Christmas 2013

I’ve spent the last couple of hours or so combing through all the pictures we took in December. I sorted them, did a little editing and am waiting for them to finish uploading to an online photo album. 237 pictures!  Here’s a screen shot of the collection so far:

In looking at this snapshot of a bunch of snapshots, many thoughts come to mind. First: there are a lot of us. Second: we truly enjoy each others’ company. Yes, these are not new revelations, but it is good to be reminded of the great blessing of family.

Here’s a another screen shot of photos, mostly of the Worley household on Christmas morning. When I look at these thumbnails, I think: abundance. In spite of occasional tight financial times, overall, we have been blessed with the ability to give good gifts to our kids. Incidentally, especially from a kid’s perspective, “good gifts” come in many forms. I think I’ve written before about our friends, the Yokes. About how, when they were first married with four small children, things were stretched so thinly that for their first Christmas in a new home, all they could manage to buy was balloons. They bought as many as they could and spent Christmas Eve blowing them all up. On Christmas morning, the kids woke up to a houseful of balloons that they played with all day. Even as adults, the four kids looked back on this Christmas as their favorite.

This set of pictures was taken at Dull’s Tree Farm. Tradition is such important part of celebrating special events. We have been going to this tree farm since before we had kids. It is a truly beautiful place that just seems to get better each year.

In Indiana, snow in December is not a given, but we sure do love it! About a week before Christmas, we got about 5 inches in a 24-hour period and the younger kids made the most of it!

It’s amazing to me to think that all of this (and more) happened in one month! And of course, it wasn’t all snowflakes and Hershey’s Kisses all month. Mixed in with this was loss and grief, illness (colds that hit days before Christmas and left me with laryngitis on Christmas day), schoolwork, housework, deadlines and longer-than-normal to-do lists. And yet, “unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given” and in Him we “live and move and have our being.” Joy to the world! Merry Christmas!

 

Christmas 2013 online album (all 237 photos!)

The Fourth Sunday in Advent

 

We lit four candles and read about Anna, the prophetess in Luke 2, who served God while she waited on the Messiah with fasting and prayers.We prayed that God might “make us a people faithful in prayer and in hope,” like her. Once again, we sang “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” and I noticed this fourth time through it, Grant had picked up most of the words.

We feasted on Roasted Pork Tenderloin, homemade crescent rolls and fresh pineapple, seasoned green beans and a great salad with some of those big croutons. After the meal, the questions started coming about dessert. Even on a typical day, we’re often asked “What’s for dessert?” I’m sure the kids were surprised, maybe even a little concerned that I didn’t have something ready for dessert. Once they opened their Advent gifts, though, they understood: they each got their own stash of assorted chocolates. I might’ve kept back a few pieces for my own stash.  ;-)

I remember as a kid looking forward each Sunday during Advent to watching each of the four candles being lit as we built up toward Christmas day. Advent is a season of anticipation … and waiting.

The Good Dishes

 

A couple of days ago, we started a new tradition at the Worley home: a Christmas Tea. This sent me on a hunt for some nice tea cups. I spent some time shopping in an antique store and saw quite a few tea cups. There were also a few entire tea sets that appeared to have all the pieces intact. These were beautiful sets, hundreds of dollars and neatly stacked and displayed in locked glass cabinets. I marveled that they could’ve lasted for decades without any of the pieces getting broken or chipped. I suppose they could’ve been used a few times without any damage, but I had to wonder if they’d ever been used at all, especially by kids.

We have a couple of sets of good Christmas dishes, one being a gift from Mom and Dad a few years ago (the Christmas tree set in the picture). We get them out every year and love using them throughout the Christmas season. We try to be careful while handling them, but I told myself a few years ago not to worry too much about something getting broken.

The day after I got back from the antique store, we were all getting ready for this first annual Christmas Tea. We made lots of goodies and the girls were setting the table when there was a loud crash over by the hutch. While getting out the saucers, a platter had shifted and knocked one of the saucers onto the floor, shattering it. Everybody was quiet and the daughter holding the stack of saucers froze. My thoughts about the fancy tea sets I’d seen at the antique shop immediately came to mind. Remembering why were having this Tea in the first place – good food, making memories, celebrating the Advent season – (notice where I placed “food” in that list? ;-) quickly put things in perspective while I swept up the shards. We put it behind us and ended up having a truly special afternoon together. I predict that through the years, we will lose more pieces of the good dishes, but the memories and the precious souls who use them are the inheritance we’re passing down.

Moonset over the snow

 

Yes, I know there are people in the world who are lounging on sunlit beaches right now, and that is a lovely thing, but I know would miss scenes like this if I lived in warmer climates. Yay for snow!

The Third Sunday in Advent

 

And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar
Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took
place while Quirinius was governing Syria…

This week’s reading came from Luke 2:1-7. We are reminded that Jesus was a real man, born in history during the time of Governor Quirinius, but most importantly the birth of Jesus signifies the beginning of his invasion into the kingdoms of man, bringing them all under His dominion.

As part of His kingdom, we prepare for His coming in big and small ways. Our own Advent preparations included a Sabbath feast, complete with 3 lit candles and “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” (Famous Butter Chicken, crescent rolls, and 1 Pan Fudge Cake were the highlights), listening to the Christmas story and singing in the Lessons & Carols program at church, fellowshipping with our friends and family afterward (surely, that is part of “equipping the saints”) and visiting the “house of lights” just up the road from our church.

 

The day is coming; lots of things (big and small) to do still! “Let every heart prepare Him room …”

The Second Sunday in Advent

Two candles were lit. Our reading from Matthew 1 described Joseph’s reaction to the incarnation. We prayed that God would help us to have a faith like Joseph’s, so that we might be “stable and selfless under trying circumstances.” Amen and amen.

Like last Sunday, we planned another casual menu for this Advent meal: Oven-Barbecued Pork Sandwiches, green beans, homemade applesauce and Clementine oranges. The star of the meal was probably the Welch’s Grape Juice. Yes, we did go all out and buy the name brand this time. We get decadent like that during the Advent season.

Dessert was prepared by Rachel and Erica:  Magic Peanut Butter Middles. We’ve made these delicious cookies many times through the years. Tonight, Rachel decided they are the cookie version of a Reese Cup. I agree!

There were smiles all around when it was time to open the Advent gifts.

And lots of excitement!

Can you guess what the girls got?

We decided to give the boys something more in line with their tastes.

Although they probably would’ve been very excited about new slipper socks, too.  ;-)

The First Sunday in Advent

The table was set with the fancy Christmas dishes.  After 3 big meals this weekend, a simple homemade, deep-dish sausage pizza was on the menu. Rather than our regular Sabbath beverage of apple juice, we served Root Beer (a treat!). And we had Peanut Butter Moose Tracks ice cream for dessert.

The first purple candle was lit. Our devotional reminded us of the apostle John stating that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” It is this Word, this Logos, whose coming we look forward to with great joy and anticipation.  O Come, O Come, Emmanuel!

Thanksgiving 2013

 

This year, we …

… planned to eat between 12:00 and 1:00 … and we actually did!  When we were getting our food, it was 12:30.

 

…  played two marathon games of HeadBandz.

 

   

… laughed at how silly we all looked wearing the head bands.

 

… ate a lot of dessert. Oh wait – we do that every year.

…marveled at how big the kids are getting (we do that every year, too. ;-).

…enjoyed feeling vigorous kicks and rolls from the newest Mozingo baby, due late January/early February.

…thoroughly enjoyed all our little pilgrims.

 

… and the annual Thanksgiving play, although next year, we’ll try to do it before 10:00 at night. They were wild! :-)

I’m already thinking about next year and have made myself a vow. I will do my best to come up with some sort of costume for these 2 guys. Thanksgiving prep has always meant making sure I had all the parts for the pilgrim dresses gathered up and ready. I really didn’t even think about costumes for Grant and Trent until the morning of Thanksgiving! :-)  I guess in some ways, I’m still adjusting to a life with BOYS!  :-)

Quotable cuties

 

Me: Grant, you can come out of Quiet Time now.
Grant: OK. Are you going to come up and clean up the glass?

Thankfully and miraculously, there was no blood. I think he was trying to see if one of the Little People could fly. It made it all the way up to the ceiling fan! I’m thinking of installing a hidden camera in his room during Quiet Time...

Grant, 3yo

I really don’t post these cute little quotes often enough. I’m afraid I’m going to forget them! I read something I’d posted on FB a few years ago about Claire, who was 3 at the time. It was this:

This morning Claire (3) sitting on my lap, hugging me, kissing my cheek, giggling ... looks at me and says "Wouldn't this make a cute picture?!"

I had completely forgotten that she said that. When I read it, I had a vague recollection of it. So glad I wrote it down then, but I need to be better about doing that here! Who knows, Facebook may be a distant memory by the time our kids are grown, kind of like 8-track tapes or home doctor visits. Although they promise us that whatever we put on there will be saved forever … {cue scary music}.  We’ll see.  :-)

Here’s a picture taken of Claire right around then.

Trent is at that age where he has a quotable quote a couple of times a day. I just need a personal secretary to follow me around and help me out with things like this. :-)

An Unforgettable Night at the Theater

Last weekend, Rachel’s piano teacher, Jeeyoon Kim, was guest soloist for a concert with the New World Youth Orchestra at Hilbert Circle Theater. Rachel and I had talked about going, but the ticket prices were a little beyond what I wanted to spend. On Friday, Miss Kim contacted Rachel and asked if she’d like to help out by selling her CDs and DVDs during intermission and after the performance. As a thanks, she offered to give us 3 complimentary tickets! So, Rachel, Mick and I made plans to go.

As Sunday drew near, the weather reports were sounding ominous. First a moderate risk for severe weather, then a high risk. The worst was predicted to hit between 3 and 4 o’clock, before it all moved out by 5:00. The concert was scheduled to start at 5:00. This called for a change of plans. We decided Mick would stay home and Rachel and I would leave early enough to beat the bad weather. I knew the Central Library’s underground parking garage is a tornado shelter, so we decided to park down there and wait it out, if it became necessary.

We ended up spending a little over an hour in the parking garage. Things got very dark and blustery at one point and there was a very strong downpour. Rain was blowing at an angle and running down the ramp into the parking garage. I called Mick to check in and let him know we were safe. They were all in the basement, just in case. He said it was very quiet down there, in spite of the blowing going on outside, and the kids were fine. One strong storm had blown through and he was watching one more thin line of storms on the radar which looked to be headed in their direction. A little while later, I got texts from Heather asking how we were doing. She said a tornado had been spotted going through our town. By then, things had cleared up enough for us to make our way over to the theater. It was a bit of a hike and more storm clouds were bearing down.

We parked several blocks from the theater and made a dash for it, getting inside right before the skies opened up again. Things went very smoothly after that. Our tickets were waiting at the Will Call booth and we had box seats! We got there 15-20 minutes early and the concert ended up being delayed by about 15 minutes due to the weather. Once we were settled, I checked my phone and noticed Mick had tried to call 3 times (the phone was on vibrate). When I got a hold of him, he was walking around the yard surveying the damage. They had watched the tornado as it moved from west to east about 3 miles south of us!

A neighbor got this picture from a farmer a couple miles south of us.

 

Thankfully, the damage was minor: we lost some trim from one of the peaks on the back of the house and one of the old barn doors was barely hanging on (Mick fixed it the next day, thankfully).

  

While we were talking, I could hear the wind whistling in the background and the kids laughing and running around the yard. After we hung up, Rachel and I were able to just relax and enjoy the view and concert, which started a little while later. Miss Kim played beautifully and we added a new song to our list of favorites: Schumann’s “Piano Concerto No. 3 in A Minor.”  

Sitting in box seats is such a novelty to us that I got several pictures of Rachel in her seat.  :-)

After all that excitement, it sure was good to get back home and see our house still standing and everybody happy.