Merry Christmas!!

What a great day!

Michael, Chelsea and I started our Christmas journey at Richard and Julie's house this morning.  Santa most definitely visited Kate and Brynn!

 Molly looks on as Brynn very seriously contemplates a stash of Christmas goodies.

Brynn was worn out from the excitement.  Those eyes look ready to nap.  Meanwhile, Kate, in the background was enjoying her new pink hair.  Julie said that Kate was fascinated because it was straight and so opposite of her beautiful (grandmother edit) curly hair. 

Chelsea and Julie relaxed on the couch. (And I think those are Richard's legs on the right side of the picture. 

Michael was the man with the camera!

On to Greg and Amy's and sure enough... Santa visited them, too. 

Pretty, pretty tree with lots of great Christmas "stuff" for the family!

Alex was in charge of the recliner.  Is that a new hat??

Amy's Christmas buffet is great whether you eat it in the dining room with the crowd or whether you escape with a TV tray and some quiet.   Gregory obviously chose the latter. 

Chelsea and Michael chose the fun and confusion of the dining room.  The fruit (a gift from Amy's mother) was sooooooo pretty!

Matthew was busy being the helper - bringing in Coke for the cooler.

I had a pictures of Greg and Amy, but they were really blurry, so they escaped until next year.

On to Scott and Crystal's....

Santa was also good to Bryce... BUT...

 The best toy is always Daddy!

 Tommy was barking at the camera and I don't think Crystal doesn't look especially happy about it.  One thing everyone knows is.... that if Momma ain't happy...

... ain't nobody happy. 

BUT then....

you can always wrestle again!

Back home at the end of the day - tired - but what a wonderul day -

visiting each family - being part of their Christmas - sharing in the joy.  

Wishing you peace and love this holiday season.

Merry Christmas!

Shape your own faith, Lucy!

I was talking to someone near and dear to me the other day about marriage - or specifically, Christian marriage.  (An unnecessarily prickly issue, it seems.)

NearAndDear is considering marriage right after she graduates from college and before her PotentialHusband's senior year.  They are both Christians and their faith is important to them.

She/they make mature, thoughtful decisions and characteristically have been kind enough to include all of us who care about them and their pending news.  (It's not news yet, so don't go crazy.  We're only allowed to be semi-excited for NearAndDear and PotentialHusband.)

(I would also like to add for the record, judge, that NearAndDear is old enough to tell all dissenters to um.. pound sand.)

ANYWAY... PotentialHusband's family is delighted at the prospect of their potential marriage. NearAndDear's family is likewise.

So... where's the problem, you ask?

EXACTLY!

WELL!  OlderAndWiser (also known for this purpose as Lucy) was happy to "share" her Christian perspective with NearAndDear about men feeling like men... and submissive wives... and on.. and on... and blah blah blah... and all of the reasons that this might not be a good idea.  (Ah! The joys of illuminated church friends!) 

I could go off on a tangent about that submissive wife verse in the Bible AND the verse that precedes it, but I'll save that for another day (and if you're lucky, I will have fallen off my high horse before another day and you will totally escape the tangent).

And besides, if you asked all the people (scholars and non-scholars alike) in all the world who believe in the Bible as the inerrant word of God - about the meaning of this particular verse or that particular verse you would get 27 million quite a few differing opinions - each based on a different level of knowledge, faith, and/or life experience.  (And by the way, I think God just laughs at us with all this pettiness - but that's my own non-illuminated opinion)

The point of all this (yes, there is a point) is that NearAndDear and PotentialHusband are committed Christians - strong in their faith - dedicated to honoring God in all things. 

Who is Lucy to measure their relationship with God and the shape of their faith?!?  Who is anyone to define the shape of their faith?  Why, as Christians, do we spend so much time dooming and glooming each other and so little time lifting each other up and encouraging each other?

Why do we people of faith (oh yeah... sorry to say that I can be guilty also.  I may even be guilty as I type this?) seem to think that God cannot make His point or manage this earth without our assistance?

In the end, I guess what I really want to say is that NearAndDear and PotentialHusband are good to go.  If for some reason I'm wrong about that, they communicate with God on a daily basis and He can definitely handle this one.


Shape your own faith, Lucy!

* * * * * * * * * * *

Kate the Great!

Kate earned Stamp #4 tonight which means that she is considered "pool safe".

What did she have to do to win this great honor, you ask????

Well!  At 4 1/2, Kate is able to swim 25 yards of freestyle, 25 yards of backstroke, and dive into the pool.  She's also learning breaststroke and butterfly (which she loves).  At 4 1/2????  I'm pretty impressed!

And from a grandmother's perspective, she is also the smiliest (yes, that is a word) swimmer I've ever seen.  (and I've been watching swimmers for lots of years!)

I love sitting at the end of the pool watching Kate swim 25 yards of backstroke with a huge grin on her face.

These are the moments in life that make my heart ache with gratitude.

My life is so very blessed!

* * * * * * * * * * *

The Death of Stereotypes

Michael and I went to Gallucio's (a local bar/restaurant) for lunch today.  We sat at a table in the bar area.  Near us were 3 macho looking guys sitting at the bar drinking eating their lunch, watching television, and talking.

There are 3 televisions over the bar at Gallucio's - one was showing CNN (if news is your thing) - one showing ESPN (can't have a bars without ESPN) - and one showing The Chew (a cooking/talk show) on ABC.

Forgive my narrow-mindedness, but I would have figured 95% chance they're watching ESPN - 5% chance they're watching the news (these guys just didn't have the look of "news" guys).  0% chance they're watching The Chew.  If you had seen these guys, I'm sure you would have agreed with me.  Trust me.  You would have.  (Really)

BUT... what were they watching????  The Chew!!!  And not just watching!  They had opinions.

Stacy London was the guest today and when she walked onto the set, these guys started criticizing Stacy's hair.  The all agreed that they like it better "down" and not all rolled up on the back of her head (complete with descriptive hand gestures).

I was amused to say the least.  Okay... I almost laughed myself off of my chair. So funny!

And then it occurred to me that maybe the laugh was on me.  Who said men have to watch sports?  Who said they can't watch The Chew (even at a bar)???  Maybe I was wr-wr-wr-wrong. Maybe.

Was I? 

Were you ever the victim of a stereotype?

* * * * * * * * * * *