and unto us a child is born...

Luke 2:116And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:7
Caesar Augustus, the Roman emperor, sent out a decree (law) that everyone in his empire had to be taxed. Each man was to pay taxes in the city of his ancestors, so Joseph and Mary had to travel from their home in Nazareth to Bethlehem. It was a difficult trip for Mary because her baby was about to be born. (See Luke 2:15.)
When Mary and Joseph reached Bethlehem, the city was crowded with people who had come to pay taxes. There was no room for Joseph and Mary in the inns, but they were finally allowed to stay where Mary "brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger" (Luke 2:7).
That night there were also shepherds in the field watching over their flocks. An angel of the Lord appeared and the shepherds were frightened, but the angel said:
"Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
"And ... ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger" (Luke 2:1012).
Suddenly there appeared a multitude of angels praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

May the reason for this day be in your hearts, in your home's and peace be with you today and always. Merry Christmas!!!

Love to all,

Jen

Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies

For about the past four years my best friend Aneliese and I have gone to see the Nutcracker. We always take her daughter Katyana with us and have such a wonderful time. It is such a sweet ballet and Ballet West does an incredible job performing it. I was particularly impressed this year with one of the children. They had knocked their hat down while exiting from Mother Buffoon's skirt, but they kept right on dancing. It was amazing that this little girl was not distracted nor did she attempt to fix her hat at all. I was in awe by her focus.

It is so nice to get out and take a break from the hustle and bustle of the season. I love to just sit back and enjoy myself. It always seems to re-energize my mood and my spirit. We are going to see Madame Butterfly in February and I cannot wait.

The Sugar Plum fairy and her prince.

(Katyana thinks Christopher is sooo cute she about fell over when he talked to her)

Who says chivalry is dead ???

It is so nice to live in a place that still has a good old small town feeling. We have been living here for years but today I really was able to experience several random acts of kindness.

It all started this morning when I need to make a quick trip to the store.My mom was going to drive my Grandmother's car to work since hers is having technical difficulties. Eric was taking my car to work because his truck is horrible in the snow. I was going to just quickly run to the store before I was left without a car. Quickly turned into a three hour jaunt to Macey's.

I normally never have any problem driving in the snow. Except for this morning. I have never taken my Grandmother's car in the snow but expected to not have any problem. I got in and out of Macey's with no trouble but as I began my trip up Battlecreek drive I had no idea it would take me hours to get home. I was about one and a half miles from home when I noticed the women in front of me starting to fishtail. I had to slow down because I couldn't get around her to pass. That is when I started to slow way down and the tires just started spinning. I was then stuck. I sat there about 5 minutes trying to rock the car back and forth to get traction. When two teenagers stopped to help me. They pushed and dug but I was really stuck. A plow happened to be in the church parking lot so they asked him to come and dig me out so I could back into the parking lot. Once I got into the parking lot I figured I would be fine because I was able to get traction there, so I sent the boys on their way. I drove around the church and began to go out the parking lot when I got stuck again. One of my neighbors stopped and told me to hold tight and he would go get a shovel. While he was gone two city plows stopped and helped me get out. Once I got out of that mess and turned onto my street it was another hour to go that last mile. I ended up walking with my groceries from the corner of our cult-a-sac home. The car just wouldn't go up the hill and I gave up.

Later on this afternoon I thought it was Eric coming home but when I looked out the window it was one of our neighbors on a four-wheeler with a plow shoveling our driveway, I then looked down at the bottom of our drive and our other neighbor was out clearing our walks with his snow blower, saving Eric several hours this evening with the snow shovel.

I just have to say I am so grateful to have such wonderful neighbors and to live in such a great little town that people are willing to stop and help out a person in need.

I cannot wait to pay it forward!!!