The Post Christmas Post

Well, it's over, almost.
We managed to get everything together in time for our annual Christmas Eve Celebration. Not our largest crowd but not our smallest either. Dea and I figure we had about 40 people total. In the past we have had almost 70 I think and the place was absolutely packed. Only having the 40 was nice. Still enough room that you don't feel claustrophobic, yet enough people for there to be fun conversations going on in almost every room. The Spirit was here and we all remembered the reason for the season. It was really nice.
I have no idea why I took no pictures. I usually do but I guess I was too much in the the "thick" of things to even think about it. In fact, Christmas day I only took a few. I don't understand why I didn't take more but I'm not going to stress over it. That's for sure. I will try to post a couple if I can arrange the time. I know that the family pic for this page is now a year old and needs replacing. Just...uh...don't hold your breath waiting for it okay?

Christmas Day was Peaceful. I loved it! IT was Such a "restorative" to my soul. The kids were pretty happy with their presents as we fulfilled our family traditions in the morning. We then gathered up some of the leftovers from the night before and headed to Dave and Dottie's. Again, peaceful. There was one spectacular moment involving a present from Deanna to Dave but that may take many pages to explain. Perhaps I'll get Dea to explain it in small "chapters" later. Dottie spread a real nice table and her sister Carrie (aka Doll) joined us and again it was...Nice. Really.

Dea, the kids and I left shortly after brunch for a well deserved nap. Jacob started a slight cough so we "dosed him" and sent him to bed. Jessalyn was doing better so she and I played with her electronic presents (read the directions, try to make it work, use tremendous self control so you don't toss said presents across room, read the directions again, Repeat.). With her help we did get all our missions accomplished.

Today was clean up day. We had spent a whole day last week cleaning out my garage to turn it into living space. In our haste to make room for 40 to 80 people, we had filled up the garage again. Dea had to work today so I let the kids sleep in late. Then, I put on my task-master hat and with Peggy's help we got right to it and put almost everything to rights. We still have a lot of clean up but we are no longer buried. After what I called a very successful morning, I gave the kids the rest of the day off to enjoy their Christmas vacation while I continued our construction project.

There seems to be a strange flu virus going around and apparently it hit Dave and Dottie's after we left. Pray for them. Jacob has a full fledged cold now, but I'm really proud of him. He doesn't let it stop him or get him down and he isn't complaining a bit. Still, whether sick or healthy, we can always use your prayers!
With the love of Jesus!
Will