Christmastime 2012

This year's celebrations did not go down quite as we all had envisioned--the flu bug came to visit just in time for the holidays--but by God's grace, after several days of lolling around we mustered up enough strength to have a semblance of seasonal spirit.  Thank God for hot tea and cololidal silver!

We ended up postponing our "Christmas" an extra day since I was still pretty heavy in the recovery mode on the 25th and Jonathan had come down with the fever.  It wasn't the funnest bug, with my case including a 102+ degree fever, and the worst case of sinus congestion I can remember, for about 3 days.  Jonathan's version was thankfully much less severe and Mom only got the head cold part of it, while Dad miraculously escaped unscathed.

Thus on the 26th we had our festivities (although greatly subdued) and opened our gifts.  We seemed to have more family gifts this year....some of us were a bit preoccupied with another project for some reason....However we did all concur that the Kitchen project could definitely count as a family gift!

So here are a few pictures of our days:

Our pretty Christmas tree--with handmade village ornaments 

Jonathan distributing gifts from under the tree

Mom and Dad

Even Baxter got a gift!

It all made for quite a pile of empty boxes!

Roses from last Christmas are still pretty!

 We also enjoyed a lot of good food over the break:

Hamburgers with all the trimmings!

And burgers seem to always taste better when grilled outside after dark! 

No Christmas is complete without a large selection of sugary goodies...

These were the result of one afternoon's baking--which is all that I managed to squeeze in this year....

Fortunately, some of the church ladies (who knew that we were kitchen-less) blessed us with some goodies as well, so those that were well enough had something to partake of before my late baking spree.  

We also enjoyed a lovely selection of Christmas music over the course of the Kitchen project and also during the festivities--some of our favorites are the CD's the Angle Tree Christmas, and also A Classical Christmas.  And of course no day is complete without a number of pieces by our favorite resident arranger/composer:

And then there were the games!  

If only that crazy string would stay put!
Once you've tried it with the included string
you'll quickly agree--it's time for a new one!!

Much better!

We take our games very seriously! :-)

Someone got the camera away from me!

We're getting close to the end...

Time for more Christmas Punch!

 On New Year's Day, we had a very similar modus operandi--Family, Food and Fun!

PotterVilla Pastured Pork--It can't be beat!

Deliciously paired with Buttermilk Pancakes.

 After Brunch it was time for more games....

An all time favorite

By later in the afternoon the goodies were calling loudly!

The ever-popular!

Skip-Bo -- partners

Gaming action!

Two games at once anyone?

And then all too soon, it was over....

Dad returned to the "daily grind" of work in Jackson and the rest of us to our various jobs and projects.  But we are thankful for the time we had to spend constantly together as a family, growing closer to each other and closer to God.

So until next Christmas, we pray that all of our and your days will be full of Christ as we strive to honor Him in Thought, Attitude and Action, seeking to be in fuller, sweeter, and more constant communion with Him and our Brothers and Sisters in the common Faith.

Happy New Year!

Matthew