Ho ho ho! Wake up!

The 26th was a travel day for Josh's and Jill's families.  Mindy and Jason went to see a movie and we just had a laid back day.  The noise would overwhelm the house in just a few hours!

When Josh's arrived, the first thing Eli asked was 

"Papa, can we fight?"

"No shaking,  Emeri!"

Jill's family arrived around 8PM.  A 12 hour journey!  In Madison, they were almost run off the road when Adam happened to be in someone's blind spot.  Thank You, Father, for keeping them from an accident!

Sophia has new glasses!

It was already past this little one's bed time.

This Nana was excited to read bed-time stories to her!

-Time crunch-

We had a little dilemma.  Mindy and Jason needed to leave by 9am the next morning.  When would we do gift exchange?  When would it be a good time for Santa to come?

The only time we could do it was in the morning so - - -

"HO HO HO.....time to wake up!"

"You aren't Santa!  You're Papa!" Eli insisted.

"No, Papa is still in bed!" Staci said.

They looked and found pillows underneath.  Ooops.

Morning beauties!

Mindy had gotten us some Druber's donuts and I also fixed sausage and bacon and we had yogurt too.  Still in jammies, we ate breakfast.   A quick, easy meal.

 Evidently, Adam had to wear a hat to cover bed head??

 Time to open stockings and gifts!

"Give me five!"

  
KU shirt - of course!  Rock Chalk!

Many years before, I had given both sets of parents fill-in-the-blank Grandparent books.



Using those books plus things told us over the years, I wrote out their life stories so the children would have them.

(there is gift card under the rocks)

Hannah painted a picture for us.  

She loved her fuzzy pillow and blanket!

This kitty purrs, opens and closes its eyes, burps...  since they can't have a real one.

Emeri is growing - 10 going on 16 -  and says she is too big for toys.

I can still remember my first year I didn't get toys and I was so sad about it.

Mindy and Jason brought a pinata for the kids.

But single digits outside made it too cold to hang on the deck!

We compromised - handy to have 2 guys over 6 feet!

Goodness!  This pinata was not easy to bust open!

Hannah knocked it down and they all took whacks at it until it finally bust open.

The kids were in a flurry of action grabbing up the candy and money!!

What a fun time we had!

"Santa" brought some real good gifts this year!

Christmas Days at the Graber house

We had a few fun and wild days while the family all came home for Christmas!  Mindy and Jason were the first to arrive.

Kissing under the misteltoe!

They arrived on Christmas Day afternoon.  Because of church obligations, the others could not come until the following day.  

The internet says...

"Traditional Christmas dinner features turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, and vegetables such as carrots, turnip, parsnips, etc. Other types of poultry, roast beef, or ham is also used. For dessert, pumpkin or apple pie, raisin pudding, Christmas pudding, or fruitcake are the staple." 

We didn't do traditional - I asked Mindy what she'd like and she requested Oyako donburi for supper!

Oyako means - mother and child, like the chicken and egg.  Donburi means rice bowl.  So basically, the dish is chicken and eggs in a bowl, served over hot rice. 

I forgot to take a picture but I borrowed one to give you an idea of what it looks like.

After dinner, we drove to Wichita to look at lights.

Alone

Do you ever feel alone?

  

We've noticed this lone Canada goose. We think he cannot fly.  We find him often sitting by himself up on the bank or swimming alone in the lake.

Today, while I was walking around the lake, I noticed that Mr. and Mrs. Mallard joined him on a swim.



Perhaps one day he can join his cousins in the air.

The squirrels were enjoying the day scampering about in the trees.  They were not lonely.

friends at play

A lone pinecone

One loan leaf on my burning bush. 

If you ever feel alone, know that you don't have to be.

Deuteronomy 31:8

 "The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; 

                  He will never leave you nor forsake you. 

          Do not be afraid; 

                           do not be discouraged.”

Isaiah 7:14

 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Immanuel  means "God with us."  He is WITH us!  He desires a relationship with us!  Do you know Christ?  He holds out His hand to you!

I love Christ's promise in Matthew 28:20

"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”