More Christmas

At first we thought that we would have a quiet Christmas. Art's parents called on the 23rd and asked us not to come down to the island to spend Christmas with them. Apparently, the streets of Oak Harbor were pretty treacherous, and they wanted us to be safe. Also, since Art's mom is from the Philippines, she used to celebrate Christmas in January. Delaying Christmas would be no big deal.

Then, on Christmas morning, we got a phone call that they were coming up! Remember when I barely had a night's notice to get ready for Thanksgiving? Well, this time I only had TWO hours. We jumped out of bed, I quickly showered, and Art helped me wash the dishes, tidy up, and vacuum.

Thankfully, we didn't have to do as much cooking, so my kitchen still stayed fairly clean. Just warmed up a ham, got out the leftovers, and casually ate and played games for a few hours. Art's parents gave us a hefty wad of cash for Christmas, so adding that to my parents' cash gift, we're set for January. Praise God; didn't He say He would meet our needs?

Some other great news: my bronchitis is gone. It's been gone for a while, actually, I just forgot to mention it. I knew it would have to leave at some point. I survived. And one HUGE praise item: we FINALLY sent away my greencard paperwork! They should have gotten it by now, so we're hoping to get a receipt-of-notice this next week. Of course, we're hoping that notice also tells us that we've been approved. It would be a huge setback and disappointment if they sent it back and told us we made a mistake, or that something isn't relevant anymore (like my medical examination, which is a few months old). So it's a praise AND a prayer item. Hopinghopinghopinghopinghoping.

And now, here are some pictures from the first snowfall (which is almost all gone now, because it's been raining).


The front of the house


The back of the house


Our little tree


Joe and Mari being silly







Mari, Phil, and Joe



Oh my....


This one is apparently called "A.D.D. Roommates"


Awwwwwwwwwwww!


Okay, these pictures are from last year, but I wanted to show you what our stockings look like. My mom crossstiched the pictures and made the stockings herself. Isn't she talented?







And no, we don't have our stockings. They stayed with my parents. They'll be used whenever we go there for Christmas.


These are the outdoor snow pictures. We had a lot of fun.







Art was being silly on purpose, which is too bad, because the pictures turned out pretty good. Maybe I should just crop him out.




Art, Wayne, Joe, and Phil



YMCA, just in case you can't see that.


Sisters!


(These pictures are also on Facebook, so if we're friends, you can also look at them over there (and comment!).

So that's winter. That's Christmas. The snow is almost gone, and so are the holidays. It's been good!