Sunday, December 3
After the food and lunch tables were put away, Cerwin and I showed slides of each person as a baby.
We no longer exchange names and gifts, so I asked, “If you had this person’s name, who would you have had to buy a gift for?”
I am only going to show you two, because we want to also do this for our Maine Christmas. 🙂
Cerwin
Me
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Next we showed a series of slides – lots of them – when our children and grandchildren were much younger.
Here are a few.
Jeff trying to stay cool on a hot summer day.
Today he is 53; husband of Chris; father to Jordan, Nate, Jenna, Diana, and Gloria; father-in-law to Dustan; and the driver of a big rig.
Diane with a black eye from falling down barn steps while my parents were babysitting her. I was staining trim and doors at the house we were building. Fifty years later we still live in that house.
She is 51 (for a few more weeks); wife of Mark; mother to Elizabeth, Hannah, Josiah, Abigail, Elijah (who died at five months), Hezekiah, and Lydia; mother-in-law to Nsimba and Nathaniel; Grammy to Anthony: and caregiver for an elderly woman.
Jere had a tough day in school.
He is 48; husband of Kristen; father to Josh, Jana, Ian, Jared, and Jesse; and CEO of Lancaster DHIA.
Deb is 43; wife of Roy; caring friend to many (young and old) in her neighborhood; rescuer of baby animals; and owner of her own layout and design business – Basic Designs.
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A sampling of other pictures…
Jere and Elizabeth
Jordan, Jenna, Diana, Josh, Gloria, Jana, Nate
Josh, Jenna, Lydia, Abby, and Josiah
Josh, Josiah, Jenna, Elizabeth, Hannah, Cerwin, Lydia, Abby, Hezekiah, Diane
Ian
Jesse
Jared
Anthony
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Some of the grandchildren wanted me to keep on showing old pictures, but there were other things to do. 🙂
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We like to do some kind of reminder of the real reason for Christmas – usually by having each one read a verse from Luke 2. This year we chose questions about babies and children of the Bible. Which seemed to be our theme for the day. 🙂
Each one was given a Bible verse and question. The rest of us were supposed to answer. I will give you only two as we also want to do this at our Christmas in Maine.
Answers at the end of this entry.
After the questions we played “Now-You-Have-It-Now-You-Don’t.
Each person got two numbers this year.
This was the choice of gifts that Cerwin and I purchased.
Jared (center with light pants) was the caller of numbers.
Jesse gathered the used numbers.
After your first number was called, the gift you chose went on the floor in front of your feet so others could steal it. After your second number was called, you chose the gift you wanted to keep and put it behind your feet or on your lap. Nobody could steal that one.
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We stopped exchanging names and buying gifts for each other several years ago and began giving that same amount of money toward a charity.
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This was the year for Jeff and Chris’ family to choose the charity. They chose Susquehanna Pregnancy Services. This has become a highlight of our Christmas.
Kristen gave each of the married women a container of Snow Man Soup – a delicious hot chocolate. I know it’s delicious because I had a cup yesterday.
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In my mind it was the best Christmas ever. 🙂
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Answers to the Bible questions. Ishmael and Hadassah