Christmas

I have to say that this Christmas was one of the best I have had in a long time. The reasons being; A. It was so nice to have someone to share it with - Jeff, of course. B. Kaleb, Karlie and I were blessed by a family downstate who "adopted" us. They sent the kids several gifts, and I received a couple of things myself. They would not have had much to open Christmas morning if it weren't for the generosity and kindness of this family. C. I got to spend this Christmas with my kids, my mom, my nephew, my sister-in-law, and her two kids, Cory and Gary. D. All of the Christmas music at Jeff's church, and the programs, just really made it feel like Christmas this year. Speaking of Christmas programs...Christmas Eve service at Jeff's church was wonderful. He sang in the choir and it was a true joy watching him. But, on the funny side...yes there is a funny side...I ended up sitting with one of the college girls, Heidi, and her family, since the choir sang for the whole program and I wouldn't be sitting with Jeff. Well, Heidi has an awesome sense of humor! Before the service really got going, Heidi pointed out that we'd be using flashlights, yes flashlights, for the "candlelight" service. That just set her off on "welcome to our flashlight service" jokes, which got our whole pew laughing our heads off. Poor Jeff is up in the choir loft, noticing how our pew is laughing, he's trying to compose himself, being the mature, responsible man that he is, but he is having a hard time not laughing as well. And he didn't even know what we were laughing at!!! He could just see all of us laughing. But by the end of the service, we were able to maintain ourselves and behave maturely, for the most part, at least. Then Christmas morning, Jeff, all of my children, my mom and my nephew, Dustin, came over for Christmas Breakfast. Everyone left by 11:30 for other Christmas events to attend, so Jeff and I were able to go to some friends he works with for Christmas lunch. That was an afternoon of relaxing fun, eating more food, and watching 3 year oldish little girls run around and just be 3 year old little girls. It was cute. The dads took the little ones outside to go sledding in the back yard, which entailed the dads pulling the girls on the sleds because there is no hill. One of the dads even convinced the older daughter to pull an empty sled around the shoveled out track they made! That was pretty cute! Then around 4:00 Jeff decided he needed to get home to Rose, his parents dog he is taking care of while they are out in Oregon. So, we went to his house and hung out the rest of the evening there. Then Sunday was church, and we attended most of first service at my church, and headed to his church for the 10:30 service. Jeff didn't have to sing at the beginning of service, like normal, so he got to sit with me for the beginning, then the choir went up and sang for the end of the service. As usual, they did an excellent job. Like I said before, I really enjoyed all the Christmas carols and music this year at Jeff's church. Our church usually does one Christmas Carol during our praise and worship service. So, being that neither of our churches are having their normal services this week, Jeff and I got to spend alot of time together this weekend, which was great, since he just got off of the evening shift just prior to Christmas Eve, and I was really missing him! Plus, he was off for 5 days in a row! Now he's back on days, so we get to spend some time together during the evenings, but not too late, as we both have to get up for work early, and he has to tend to Rose the dog. Speaking of Rose, she is sooo cool. She's a border collie, and is so well behaved. She is 11 years old, and loves to play ball. She makes you work for it! Instead of putting the ball next to you, she intentionally puts it just slightly out of reach, so you have to get up, or bend over to find the ball, just so you can throw it and do the whole process over again. It's really quite fun, for a while. Then we (Rose and I) get tired of playing ball, and she lays down for a while. Then the whole process starts again.
Well, that's enough of my Christmas story for now.

Christmas Play

Last night, Sunday, Dec. 19th was the final night our Christmas Play at Church. We did the classic Christmas story of Scrooge. It was a lot of work, but in the end it turned out very well, and very professional, even though all of the actors are amateurs. We began rehearsing back in the beginning of October, and by Opening Night, Friday, December 17, 2004, we all had become our characters and the church was transformed into a small 19th Century village. Our youth pastor, Pastor Ray, really "looked" the part. His costume and his appearance were truly the most authentic, in my opinion. Gary, who played Scrooge, did an excellent job!!! He went from grumpy, greedy, heartless, old Scrooge, to a happy, jolly, giving Scrooge, so smoothly and believably. The best part about our play is that we stuck to the original version, in that we didn't take Jesus out of it.And that the reason Scrooge changed so much, is because he realized how bad he had been toward others, how greedy and unkind, and he asked God to forgive him, and accepted Jesus into his heart as his Lord and Savior. We had 23 salvations, and we know we planted more seeds into the hearts of others through this play, which was our purpose. There were many compliments given by the community, and each night ended with a standing ovation from the audience! I believe the community of Gaylord truly enjoyed the show. As soon as pics get posted to our church's web site, I will be sure to make a note of it on my blog! I have seen most of the pics and they are very good as well. Thanks to our church photographer, Sharolyn!

Adding links to blogs and stuff

Today, tonight I should say, my Sweetie, Jeff, is at his Ham radio special event, and I am at my friend Tishia's. She is so nice to let me use her computer. I am so proud of myself that I remembered how to add a link to my blog template, after Jeff just showing me once! Yeah! I added my sister, Christie's blog, to my blog. And Jeff showed me how to make a link within my blog post, as well. He's such an intelligent person! Ok, I know I am being kinda silly right now, but that is the mood I am in.

So, stuff....(I mentioned "stuff" in my title). Jeff and I are really really happy :). And we are discovering more and more about each other. His dad made some very nice comments on his blog about how Jeff and I are "vetting". I recommend reading it. (Notice how I linked it.)

I don't know what else to write about at this moment, so I am going to save this as a draft for now, and maybe come back to it later. Tishia and I are going to watch a movie.


Well, it's Monday now. I am at work, waiting for documents to come in so I can finish my files. I had a great weekend! Jeff got finished with his ham radio special event early on Saturday, and to my surprise I might add, called me at 5:00 and then came over. We spent the evening with my kids, playing games. It was great! We played "Hitch Hiker". We put two chairs in the middle of the floor, and there is a driver and a hitch hiker. The driver 'picks up' the hitch hiker and the driver has to 'catch' the hitch hikers personality. When the driver catches their personality, the driver pulls over and the hitch hiker becomes the driver. Then another hitch hiker comes up, as soon as they think of a personality to be, and the driver picks them up, and the game is repeated. There is no objective to the game, no winners or losers, just plain fun! I think Jeff and I had a little bit of a hard time in the beginning thinking of personalities, but once we got going, it became easier. My favorite was when he chose to be dracula! Then, Sunday, we went to first service at my church, and 2nd at his. We had to get up in the middle of Pastor Steve's message, however, so Jeff could make it to his church by 10:15 to sing in the choir. Later that afternoon, we had an opportunity to explain to Pastor Steve the reason for us leaving in the middle of his sermon. He did mention that he was thinking about teasing us as we were leaving, but he changed his mind, as he didn't want us to be embarrassed, especially since it was Jeff's first visit to a regular service at our church. I'm glad he didn't tease us, because I get picked on enough by Pastor Steve! (A topic for another blog?) The rest of the afternoon, evening went well, for the most part. The Christmas Musicale at Jeff's church was last evening as well. Well, Jeff thought it started at 6:30, when in fact it started at 6:00. He was disappointed that he was late, and missed singing with the men's group. I was disappointed too that I didn't get to hear Jeff sing with the men's group, but was happy that I did get to see him sing with the full choir later. After the Musicale we went and joined the Senior High youth group. That was interesting and entertaining! I got to meet some of Jeff's "kids", who are an important part of his life, so that meant alot to me. Then we spent the rest of the evening at my apartment talking and spending time together, and just falling more in love with each other. It was a great weekend!!!