Still Processing Christmas...Day One

Technically, Christmas is over...at least the day we celebrate Christmas is over. But Christmas itself is not over!  It's still lingering in our minds and hearts and spirits...and probably still lingering in our homes in the decorations, leftovers in the fridge, gift wrap and packaging in the trash, cookies and pies and candies still lurking around tempting us to keep nibbling away at things we shouldn't...and hopefully in our memories...sweet memories especially...

Welcome to Christmas memories from our house and my heart...

Christmas morning started out with a lovely sunrise...

Which was only preceded by a magnificent sunset on Christmas Eve as we traveled to church for the Christmas Eve service:

And as we lit each of the Advent candles, it was so wonderful to sing the familiar Christmas carols and hear the Christmas story once again as we lit the candles of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love, and then we lit the center Christ Candle to remind us that the Light of the world was born this night. "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them a light has shined." Isaiah 9:2 "You, O Lord, have multiplied the nation, You have increased its joy. For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder. His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:3, 6) And we were once again reminded that Jesus is also called Emmanuel, for in Him God is with us.  This is what Christmas is really all about...and I am so thankful that we started out our Christmas Eve and Day with these special reminders of why we are celebrating.

As I sat in the choir loft singing a

(this video was actually from our church last year, but same song)

Celtic Silent night with our choir, the congregation was passing along the "light of Christ" to their neighbors

Such a beautiful and peaceful way to usher in Christmas...

On our way home we drove around our neighborhood to see if there were any Christmas lights shining, and we were surprised to find quite a few. Our neighborhood is a rather modest community of mostly manufactured homes.  There were no elaborate displays like one would expect in larger communities, but this one above touched my heart.  There in the middle of their Christmas candy cane lights and hanging icicle lights, was a beautifully lit cross, reminding us of why Jesus came to earth in the first place...to save us all from our sins. We must never forget the price He paid for our redemption.

And then we went home to prepare for what would come in the morning:

Son Scott, who had gotten home too late from work to go with us to church, was busily preparing one of his Christmas gifts for our family, a batch of my grandmother's Sand Tart cookies! (recipe can be found on that link to a much older post from past.)

I was amazed that he had these all baked and the kitchen cleaned up by the time we got home. What a great guy!!

And next, Santa Claus had to slip in and distribute the gifts for the "kids" who would be arriving in the morning for Christmas day...

Lily Grace and Baby Elva had fun watching Santa at work...

Oh, look who got a stocking hung by the chimney with care:

Next morning, the "kids" and Grandpuppies arrived, ready for fun:

Sugar and Spice saying hello to "Uncle Scott"...

And then discovering that they had a special stocking filled with new toys just for them, which kept them occupied and happy for the rest of the morning:

Sweet Daughter in Love Rose and Son Benton, opening their gifts...

And son Scott and Daddy  sharing a good laugh over a very "interesting" fun gift sent from a relative..."Pooh Ping Pong"...there's always gotta be a silly gift somewhere in the bunch...and this was the silliest ever...

Thankfully Lily Grace's gifts were much better...

She got a couple of new outfits sent from her Auntie Peggy and Uncle Billy, among other things...

Yes, I know, our family is a bit "touched in the head" sometimes, but we do have fun...

And we do love to eat.  While opening our gifts, the hamloaf was baking in the oven with the scalloped potatoes, and butternut squash, green beans, rolls...

And oh, I almost forgot, Rose also made some deviled eggs! It was a delicious and simple dinner, and I "believe" everyone was happy and quite satisfied!

We ate off of my "good Wedding China", on a plastic Christmas tablecloth, but I did use red cloth napkins...LOL.  Tried to keep things simple but still special.

Speaking of special, our sweet daughter in law, (with a little help from her hubby the carpenter) created some wonderful signs for us.  She asked us for a special verse or saying that was meaningful...and the above picture is exactly what my hubby said.

And then she looked on my blog somewhere and found this verse below and created this sign for me:

And also this one I mentioned particularly, because of course, we live "beside the still waters" (pond).

Another sweet gift was this set of jigsaw puzzles:

I said this is where I want to live someday:

Well, maybe not with the snow. LOL. Actually, I feel like we are pretty close to living there already.

Oh, one more very special thing that happened on Christmas day. For some time we have not had much communication with our grandson Noah, who is our only grandchild, and also the son of our son Matthew who passed away from cancer in 2014.  So staying in touch with him is especially meaningful to us. But he is 22 years old and a typical young man living his life and not really realizing just how much it means to us to hear from him.  And the fact that he lives in Maine makes it a bit more difficult to just run up and visit anytime.  So anyway, long story short...recently Noah and some friends have embarked on an adventure of a lifetime.  I told my hubby they are like the pioneers of old, searching for new lands to "conquer" and begin a new life.  Two couples have set out across the country in campers, working their way along as they head south to warmer and hopefully more economically productive locations. And recently he decided to start responding to my texts, by sending me a few pictures of the sunsets as he travels:

Ah, he's a young man after my own heart!! He loves the sunsets just like I do!

And better yet, on Christmas day he called us and talked and talked and talked, and excitedly told us all about their journey and their hopes and dreams and plans and schemes...and told us about his girlfriend that we realized we had actually met at his graduation party 3 years ago...and well, even though some things may not be exactly ideal about this trip, it is a new beginning and he is happy and full of the joy of the adventure...and you know what?  I believe God will take care of the rest of the details...I don't need to worry or "preach"...I just need to pray for their safety and that God will guide them and keep them on the right path as they seek their new adventures.  My hubby and I both agree that keeping the communication going with him is the most important thing we can do right now. And I have to tell you, this truly made my Christmas day complete.

After the hubbub died down and the "kids" went back to their house, our son Scott went to work on his next gift for the next Christmas family gathering that was arriving on Sunday afternoon...yes, you heard that right...

These cookies are my mother's famous "orange cookies", (click that link for the rest of that story) and she would bake these anytime the family was coming home.  Now not only Scott, but at least one of my nieces that I know of, carries on this same tradition in memory of my mom. And so he wanted to have them ready for my sister and her hubby and their daughter and her hubby when they arrived Sunday after church.

Oh, these pillows are a gift from our kids too.  And they say what I want to say right now...

"Merry Christmas to all...to all a good night"

Stay tuned for "Still Processing Christmas-Day Two" coming up in a day or two, as I continue to process everything. It's been a very beautiful and meaningful Christmas here.

I hope it has been for you as well. I look forward to hearing your stories.

So, until next time, 

Amen!