fête

Visions of sugarplums...

Christmas is coming (the goose is getting fat) and we've had our first big snowstorm, making it feel like the season! This is good, since stores have been trying to get us in the 'Christmas spirit' for some months now. Of course, we also have had our first bit of seasonal warming, so much of that snow is melted. This is bad, as now the landscape will be brown and gray.

For youth group, we're going to explore why Christmas is important as a Christian, and then some practical ways to keep Christ in Christmas (as cheesy as that sounds, it's important!). One idea I found was to have a stocking for Jesus, and I've added the idea to throw loose change in there, and then send that money to a church or mission. I think that's a great tradition to start at the beginning of each December.

Chip and I get to see a lot of family this Christmas! Yea!
Megan will be in the States for a visit (she's been in Japan for two years teaching English), so there will be a nice crowd up in Manitowoc, as the rest of her family will travel up to Grandma's, with us following not too far behind. We'll miss having the Alaska crowd, though. I haven't even met Ellie, Walter and Faith yet! Eek!
Gianna had her baby, so we'll get to meet B in Milton when everyone from my family converges. At this point, everyone is doing well, which is a definite answer to prayer. Now we just have to figure out timing so everyone is at my parent's house at the same time.

I'm excited to be able to see everyone, and both houses are going to be full to bursting!

Picture from www.art-dept.com

Book recommendation: Polly the Pirate by Ted Naifeh
Recipe recommendation: Rocky Road Fudge
DVD recommendation: The Best of the Electric Company (thanks to Carissa the librarian for the suggestion!)