Sweet Times at Yuletide

I'm so glad Jesus was born and I'm so glad that we have a holiday to celebrate that. I don't know if He was actually born on December 25th and I don't know how much of our holiday trappings have pagan roots but I don't think that is so important. The most important thing is that we actually take the time to celebrate Him!

This year has felt especially sweet for me. I think it's because I wasn't originally planning on being here. Like a surprise bonus added onto the year 2006. Wonderful! Thank you Lord! I love your type of bonuses.

The Christmas festivities of my life started on Friday the 22nd. We had a Shekinah reunion at Renee's parents' house and we had a sweet time together chowing down on old favorites like baby hot dogs and funny cake. Renee, Lashonda, Brie, Ailene, Bekah, Danae, Cheryl, Sarah were there as were my FIVE Shekinah scrapbook albums (I'm not even done those yet!). We reminisced over the past year and enjoyed each other's company.

the Shekinah gals, together again!

Christmas with my family was on Saturday the 23rd and started out with a grumpy grandmom Kleinschmidt. Dad and I were late getting to her house in Hammonton, NJ (which was my fault of course, you would think that with all the extra time I've had since September that I would be so on top of things and never late....sigh). We enjoyed our reheated food and then spent time opening gifts. We gave Katelyn & Judah (actually Wendy because Judah really didn't seem to care about anything besides sleeping) their gifts first and then everyone else. Present opening at grandmom's always seems a little chaotic. It was a good time with my family and I even got some dancing time in with Katelyn!

John, Wendy, Judah & Katelyn (kinda - she refused to pose!)


Everyone enjoys their gifts: Dad, his socks and grandmom the calender with pics of Judah & Katelyn.

Christmas Eve started out early for me because I had to be at my church at 8 am before the start of the first service. We had three services in sucession and it was exciting to be a part of it even though I was only dancing during one song. I and two other gals from my church were the dancing angels during a song that included a pagaent. It was a little squishy...okay...it was very squishy up in the front. My church is not huge but that morning we had 40 adult choir members, 70 member children's choir, a drama which included 7 people and a table and chairs plus band and etc. Overall, everything went well despite having to dance very close to someone's bass and the scariness of trying to dance around veils with tripping over them. Thankfully, we didn't run into any wisemen or hit too many people in the front row with our veils! :0) We even had one wiseman who wanted to dance with us.

That night I met up with Starr and we went to her church service. We had dinner together and watched "It's a Wonderful Life." Can you guess? I fell asleep right in the middle. It was quite an exciting day! I stayed over at Starr & Heidi's that night. In the morning, Heidi and I had a yummy Christmas breakfast of crepes with banans and chocolate and got ready for the day. We had dinner with Starr's son Ross and his family and exchanged presents. It was a very sweet time and I ate TOO MUCH!!!!
I spontaneously stayed overnight again and Heidi and I hung out the next day. It always feels somewhat like being at home when I spend time with Starr & Heidi. I'm sure it's because I used to live with them for 6 years.

Starr & I have a seed-spitting contest at the sink!

Speaking of being with people that I've lived with before, this past Friday was our Stillwaters get together. Margie, Renee, Bekah, Emilie and I stayed over at Mandy & Rosie's apartment in Germantown. It was such a fun time! We made calzones together and exchanged gifts. Of course there were the typical gifts of underwear and socks! Yay for a reunion! The interesting thing is that all of us have never lived together at the same time. Margie got married and moved out and then we had Emilie for a year before the END. But we all get along and it was a blast! I didn't get too much sleep because Rosie the cat was very hyper. On the bed, off the bed, running over Emilie's face, eating the plant, etc. Margie was very concerned about it! Oh well, I think if I was Rosie, I would have been excited too!

Well, that's the tale of my Christmas adventures! I'm so glad that I was able to experience all these sweet times with dear friends and family!

Yay for the Christmas bonus!