December - Chapter 5

Christmas Eve was our traditional one – we enjoyed a Bethlehem dinner, we read the story of the nativity from Luke, and we watched Scrooge.  Katie Kinder was a houseguest.  She is a 30-year old woman whose mother I used to visit teach back in the early 2000’s.  Her mother is now gone, as is her grandmother.  Her brother is up in Wisconsin.  And her only two other relatives – an aunt in Columbia and an uncle in Jefferson City – don’t communicate with her. 

Christmas Day was lovely.  It was a quiet morning with a delicious brunch followed by church at 1:00.  Steven sang “Were You There” in a men’s quartet that I accompanied.  Sarah sang “Still, Still, Still” in a women’s choir where I played a cello obbligato.  It was a really nice service.

After meetings, Katie posed with Steve and me before joining other friends for the rest of the day.   

 (foot surgery is the reason for the crutches)

Emily and Joe and kids arrived around 5:30 as did our missionaries – Elders Seamons and Kingsbury – and we had Christmas dinner at 6:00.   

 Elder Seamons is a huge Pokeman fan so Noah was in HEAVEN with someone to converse with.

 

 notice the white church ornament on the tree?  It was my St. Charles purchase this year.

 

 

 our feast took up all the  surfaces of the kitchen!

 

 Here we all are feasting.  Look who is doing his stink-eye!

 

vehicle pile-up in the Heilig Meyers village.  Thanks, Mr. Stink-eye!

 Adorable Larkin!

In the week between Christmas and New Year, we took down our poor dehydrated tree and started to put away other holiday décor.  Steve and I drove down to Eagle Bluffs by the Missouri River to check it out and we saw the famous burr oak (one of the largest in Missouri).  




  I rounded up a crew – including missionaries – 

 
to work on the refugee storage unit.  I believe it hadn’t been organized since the last time we tackled it back in August.  Here is a before and after.


 

 New Year’s Eve temperatures were relatively mild so we had a fire out in the pit and cooked brats. 
 
  We played games and watched “Finding Dory”.  It was a small group -  just Melanie and Elise.  Sarah was going to join us but ended up driving to a dance in Kansas City with YSA friends so part of our New Year’s Eve celebrations included driving to Sarah’s apartment to walk Bones and Lily.  We celebrated 2017 by greeting the sunrise (in the Menard’s parking lot because it has the best east-facing view – open fields and woods) and talking about the past year and our hopes and goals for the new one.  2017 is going to be an exciting one!