shame to his mother. I need to keep reminding myself not to neglect this daily training. As an elder in our church often says, "Pack it in now; God will unpack it later."

Oddly enough, as I'm typing this post, Mr. Blue-Eyes is in the kitchen playing with his Cars cars, and Mr. Tex is talking about God's Word, he tells me. Now I can hear him - he's in there making Mr. Tex teach the other cars. I'm catching snippets of "Children, obey your parents in the Lord...this is right...that it may go well with you..." And of course, Boo-Boo is by his side hearing every word. May it sink in deep!

Christmas Tea

If you know me much, you'll know that I love "tea". I don't necessarily mean that I love tea, the drink, so much as I love "taking" tea. I love the idea of tea and the loveliness of the ceremony of tea...even if it's a cup of tea in my mom's kitchen, just the two of us drinking out of old mugs. There's just something about sharing a cup of tea with a good friend.

I especially love Christmas teas. It became a tradition for the ladies of my home church - where I was raised - to have a Christmas tea each December. After I moved away, I made my attempt at having a Christmas Tea for the ladies of my new church in Arizona. It didn't stick....meaning that it's not a tradition now, but we did enjoy it more than once. And in our New Hampshire church, there was also a ladies tea in the fall. So I was excited to learn that our church here hosts a Ladies' Christmas Tea each year!

Yesterday I had the privilege of attending this tea and it was a special blessing. There were two sittings - morning and afternoon - and approximately 300 ladies in attendance! Wow! The dwarfs the numbers at all previous teas I've been to. Everything was beautifully decorated, and the piano and violin played lovely Christmas music. But the best part of the tea was the talk given by a member of our church, a woman who has struggled with cancer for the last year and has been a faithful example to us. She gave a clear gospel message as she related her testimony. What a blessing to hear how the Lord has worked in her life, drawing her out of her sinful state into a right and blessed relationship with Himself. I heard that the message was recorded...if they put it up on our church website, I will add the link here. You don't want to miss it!

And the conversation at our table after the message was so encouraging. I happened to be seated with a number of women who are not members of my church, so I didn't know any of them. But it was a joy to get to know them a little bit and to hear of how God is working in their lives to draw them closer to Himself and to be encouraged by their examples to trust Him in all things.

Tea is always enjoyable for me, but tea...at Christmas...with the good news being spread...is even better!