Catching up: Part 2

Okay. I'm really annoyed now. I started posting, complete with uploaded pictures, and lost them! Now I have to start over. And I must say that Steve Hight is trying to provoke me into blogging :) Anyway, I'm back, at least briefly. I'm going to try this again...post a few pictures of my vacation to Gettysburg December 4-8. I went with my parents, drove all day to get there. We have been to Gettysburg multiple times, but never at Christmas time. The day after we arrived, we received 5 inches of snow! What a pleasant surprise...absolutely beautiful! We spent a good part of the day driving around the parts of the battlefield that were open, taking lots of pictures. Our friend Mark drove over and spent the day with us. That evening, we went through downtown Gettysburg, and really enjoyed the way they had it decorated! It was quite cold and windy, so we HAD to duck into a tiny coffee shop to warm up. The following day, we spent a few enjoyable hours at Boyds Bears :) 3 whole floors of stuffed animals! My dad enjoyed it too, but it didn't take him nearly so long to enjoy it as it did me...haha! We also spent a little time at an outlet mall that was conveniently located just behind our motel! Very happy. I found some fantastic bargains :) Though we did visit the Park Museum, we didn't do a lot of museums/tourist stuff as we've done alot of that in the past. We really enjoyed being there in the snow :)











And so ends the little pictoral journey. The picture of me was taken in the lobby of the motel where we stayed. There are tons of pictures that I could post, but I think you "get the picture :)" On Friday, we drove to my good friend Elizabeth and Fred's home, then went together to the Shady Maple to eat. Folks, if you've never eaten there, it is worth the trip to Lancaster! I'll probably get these facts wrong, but I believe it seats 2200 people, and they serve 6000 - 7000 people per day! Massive Mennonite buffet! May I just say "Scrumptious!" Actually, Elizabeth didn't go to the Shady Maple with us, as she had some mandatory job training that afternoon. However, Fred and Mark drove over with us, and Mark's parents met us there. I have some pictures of that happy event, but I'm not going to post them for fear I might be slain if I did :) Suffice it to say, that a good time was had by all, and we left very well satisfied! We then drove over to Sight and Sound where we watched "The Miracle of Christmas." Again, I will not be posting photos, as they don't let you take pictures during the performance. It was an absolutely wonderful, uplifting experience. It made my heart thrill again to the real meaning of Christmas...God willingly laying aside His glory to become a helpless baby, completely dependent on those He had created! And all for the purpose of giving up His life for me! Really, you should see this production if you ever have the chance! After the performance, we had a snack(I can't believe we were hungry!) at Friendly's, then spent the night with Fred and Elizabeth near Carlisle. We had wonderful fellowship with our dear friends, and I was sorry to leave them the next morning. We again drove all day on Saturday to get home. The weather was fine, but Dad's car was acting a little dicey! It kept popping up error messages, and letting us know that the ABS system wasn't working. That's very comforting when you're bopping along about 70mph! But the Lord helped us get home okay, and Dad's car was fixed this past week.

The next few pics are of Jared and Janae's reaction to our Boyd's friends. Janae informed me that my bear(the one in the snowman sweater) would make a good big sister for Bunny(her constant companion.) She informed my mother that her bear wanted her(Janae) to be his mommy :) She also said in an aggrieved voice "You shouldn't keep him all for yourself." Not very subtle! We were not inclined to part with our bears, but she has one wrapped and waiting under the Christmas tree. So I think everything should be fine.




It was good to be home and see our little people, even if the craziness started up again immediately! Oh, and I should confess something funny I said in Gettysburg. The night we drove in, we passed the Lutheran Theological Seminary(the church in the picture above is located there.) I said "Oh look! There's the Lutheran Seological Theminary!" My folks were highly amused, as was I :) As my friend Anthony told me a few nights ago, yeah, my hair may not be blond, but I sure am :) I can't help it! Can you imagine me with Alzheimers? It's gonna be a trip!

Since my return home, I helped host a party/gathering/whatever for the young people of our church and school. We had 26 teenagers, plus several adults. We had pizza, and lots of cookies and pop. I couldn't find any diet pop, so drank Mountain Dew. Yuck! Pure syrup. Brent, I'm maintaining that DIET mountain dew is wonderful, but you can have all of the real thing that you want. I will admit that the frosty cold one you gave me in the summer was wonderful, but that wasn't combined with other sugar! Anyway....if you want to see a few pics, go to Steve Hight's blog :) I did take some pics, but haven't uploaded them yet. We had relay races 1) eat 3 saltine crackers and then whistle 2) chew a piece of frozen bubblegum and pop a bubble, 3) wearing MITTENS, open a candy kiss and eat it. It was pretty hysterical :) We also played 2 rousing rounds of musical chairs, where I, brave soul that I am, operated the CD player. Much less violent from that position! We also played a game where a tightly wrapped gift was passed to music, and every time the music stopped you passed it to the next person. When you got the first one open, there were tons of smaller packages, also tightly wrapped inside! What fun. Then it separated into 2 packages that ultimately contained gift cards for Walmart. After that game, we opened the gym until 11pm. Then we had all the fun of cleaning up the horrendous mess. Be warned: Don't try the cracker/whistle relay over carpet! At least our floors swept up well. It was really an enjoyable evening for teenagers and adults alike. I even enjoyed making lots of cookies, buying supplies, decorating a small tree, etc.

Then, despite some bad weather, our adult choir performed the cantata "Emmanuel: Celebrating Heaven's Child" on 12-16 in the evening service. Although we had 3 out sick, we had 20 choir members. God really helped us, and they did exceptionally well! I was very proud of them. The narration, done by the Manleys, was gripping. The music was compelling. One of my favorite songs was "Come Make a Place" which said "Jesus, I'm empty without you. And you're everything I need. So come with your grace, come make a place in me. Oh come to my heart, Lord Jesus. There is room in my heart for Thee." That is my prayer this season...that I won't be so filled with the busyness of the season that I fail to make room for Him. Without Him, I am lost and hopeless. With Him in my heart, I have a vital, joyous life! Let us adore the Christ of Christmas.

Yes, I am relieved that the programs are over for another year. But I don't want to lose that sense of wonder...the fact that He came for me. Well, I need to get some rest. Tomorrow, my immediate family will celebrate Christmas together. You may expect some more pictures very soon :) It will be fun, but chaotic with 4 little people really into the gift-giving part of the day. We will listen to my Dad read the Christmas story, we will eat wonderful food, we will enjoy our little people as they are filled with excitement and joy. Most of all, we will just enjoy being together as a family. What a blessing they are to me!

If I fail to post again before Christmas, may God richly bless you this Christmas season, and may you have a very merry Christmas!