It was mild and rainy most of the week. The little bit of snow that we had vanished quickly. Sometimes the rain was very hard. The ground is saturated and muddy. It feels like spring. The weeds are taking advantage of the unusual weather. I’ve seen dandelions blooming in lawns here and there.
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| My garden on Christmas Eve. |
Christmas was very merry at out house. It turned out that Stacey’s brother Bill was here with us. He still is and will probably be here all this week too. School let out on Tuesday on a half day and we won’t go back until January 3rd. I was home by myself most of the day on Wednesday and I spent the day baking. I made orange cookies and anise cookies. I also tidied the house. On Thursday, Christmas Eve Day, we continued baking. I made a soft gingerbread. Hannah made peanut butter kiss cookies and Burnside cookies. I made eggnog and set it to cool for the evening’s festivities. By mid-afternoon we were done with baking and just waiting for the time to start the celebrations.
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| Making cookies. |
Rachel, Tabor, Hazel, and June arrived on Christmas Eve Day at 4:00 p.m. The happiness factor increased dramatically immediately. After dinner we had our Christmas Eve celebration. We read the Christmas story from Luke Chapter 2. We sang carols. Hazel opened one present, a book, and Rachel read it to her. Then we had our refreshments – cookies, gingerbread, toffee, and eggnog. We played a game. And then we watched It’s A Wonderful Life to get things quieted down for the night. Finally, after everyone was in bed and the house was quiet, I lit my traditional bayberry candle and let it glow in the dark, a remembrance of those who are not with us.
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| The Thayns arrive on Christmas Eve. |
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| Our Christmas Eve refreshments. |
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| Rachel reading a Christmas book. |
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| A bayberry candle burning through Christmas Eve and Day. |
Christmas morning everyone slept late – no early risers here. I like it that way. We took our time getting dressed. It helps build anticipation to go slowly. Finally we were ready. The “children” posed on the stairs to take the traditional Christmas morning photo. I was so happy to see those six people sitting on the stairs. Then we gathered in the living room and settled in to begin opening presents.
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| Christmas morning while everyone was still asleep. |
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| Our traditional stairs photo. |
Suddenly, we heard singing on the front porch. We opened the door and I almost fainted. There stood Sarah, Tosh, Miriam, and Daniel! I burst into tears. It was a total surprise – at least for me. Apparently the planning began several weeks ago and certain people in the family knew it was going to happen. At our house Hannah knew about it. Stacey had some suspicions. Josiah and I had absolutely no idea. Sarah and Tosh arranged for Daniel and Miriam to fly to Detroit on Wednesday and they drove over Thursday and got here late and spent the night over at the Shillig’s house. It was the best Christmas present ever! The happiness factor was off the charts at that point and has been there ever since.
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| Surprise singers on the front porch. |
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| Our second stair photo of the day. |
So we’ve been having a wonderful Christmas party all weekend. The food has been great. The presents were excellent. We’ve played some fun games. We took advantage of the warm weather and went for a walk up to the hollow – a first for Christmastime. We all went to see Star Wars on Christmas night. But the very best thing of all is just being together. It’s the first time this many of us have been together at Christmas in ten years. The only thing that could have made it better would have been to have Geoffrey, Joni, Ellie, and Gwen here. Maybe next year.
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| A handmade doll made by Miriam for Hannah. |
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| Opening presents. |
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| Playing games. |
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| A walk to the hollow on Christmas Day. |
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| Our Christmas feast. |
Today is the last Sunday of the year. At church today Rachel and Tabor gave talks and our family sang “Ring Out, Wild Bells” as a special musical number. I’ve always loved that hymn. I taught my Sunday School lesson on the last part of Revelation finishing our year of studying the New Testament. Now we’ll spend the rest of the day together. Our lunch today is tamales that Sarah made yesterday. It’s chilly and raining. We’ll spend the rest of the day just enjoying our time together. There aren’t definite plans for anyone leaving yet. Maybe Monday, maybe Tuesday. I don’t want to think about it. There is nothing I love more than being with my family.
