Christmas 2009

This was an eventful Christmas for us.  All week we were looking forward to being with family and sharing time together.

On Christmas Eve, we had a late lunch with Evan, Shawn and Crystal and Bailey, here at the house.  It was so good.  Ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, corn, yeast rolls, olives and dessert.  Sondra made a pecan pie, two coconut cream pies and a chocolate pie.

Then, we went to the church for our annual Candlelight Service.  The Christmas Eve service started at 6 pm and it was a joyous time of singing Christmas carols and sharing the gospel accounts in Luke and Matthew concerning the birth of the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ.  I also shared some poignant stories that tied in with the Biblical themes of faith, hope and love.  I gave a short devotional on light, that Jesus is the Light of the world that dispels darkness and sin and corruption and pain.  As we closed the service, we all had our candles lit and sang "Silent Night" a capella as the lights were dimmed out in the auditorium.  All the light we had was by candles and all the singing solely by voices.  It was a wonderful time of reflection and celebration.

On Christmas morning, Sondra and I joined Evan at Shawn and Crystal's house in nearby Ontario.  There were many, many presents that we had piled up.  My guess is that 75 percent were for Bailey!  And that was so fun to watch.  Bailey is getting close to 9 months old, and her eyes of wonderment and curiosity were a delight to see.  It took quite a bit of time to open presents one by one, as we watched each person open a present by turn.  After opening gifts, we had a Mexican lunch with enchiladas and beans and rice.  Also, some banana pudding, vanilla pudding on nut crust and leftover pecan and chocolate pies.

We went home thoroughly happy and tired!  Our love for each other was magnified by our love for Jesus!