The "N" Word

December in our family means Nativity. But it's not just a little manger scene. It's so much more. Andy is the main player in getting it set up, which involves directing a crew of about 40-50 men and women the last Saturday in October and the first three Saturdays in November. It's pretty exciting to see a whole town of Bethlehem take shape. Andy and I kid around that I become a Nativity widow because all his Saturdays are spent on - yes, you guessed it - the "N" Word! It's a lot of work, time and expense, but in the end, it's so worth it. Where else can families bring their children to an activity that focuses on the real meaning of Christmas. Every year gets better and better. I make it a point to go through every year just to be reminded of the reason for the season. The Bible story comes to life and I am always blessed by the truths presented.

I've been thinking this season about how the God of the universe made Himself so small that He was able to enter the egg of a virgin woman. The God who hovered over the waters at creation, entered the waters of the womb. Amazing...what a miracle. And just as amazing is the spirit behind the act. The God of heaven emptied Himself and became a servant. He did not come to be served, but to serve.

We've had record attendance this year. The weather was mild which probably contributed to the higher attendance. Usually, out of the seven nights we run the Nativity, there are at least one or two nights that have to be canceled because of the weather. But not this year.

The first weekend, Kira took a turn at playing toddler Jesus. In that scene, the wise men bring their gifts to present to the King of the Jews. It's a cute scene and she did well.

The second weekend, Amy and Ricky came down to go through it. They brought Ricky's family and 2 deaf friends. I had lined up 2 deaf interpreters to go with us and interpret the dialog for Ricky's mom and dad and their friends. That worked out very well and they were able to enjoy the Nativity, too. After we saw the scenes, the cousins enjoyed being together and we all enjoyed the togetherness.

A big cookie for a little girl

Ummm...hot chocolate

So what is my role during the Nativity? I answer the phones in the office. This can be very interesting. These are the calls from people who are on their way and are lost. Every year there are some poor lost souls out there who call and want me to tell them where they are. Whew! It can be challenging to try to figure out where they are, then guide them in to the Living Nativity. There are moments of quiet so I take along a book to read. It's also a good time to get our Christmas letter written, addressed and stamped. People like to stop in and "visit" with me so it's really not a boring job even though I feel somewhat out of the action.

This year we had good weather and didn't have to cancel any of the 7 nights. That makes for record attendance. It was our best year ever with a total of 16,462 people who saw the Living Nativity in 2011.

A Day at Longwood Gardens

It was a beautiful day today. Although a little chilly, the sun was shining brightly - a perfect day for a trip to Longwood Gardens. Dawn and Kira rode in our car with Andy and me and we met Amy there with Chase, Joanna & Katy.

Joanna wasn't too interested in having her picture taken today.
When the camera came out, she disappeared.

Aha...got her.

The treehouses were awesome.

Group shot

Window on the floor
Somebody is a little worn out.

Eighty

Andy's dad turned 80 recently. Of course, that kind of milestone must be celebrated. So we set the date for Saturday, November 19 at 2:00 pm. We had a good time of eating together and enjoying family time. Andy's brother asked a photographer friend to come take pictures and she did a good job of capturing some wonderful candid shots.

We also had a time of sharing stories of Dad and what he means to us. Dad (and Mom) have a generous spirit, always willing to help out and give to those in need. Almost as soon as Dad came to know the Lord, he became active in teaching at the Camden Rescue Mission every Sunday afternoon. He not only taught Bible lessons, but he also became involved in the kids' lives, going into their homes and having kids to their home. He took Camden kids camping and exploring in the Pine Barrens, just loving and caring for them.

Dad and Mom also have always been very generous to us. We have lived with them 4 different times in our married life, the one time for as long as a year and a half. That time, they gave up their whole first floor living area and moved to their upstairs apartment. When we bought our first house in Richland, Washington, they loaned us the money for our down payment (which we paid back in monthly payments). Dad willingly serves us by working on our pipe work and has helped Christy and Christian, Dawn and Tommy in their houses, too. When we built the in-law addition on our house, he installed all the pipe work for the water and heating/air conditioning pipes by crawling around in the crawl space on one of those mechanic's carts. He never complained but always seemed to be happy to help out.

Words that describe Dad would be steady, faithful, giving, caring, generous. I thank God for my father-in-law.The length of our days is seventy years - or eighty, if we have the strength... (Psalm 90:10)

Thanksgiving Weekend

It's already Wednesday and Thanksgiving seems almost like a distant by-gone blur. But it was a wonderful, refreshing 4 day weekend for me and I need to write about it before I forget the details.

We went to the Thanksgiving Day parade with Dawn and Kira on Thursday morning, then stopped in to see the Comcast Christmas show at the Comcast Building in center city Philadelphia. The lights and animation and technical aspects made it an amazing show, but there was no mention of Christ and "the reason for the season."

The rest of the day, we spent at home by ourselves. I did some cleaning and laundry since I hadn't been home the last 2 Tuesdays (because of being with Christy and the new baby).

Friday was our family get together with Christy, Dawn & Amy and all their husbands and kids. Everyone got here at 1:00 pm. We did our family pictures first while everyone was still fresh. One of our family traditions on holidays is to take a hike. So when the pictures were finished, everyone left to go over to Longbridge Park in Hainesport. Christy stayed at the house because Claire is still so new and I stayed to keep her company. We were sorry to miss the hike because it looked like everyone had a good time.

Our Thanksgiving Dinner consisted of panzarottis. I know it took a lot of work to call Sal's Pizza and put in the order, but it's what everyone wanted. So I sacrificed! We also had a salad, cheese ball and crackers, a fruit plate and 2 pies.

Amy's masterpiece

Since all our girls are married and out of the house, I do not enjoy decorating the Christmas tree by myself. So I was hoping this year I could get everyone to help me. Andy got the tree out, the kids helped organize the branches for him, then they all helped put the decorations on the tree. It was such a treat to have the help and now it's done!We played a game together before everyone headed on home. It was a lovely day.

On Saturday, I had to be at the church at 10:00 am for worship team rehearsal. The person who had been scheduled to do slides on Sunday had told me he couldn't because of the holiday weekend. I had asked about 6 others if they could take his spot, but no one could. But after the rehearsal, Andy said what would I think about going to the shore and walking the boardwalk. It was such a nice day: the sun was shining, there was just a whisper of a breeze and the temperature was in the 60's. It was a pretty spontaneous thing for us to do, but it was fun and nice to get away and enjoy the day. We walked the boardwalk twice, doing 5 miles. Andy went down to the ocean, took his shoes and socks off and waded in the water for a little ways. He said the water wasn't that cold, but I didn't believe him. He has a reputation for swimming in water that no one else will because it's too cold. I took my camera along but unfortunately, left it in the car so I have no pictures of the ocean or the beach.

It's been nice having warmer days right now but I doubt it will last much longer. This weekend we'll be busy with the Nativity. And the office has been hectic this week getting ready for it. So it was a blessing to have the 4 days to enjoy family, the outdoors, a couple days off before heading into craziness!