The Christmas season continues to be an extraordinary time of year. The celebration of the birth of the Savior. Christmas Day worship service at church. Family. Friends. Bountiful meals on the dining room table. Pretty Christmas tree. Gifts in abundance. Sharing the days with loved ones. Laughter and memories. It is a time when I hear the words from both children and adults, "This is my favorite time of the year!"
This was a relaxing and wonderful Christmas for us. We were not able to make a trip to Oklahoma to see grandkids and family as we do many years, so we really missed that part of this holiday time. But it was still a busy weekend and wonderful time.
On Christmas Eve (Saturday), we had two "shifts" for eating with family and friends. Early in the day, Evan and Callie came over. Crystal, Shawn, Bailey and little Brynnlee arrived a short while later. Evan and Callie brought some appetizers and dips. Sondra had prepared the lunch feast of ham, mashed potatoes, corn, olives and rolls. Crystal brought the green beans, sweet potatoes and deviled eggs, as well as some homemade chocolate balls (some with peanut butter inside and some with crushed oreo cookies inside). We enjoyed a wonderful meal together, and then opened gifts. It is a joy to see Christmas through the eyes of a child (this time it was Bailey)!
They all left around 4 pm. We had invited Sondra's brother (Alden) and some other friends (Kaye Freeman and his wife Miles, Greg Freeman and his co-worker Steve) to come over for dinner and gifts. Sondra got all the food ready again, and we enjoyed the evening together with everyone. We exchanged gifts and sat around for a good time of conversation and fellowship.
Our church usually has a Christmas Eve service, but we did not have one this year because Christmas fell on Sunday. We really wanted our members to have a special time with family to observe their Christmas. It seemed very fitting to have a time of worship and celebration at church on Sunday, Christmas Day! We had a very uplifting time of singing Christmas carols and reading the Christmas story from Luke and Matthew. At the end of the service, a couple came forward to announce their engagement (Jack Shelton and Gail Anderson). It was a fitting way to end the worship hour with joy and clapping!
After church, Alden and Shawn/Crystal/grandkids came over for lunch (great leftovers). Evan had gone to church with his girlfriend Callie. We ate, watched some ballgames and napped. By the time Evan got home, Sondra was making dinner (pot roast with all the trimmings) for a Christmas Day dinner. For a little while in the afternoon, we all went across the street to a church parking lot to watch Bailey ride her new Princess bicycle. She was so cute and so excited.
We ate dinner and later tried to eat up all the desserts (pecan pie, apple pie, cheesecake and chocolate balls). But we failed.....ha ha. More for later! We had a good time of being together and it was a wonderful day.
I will post some pictures later today.
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