Our Merry Little Christmas/Boxing Day

Merry Christmas everyone! I would like to share with you a bunch of pictures having to do with how my family celebrates Christmas. It starts with Christmas Eve service.

Here are some pictures of how we decorated the church for the candlelight service...This is actually on boxing day as I was way too busy to take pics at the service. I didn't include how the piano was decorated with five hurricane candle lamps or the beautiful table that had the food on it...Trust me, they were gorgeous! Anyhow here are a few:





So that was our Christmas Eve...Now I would like to show you our Christmas tree and some of the food we had. Now I mentioned last year that we don't do the traditional turkey supper. Instead we each choose a favorite dish or two and that makes up our meal...So here is what you are seeing...First you are seeing our Christmas tree. Of course front and center is our awesome nativity scene...You can click on the pics to see them bigger (I hope). Then you see our napkins and some raspberry bubbly and my favorite pop...Pineapple! Then there is our supper. We had surprise spread, shake and bake chicken wings, stuffed mushrooms, homemade beef jerky, curly fries (4 yr old's pick), chocolate covered strawberries, grapes, steamed carrots and asparagus, some pickles and olives and some ham coil and a bit of imitation crab. It was so yummy. To decorate the table I moved the nativity scene to the center of the table to help us remember why we are celebrating. It was so yummy. I have TONS of food left over!





Finally, I would like to share another tradition we have. A lot of people have Christmas stockings...and in those stockings is usually a piece of fruit. Well instead of the traditional apple or orange that my husband and I grew up having...We decided to always have a pomegranate in the toe (however this year we opted to have pomegranate juice) and then we choose a different fruit to share/learn about and we eat it at breakfast on boxing day. This year we had a Dragon Fruit. It was pretty good. It seems to be a cross between a kiwi and a pear. Here are the pictures of it:





Well, that is just a little picture of our merry little Christmas...How was yours?

My Community

I have to say...I LOVE where I live. My community is so loving and caring. Here is just one example of why I really love this community:

Word got out that a family (not a rich family, poor family, popular family...one with significant influence etc.) needed support. So my community that I love stepped up. This family recently found out that their eight year old boy has cancer. This means that he had to travel to a different city to receive radiation and chemo treatments. Now, the Dad of this family is with his son while living at the hospital which leaves the Mom at home with her daughter (who my daughter danced with last year) AND her newborn daughter who is just six weeks old. To top it off, the Dad just recently donated a kidney to a family member so took time off of work to heal and he was just getting back to work when his son got sick. So here is what my wonderful community did:

1) The call went out for prayer. (This was pretty much the first thing that happened)
2) A group (the kid's school, the Dad's company and a community program that the kids attend) organized a benefit brunch.
3) A trust fund was set up at a local bank for the family.

Today, my family attended the brunch where a silent auction was set up. It was just so wonderful to see so many people come and surround this family. I was able to see the Mom, hug her and let her know that we are here for her. I live in a wonderfully supportive community.

After the yummy brunch, we headed to church where I was able to spend time with my church family. I feel full in every way today. God bless my community and church family who make my life so rich.

An Update

Hello everyone...

I am sorry it has been so long since I have been here. Tis the season! It is super busy these days and yet I am feeling calm and peaceful.

Our kettle campaign is going well, hamper applications are in, our "Adopt A Family" program is well on the way and our hampers are being put together! This is a very generous community and I feel blessed to be a part of it.

Also, my Mom and Dad were here for almost a week. We did such a wonderful job of creating a holiday feel that it seems like Christmas should be over already. I am glad it is not.

This year is different. Last year was our first year as Salvation Army officers and the Christmas season was very different. I felt tense because I was learning all about ministry here. Now with one year under my belt, I feel GREAT! I feel organized and as if I have a good handle on all that takes place during the Christmas season here.

Although Christmas will never be the same as I remember it as a kid...we are creating new traditions and I still enjoy the entire Christmas season. It is super fun!! Well, I have to admit...I am so exhausted so my post is quite thoughtless and boring...I will get back into the groove later... :)

What are you doing for Christmas?