Our Christmas Season

Joshua has been on me to blog since the last time he blogged (which was quite a while ago). So, we have finally sat down to start something.

It's been a crazy few months. I don't know where October went (besides in the history books), and suddenly November was upon us. We were fanatically crazy as we prepared for my Grandma's 80th birthday celebration and, consequently, visiting relatives from Indiana and France. We thought we would get a break from the chaos and cleaning, when Thanksgiving week hit us full force, and we again found ourselves preparing for more relatives and Thanksgiving itself.

And then December came. With calls of "Christmas is only 3 weeks away!" and "Christmas is only 20 days away!" we quickly remembered that Christmas was coming upon us...along with more cleaning and chaos, as we scurried around to prepare surprises for each other, and prepare for relatives. When the Christmas is only 18 days away! call came 'round, we took a morning break and went to a Ladies Brunch that our grandparents' church puts on every year.

Grace, James, Grandma, Red, Mum, Madeline and Megan,
Ben, Emily, Rachel, Grandpa

You may, therefore ask why in the world guys are in the picture above (taken after the brunch by a patient photographer). The answer is that the guys served the ladies. Joshua and James were part of the serving crew, whilst Grace, Megan, Madeline, and Rachel were part of the eating crew. We boys enoyed the serving and te eating. In summary, it was a fantastic day!


This year, Dad started (hopefully) a new tradition. Last night, we all went outside to the burn pile and had s'mores while singing Christmas carols. It was a strange phenomenon: s'mores, a fire, and a cool night, in the beginning of December! The fire was "big," and there was no wind, so it didn't seem that cold. It could've almost been any summer day...save that we had to go in at about 6 , as the fire was low, and it was PITCH BLACK outside! Ok, the temperture being about 20 or less degrees outside was a little different from a summer night. All the same, I hope we will be able to continue the tradition next year!

We then decorated the Christmas tree and hung up our stockings. Sometimes on the mantle, sometimes on our little brother, who, for the Christmas season, is dubbed Sockery instead of Zachary.

Pictured below is this seasonal sibling...

 I hope you all are having a fantastic time getting ready for Christmas!

Red and Ray (a.k.a. Joshua and Rachel): editor of the CODERLAMBIAN