Go Tell it "Over" the Mountain

The church we are going to is new, and very small, with only about 30 people there for our Christmas service yesterday. We had a family service where all the kids joined us and we sang a lot of Christmas carols, the kids got to go down front for some of the carols and while the pastor sat in a rocking chair and read the Christmas story, and then we had a fellowship lunch afterwards. They were asking for requests for the Christmas carols, and when they were done, the pastor got ready to read the Christmas story. At the very last second, Anna piped up that she wanted to sing Go Tell it "Over" the Mountain. So, the pianist played it, and the music minister squatted down and he and Anna led us all in singing her song. She was too cute up there in front of everyone singing just as proudly as she could.

(Sorry that the picture is not great quality, but at least you can get an idea of what it looked like).

Nurse (or Doctor) Anna

Last week, Anna had a little bit of a stomach virus. So, she got to stay home from school and had a wet rag on her head and an empty trash can nearby to throw up in.
This morning, I was feeling a little nauseated, so Anna got a wet rag to put on my head. Then she went and found a trash can, emptied it into another trash can, and brought it to me with instructions - if you have to throw up, do it in this can. Then for a little extra good measure, brought me a book to look at, a present from under the tree, and used dry washrags to cover up my bare feet and hands.
She says that when she gets big, she is going to work at my office and be a doctor like me, and that her kids are going to go to her school. She is on her way!!

Merry Christmas - Our Christmas Card

Christmas Tree Hunting

Friday night, just before dark, we decided to get a Christmas Tree. The farm where we were going to get the Christmas tree closes at dark, but we thought we might be able to get there in time to get one. We knew that we were going to have a busy weekend, so we wanted to go ahead and get the tree. We should have known it wasn't a good idea when the kids were sound asleep by the time we got to the farm, which is only about 10 minutes from our house. So, we got there in time that they let us in. It was really dark and they didn't have any more lanterns, so we were picking out the tree in the dark. We had only the flash from the camera, and little LED lights on our cell phone. But we found this beautiful tree. Anna held the 2 cell phones with their little lights while Joey cut down the tree. Then we had some free apple cider while they trimmed the bottom of the tree and wrapped it and Joey put it in the car. It isn't really obvious in this picture, but Will was bundled up like the kid on A Christmas Story, waddling around at the Christmas tree farm.

When we got home, we put the Christmas tree in the stand and realized that it probably isn't a good idea to pick out a Christmas tree in the dark. And, yes, the bottom of the trunk is straight in the stand.

Will's First Haircut