In the middle of a couple months of constant rain we got one day of sun and decided to take advantage of it. I have added some pictures to the gallery that we took (without any earlier planning) to remember that day.

View the Gallery…

Rachael spent the night with my mom, and arrived excited as ever to open up her presents.  I think the coolest thing that she got was some wooden play food that stuck together with Velcro so she could use the included knife to cut the tomatoes or cake, just like her mommy (I hope she makes cookies better though).

We all had a great time just hanging out and eating and playing games (although I think I would have had more fun if my mom hadn’t beaten me at every game we played).  It’s funny how a low tech game of cards or yahtzee can be more fun, when played with people you like, than Call of Duty 4 can be when played with people who, let’s just say, wouldn’t make your friend’s list.

We had a good day and evening and hopefully began a new tradition, in our family, of honoring Jesus’ birth by enjoying the friends and family that He has blessed us with, over the gifts that we did or did not get.

Yet, as Alina and I go through this season talking of our Christmas memories, I come away with a great amount of gratefulness for all that I had while I was growing up. Not that she had less than I did, but quite the opposite, she had everything she wanted. She was the person that, at the time, I envied. She talks of having lots of presents under the tree, and of getting lots of things for Christmas, and as far as I can deduce it, that is what Christmas was to her. Presents.

She was raised in a family that spent a ton of money buying what each child wanted, in order to make them happy. And, I was raised in a family that spent very little, because we had very little (in comparison). Yet in comparing our memories I have a much more joyous impression of Christmas than she does.

Christmas to me was lights and decorations. It was the smell of homemade cookies and the excitement of building gingerbread houses. It was the color and taste of candy canes and the joyful singing of Christmas carols full of mystery and truth. It was Aaron, Stephen, Timothy, Mom, and Dad. It was the baby Jesus carved of wood and laying in a manger. It was a beautiful mystery wrapped in joyful celebration.

It was joy.

I thank God that He blessed me so much with this upbringing. I thank God for my mom who, more than anyone that I know, influenced my idea of Christmas toward God and away from gifts. Not that we didn’t get some fun things over the years, but that I really can’t remember what they where, because my mind is full of a Christmas memories that meant so much more.

I thank God that, as Christmas becomes more and more commercialized I can look back and see that it is not what I got for Christmas that I remember, but the times of joy and laughter. And I thank God for the memories that He gave me through my family, and for the way He blessed us with joy and not just simple things.

I pray that God will do that in Rachael and that He would create new, better, memories of joy in Alina. And I pray that God would make your Christmas full of mystery and truth, and that the glory of His Son, born to die, would fill you with the joy that is Christmas.

So, I love hearing fresh music. And, yes, I know, this song comes from an album that was released for last Christmas, but in the lifetime of Christmas songs it is still in its infancy. So, take a listen, and let me know what you think.

I Celebrate the Day
Relient K

Maybe next year I will make a little sister costume for Rachael and I could go as a big daddy (yeah, I know, haha). And I geuss Alina could go as one of those crazy splicers (humans with altered genetic code) who runs around with a knife and says crazy things. (I bet she wouldn’t go for it. Anyway, here’s the video…

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And here is some cool pictures of the “Companion Cube” from Portal. I’m not going to explain this one though, as not playing the game means you wouldn’t really get it, but it’s awesome anyway…

Link…

And because I’m a total nerd, here is a link to the Companion Cube’s myspace page where you can find out more about it.

So, when you be at work or school today, make aye t’ answer t’ phone or talk t’ your buckos as any good pirate would. Say thin’s like “ahoy”, “avast”, and “arrrr”. But just remember, it be “International Talk Like a Pirate Day”, not “International Act Like a Pirate Day”, so no pillagin’.

The english to pirate translator.
Wikipedia article on the holiday.

So, Jon and Melissa, Jeff, Rachael, Alina and I, went to Randy Whites for dinner where we stuffed ourselves beyond comfort with some quality BBQ.  After that we spent the next few hours playing Yahtzee and The Game of Knowledge (which is a game “for kids and their parents”) were we each one of us revealed that we should have continued playing a game of chance rather than a game of knowledge.

We left our house about 9:00pm to find some seats in a field or parking lot near where the fireworks were going to go off at 9:45pm.  After traveling for what was just about the longest 3 miles of my life we arrived in a good parking lot just as the fireworks began.  The “oohs” and “ahhs” lasted for 15 or 20 minutes.  The fireworks exploding in the air to the background music of somebody’s car stereo crooning patriotic music in an operatic style. 

But, cheesy music aside, it was all worth it to see Rachael’s expressions.  You see, it was the first time that we took her to see fireworks, so she had to get over her initial fear that they where “going to get her”.  And once she did, she decided that she really “liked the blue ones”. 

It was a good time while it lasted.  But, when it ended, it was miserable.  We had to drive home.  And, so did everybody else.  And because Frisco has every road under construction and no road finished, our drive home became the longest 3 miles of my driving life.  I know, with absolute certainty that we could have walked the 3 miles faster than the hour and a half that it took us to drive it.  Getting home just before midnight was ridiculous, but I have never appreciated my soft bed more.

I’ll tell you what though, celebrating our country as everybody watches the same fireworks and everybody is equal in their participation and admiration of the display of patriotism stands in stark contrast to what people do when they get into their vehicles to drive home.  The people who were, not five minutes before, engaged in a community celebration of our nation, now had become a bunch of selfish and arrogant individuals, cutting each other off or not letting other people merge.  It sure is interesting that America is celebrated in community, but the minute that the show is over, the only American that matters is “me”.  I sure enjoyed the united America better than the driving one.  I guess our unity lasts only as long as the show is entertaining. 

Anyway, it was a good time, but next year I will figure out a way to avoid having to sit in traffic with all of those angry Americans again.

But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. 2 Peter 3:18

This Christmas seemed really rushed, hopefully next year when things are settled down we will be able to have a nicer, less crazy Christmas.