Unto Us a Child is Born

My dear friend took a selfie of herself with her newborn grandchild a few days ago. Age-old emotions of love and adoration are written on her face. Surely our faces would be like that if we looked at the baby the shepherds saw – Emmanuel, meaning God with us. In this stressful year, God is still with us, surrounding us with everlasting love and grace.

May the love of the Christ child fill your heart with peace and joy.

Merry Christmas!!

My Birthday

While John and I were walking to the creek, son John $pencer cooked my birthday breakfast. It was marvelous to come back in the house and smell it cooking.

He made sandwiches with croissants, a choice of bacon or sausage, cheese, and scrambled eggs with dill. He added a hash brown patty on the side. Oh, my! What a treat! It was even more special to me, because only the croissant was allowed on his diet.

John snapped a photo of me with $ and grandson David.

The photo day started well, but I forgot to get a snap of John and me at the Sweet Onion restaurant having lunch. That was another culinary treat. We gathered at the home table again at 10:30, after John and David came back from a long taping session for the Christmas services. That explains John’s suit and tie. Doesn’t the cake look large? It wasn’t. It was about four inches across, but it was our choice to have a small dessert in this season of abundant sugar. We ate half of it and will finish it tonight.

What doesn’t show here are all the electronic greetings, cards, and phone calls, which I loved. How blessed I am to get so much attention three days before Christmas! I always expect nothing and am blown away by thoughtful well-wishers. Thank you all very much.

Logan’s Church Program

Neighbor Logan and his parents were involved in the service of lessons and carols at their church. Below, nearest the camera, was Shawn singing in the choir. We were watching it on John’s monitor.

I should have taken a photo showing the sanctuary, beautifully decorated by Shawn. The church uses her artistic skills throughout the year. The music was wonderful – well-chosen pieces sung with precision. The choir and accompanists did a great job, despite all being masked. I can’t imagine singing while wearing a face covering.

Bob’s role was off-camera, recording Logan’s reading the second lesson on our lawn. Below is an old-fashioned screen shot taken with my camera. Logan was the only child in the program, and he read with clarity and expression. We were proud of him. The service was a lovely worship experience.

Logan and Lily Spread Christmas Joy

Neighbor Logan (10) and his niece Lily (8) bopped over to visit for a little while. It’s always fun to see them and listen to them chatter. We got a kick out of the footage from the outdoor cam, showing them running over here at top speed.

When conversation lagged, they said they should go because they were going to bake Christmas cookies. Again the only speed was fast. If you can see it clearly, the clip shows that Logan beat Lily up the steps.

Logan wins

I was taking a nap when they came back, but John was there to receive their Christmas card and a lovely tin of fudge and festive cookies. What a treat! I read the card and lingered over the signatures, because each had signed his own name.

The children may have made a special trip to bring a nativity scene Logan made for us. John found a special spot to hang it on our tree.

I always make my bed, but I was glad it was still neat that day. Lily saw it from John’s office and said, “I like your bed.” Yes! Funny how four little words can make one glow.

Three Hoods

I’m not writing about hoodlums or neighborhoods, but clothing hoods As I layered up for our morning walk to the creek, I realized the three items I was wearing each had a hood attached. Many windbreakers have hoods, as do sweatshirts. Mine did, but so did my Christmas top. I should have asked John if I looked like a hunchback, wearing all those hoods.

We saw this scene as we went down the steep hill. Along with a blue sky, we saw clouds that were probably releasing snow on the mountaintop.

Logan Reads by Light of the Star

Neighbor Logan (10) practiced reading a lesson to be taped and incorporated in a service at his church. He chose our nativity scene as the set for his reading, and the star provided enough light for him to see the words. He did a fantastic job. We hope to see the service with this video in it.

After the third take, we looked at it on the tablet. Normally we think of the director sitting in a chair, but Bob was the camera man. Shawn, the director, was standing behind him. When everyone approved the final version, our quiet lawn returned to normal.

Jumping into Christmas

John brought out Christmas mugs, dishes, and ornaments while daughter Lise was still here. The day after she left, he put up the tree and decorated it. We have never had such a lightning-quick transformation, and I doubt the record will ever be broken. This activity did not violate the unwritten rule of waiting until after Thanksgiving to begin Christmas.

It is unproven, but I suspect he wanted everything in place before December guests arrived. Church friends Susan and Martha came for lunch. Being in the “risk” category for COVID-19, we didn’t come near each other, and they wore masks except while eating. Time will tell if we were careful enough. It was delightful to have unhurried conversation instead of brief greetings and distant waves.

We have been extremely blessed to be able to see family and neighbors during lock-down. Just for laughs, here is a photo of irrepressible Logan using chocolate or nuts to enhance his appearance.

Thanksgiving Wrap-up

My request for a photo almost made grandson David late for work, but he was willing to pose with the finished family puzzle. Some of the crew stayed up quite late finishing it. I liked niece Chrissie’s stance, leaning on grandson Nathaniel. I’m pretty sure Nate was on his knees.

Chrissie took this photo the day before of Lise, David, and me.

Friend Linda chose photos from our family reunion to have the puzzle made. This is one we will work again and again.

The suitcases were packed and ready to go when Nathaniel did the mirror ritual. John, Chrissie, Lise, and son John $pencer were there for the final photo.

Daughter Lise had been with us two weeks before flying back to Denmark. After she went through security, we had a few more minutes with Chrissie in the airport before she boarded her plane to Massachusetts, and then we drove Nathaniel to Charlotte. I don’t know how far John and I drove, but Lise was over the ocean and Chrissie almost home when we returned to our house. This had been a most satisfying visit.

One FULL Day

Niece Chrissie was here only one full day, and it was certainly full. Four of us walked to the creek. John and I let the young beauties pose with Jonathan Creek.

Daughter Lise saw the bag of horse cookies on the counter. We went out for a photo shoot with DW and Vixen, our horse neighbors. Having the horses back, after being gone for several months, was a delight for neighbor Joyce and us. In fact, we saw Joyce earlier, petting them when we set out for the creek.

Lise requested Christmas dinner for her last night here, only we would have the standard Danish dessert instead of English Christmas Pudding. For the foodies: we had Chicken and Stuffing casserole, carrots, frozen cranberry salad, cranberry sauce, and lime Jell-O salad.

Grandson Nathaniel pretended to be in a food coma before he headed for bed. Son John $’s ghostly presence can be imagined behind the candles. David had his share of the meal when he came home from work.

Lise posed with the dessert she had me prepare. I forgot to get her to write the name in Danish. It was basically a rice pudding of cold rice, whipped cream (substituted frozen whipped topping), sugar and almond flavoring. I left out the slivered almonds for the one who doesn’t like them. Cherry sauce was passed around to go on top for flavor and a pop of color.

Lise explained that this dessert is always served on Christmas Eve, the day Danes celebrate the holiday. One whole almond is stirred in, and the one who gets it is given a prize. It seems there is always a huge amount of pudding for people who are much too full to eat it. Everyone is required to take a serving, and if no one finds the almond, the dish is passed around until the almond is found. Lise had stories about people who found the almond early on and hid it until all the dessert was eaten. They were shameless!! Thankfully, Lise took pity on us and admitted that she got our almond on the second round.

The prize was a marzipan pig Lise brought from Denmark. We cut it up and ate it so quickly that we didn’t hear it squeal.

Last Fling

The last four days of daughter Lise’s visit were full of activities. We picked up grandson Nathaniel from college and ate dinner on the way home.

It was after midnight when we did the mirror ritual.

Lise, John, Nathaniel, and David watch the mirror go up.

The next afternoon Lise went in the airport to meet niece Chrissie while John and I made a loop around the area. They took a selfie with Santa in the terminal.

The younger generations took a walk, which was a good antidote for lots of sitting the previous hours. This is Chrissie’s selfie at the creek.

Chrissie took a photo of Lise that I would call “Cavorting at the Creek”.

In the evening we began to work a jigsaw puzzle. This was a special family puzzle that dear friend Linda ordered for us. She used photos we took at our family reunion last summer and had a puzzle made from them. There is nothing like putting your own face together if you can find the pieces!

Of course, conversation never flagged.

To be continued.