Thanksgiving and Christmas

Tomorrow we depart for our Christmas adventures and I haven't even blogged about Thanksgiving yet. So, a few words about Thanksgiving. Originally we did not have any plans and we were going to celebrate at home by ourselves, but that all changed in the last few days leading up to Thanksgiving. We ended up getting four different invitations, but could only accept two. All of the invitations made us feel quite loved. The first invitation came from Ms. Len, a friend from church who also helps with watching Clara. Ms. Len invited us to come at 3 in the afternoon and all she wanted us to bring was sweet potatoes. Wednesday night we heard from our friends the Crocketts that their niece was ill and they were staying home. Since we already had dinner plans they invited us to come for Thanksgiving breakfast and who could refuse a trip to visit our country friends. We had waffles, made by Ella, with blueberries and some other "trimmings." Clara loved the blueberries...they were all over her face, hands, and clothes. Then Brian helped with splitting and stacking wood for the rest of the morning, while Clara and I relaxed and played. We managed to stay for lunch at the Crocketts, too, but tried to eat lightly. After a short respite at home it was time for our true Thanksgiving dinner. It was a feast with delightful company. Visit Eleanor and Andrey's website to see a video of the festivities. After eating and visiting, we listened to Ms. Len's children and our good friends, Izzy and Eleanor sing karaoke. Clara took a turn and became fascinated with how her voice sounded in the microphone. All in all, a fabulous Thanksgiving. When you are far from family, it is a wonderful blessing to be able to share the holiday with good friends. 

Since Thanksgiving it has been a mad rush of grading exams and more exams. Now the grades are submitted, most students are satisfied with their grades, and it is vacation time. Brian has an exam in the morning and then we are departing to drive to Omaha to catch a plane to our final destination of Boise. We will then explore Boise on Friday and Saturday to hopefully nail down the possibility/probability of moving there after Brian graduates next June. Some friends from Walla Walla are driving down to spend part of Saturday with us. Then we meet up with my parents, who will be so excited to see Clara (and Brian and I, too).  The day after Christmas will find us flying back to Nebraska to spend a bit of time with Brian's family, who will also be so excited to see Clara (and Brian and I, too).  This will be a lot of traveling in a short time, so we're hoping Clara is ready to be a happy traveler. And, this being winter and all, we're hoping for cooperation in the weather department as well.

As the rest of you faithful readers celebrate the holidays, we wish you an abundance of joy and peace as well as an opportunity to reflect on the amazing gift of baby Jesus. Last Friday night our church put on a musical. The choir did not hit every note and not that many people participated or attended, but it was still beautiful and heartfelt. We were late, Brian was grumpy, and Clara fidgety, but I'm still glad we went because for a few minutes I was reminded of the true meaning of the season in a very tangible way. Wherever you are and however you celebrate, we're wishing you a Merry Christmas!

P.S. Scroll down and look on the right side for a new photo album I posted.