Last week my nephews Seth and Asa (from the Missouri Shillig clan) arrived for a visit. They got here around midnight on Wednesday after driving straight through from St. Louis. We’re glad they’re here. Seth just got home from his mission in Detroit three weeks ago. While they are here, the two of them and Daniel are helping their Uncle Kurt redo a bathroom. When they’re not working, they are playing games. Having them here has made our house a little jollier.
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| The boys playing games. |
On Wednesday Hannah’s choral group at college had their Christmas concert. It was a nice affair. Alfred State doesn’t have a music program, so these students participate out of their love of music. Hannah’s band group had their concert on Friday. Daniel, Josiah, Seth, and Asa went up at 4:30 to have dinner with Hannah and then go to the concert. Stacey and I were supposed to go up as soon as she got home from work, but by then (just ten minutes after the boys left) we had freezing rain falling and the roads were bad. So we chickened out and didn’t go. The others went up in Seth’s Jeep and it has 4-wheel drive, so they were okay. After the concert they brought Hannah home with them for the weekend.
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| Hannah's Christmas Concert (she on the front far right). |
Saturday morning Daniel, Josiah, and I had appointments to get our hair cut, but when we pulled out of the driveway – in Seth’s Jeep – the car slid sideways across the road. With some effort we pulled right back into the driveway. We stayed home the rest of the day. I can drive in snow, but when there’s ice, I stay home.
We’ve had several good snowfalls before now. We had a white Thanksgiving. But right now the grounds is bare. I always fret when there’s no snow for Christmas. In all the year, it’s the time I want snow most (maybe the only time). But we’ve had several years in the time we’ve lived here when there was no snow on December 25th. The need for a white Christmas is something I blame Irving Berlin for. All my life I’ve dreamed of a white Christmas because Irving and Bing made it seem necessary for a perfect Christmas. All during my 20 year sojourn in Southern California, I longed for it. Now here, on the 7th of December, I’m already fretting over our lack of snow.
Today after church we took Josiah to his Eagle Scout Board of Review over in Portville, New York. His Eagle project and all the paperwork have been done for a long time, it’s just taken the Scout Master and the Council a while to get it together. Daniel, Seth, Asa, and I went with him. The Board of Review was held at the Methodist Church. We all waited upstairs in the chapel while they interviewed Josiah downstairs. Then they called us all downstairs and announce that Josiah passed and is now an Eagle scout. I informed the board that the other three boys with me, Josiah’s brother and cousins, are also Eagle scouts and they were very impressed. We’re very proud of Josiah. He is my third and final Eagle scout son.
On our way home from Portville, we took the back roads from Ellisburg over Cobb Hill to Gold. We knew shortly after leaving the paved highway that it wasn’t a good idea, but we pressed on. The dirt roads were covered in ice. Again we were glad that Seth’s Jeep has 4-wheel drive.
This evening is the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. I love the Christmas Devotional. I love the messages and I especially love the music. It always seems to me to be the official opening of the Christmas Season. We’re going over to Shillig’s house to watch it. They have also prepared a small feast for us before the broadcast hot wassail to drink, little smoky sausages, and other seasonal delights. And I just looked at the weather forecast and it looks like there's snow headed our way later this week. Let it snow. I love Christmas.
