Cap'n Kidd or is it Cap'n Hook?
Shiver me timbers!
Look at Sharice! The chase is making full sail.
Sail ho! Andy is plotting his course. 
Me proud beauty wishes all, Godspeed!
Aye, Aye! This Lad Sam is one of the crew!
Beware, The Black Spot! These mateys are the reason for me finding bullets in my clothing
as I readied for the eve's sleep!
Dogs ahoy!
(Equivalent of "Things to kill, straight ahead.")
Fair Winds! Dawn looks friendly
but she knows how to use her blaster.
The Walter Gisel Family celebrated Christmas yesterday. We have one tradition. We sing The 12 Days of Christmas. We have been doing this for so many years that it seems normal and benign. However, we realize that it can be intimidating to each new in-law and understandably they occasionally wonder about our sanity. This year, Amy brought costumes that even caused some of us to wonder. . . Brian, agreeing to participate in Day Eight before he discovered the full ramifications of that day’s costume, played the part with style and class. TJ looked lovely as he represented the nine dancing ladies. Our soon to be family member, Bethany, endeared herself to all of us by leaping with such joy that our photos could only capture a blur. We enjoyed our cell phone calling birds and our swans swimming with their goggles. Ryan loved marching and playing the drum so much that following the 12 Days, we segwayed into The Little Drummer Boy so that he could continue having a percussion part.
Eleven pipers piping. . .
Ten lords a-leaping. . .
Our drama queen, Morgan, playing Mary, does a great job. She is so pretty and sweet and nurturing that it is not hard to imagine her as a young mother and that is a scary thought for all of us.
Kent played a wild-haired Joseph. Joseph could have been quite confused by the whole situation and his restless sleep probably caused his hair to be a bit unkempt. Kent’s sense of humor makes all of us smile!
The sweetest of all shepherds was Seamus. Just look at that face as he worshipped the baby. I think that is how the shepherds truly looked. Watching him, reminded me that that is why we are told to become like a child.
Steven buddying up with Seamus to let him think that being a shepherd was a big kid’s role. That was just too dear.
Jessica, tired of playing the girl’s roles became a very fierce King Herod. She would have scared me.
Kathi made my day today. She was supportive and encouraging and said, “This play has become our family thing.” It meant a lot for me to hear Kathi say that because I started the McDonell Christmas dramas. I married into this family. They are not mine even though I love them very much. I yearn for my family. My heart gets very heavy and sad. Today when Kathi spoke about the drama, I knew our family included me. It was a good Christmas.
From Greg and Connie, Bob and I received a beautiful handcrafted decoration for our hallway. I love how it enhanses our entryway.
Three of us in the neighborhood always get together—even if just for a short visit at Christmastime. We are so thankful for our friendship and exchange a small gift. From Cindy we received a sweet ornament that says “Hope”—because we bring each other hope and a purse with stationary. Both Mary and Cindy brainstormed and loaned me items and shared ideas when I planned a shopping bridal shower. From Mary I received the cutest coffee cup and candles that smell like coffee—a reminder of our heartwarming coffee chats.
From my dear friend Ellie I received a wonderful Yankee candle that smells like balsam and cedar—I am reminded of her generosity and goodness each day. Recently while preparing for our small group Bible study, I read Hosea 14: 5 & 6. The study was regarding a clear conscience. The chapter title is “Repentance Brings Blessings” and is regarding Israel turning back to the Lord. We can apply these verses to ourselves as well when we repent and make things right with God. I love the freshness, joy, and fragrance of Ellie’s candle and friendship and the freshness, joy, and fragrance of a clean conscience.
I will be like the dew to Israel;
he will blossom like a lily.
Like a cedar of Lebanon
he will send down his roots;
his young shoots will grow.
His splendor will be like an olive tree,
his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.
I must also tell of Kathy’s gift from Port Townsend, WA. She gave me some gifts typical of her locale—Goddess Chi Wild Sage Tea and tea wrappers. (I cannot read anything on the package except Made in Japan.) This next gift is one of my favorites. Only your good friends get you what you need but don’t even know to write on a list. She got me an Elixir tonic called Mind Over Muddle. She says it really works and I am definitely a good test case. To my surprise, it tastes good—but I don’t think that is the point of it.
And this, friends, is the neat and orderly project progress that I showed Bob when he got home from traveling. I think he was impressed.
Yes that is a boom box in the back corner and a space heater--all the comforts of home.
Our neighbor, Carrie Clousing got married on Saturday to Matt Stowell. It was a precious wedding, beautiful in every way.
In addition to the wedding we enjoyed sweet fellowship with good friends, Dan and Kathy Waterkotte. They celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary on the same day that Carrie and Matt were married. My sons and I spent many summer vacations with Dan and Kathy and Cindy and Jim on Bull Shoals Lake in Arkansas. We love them all so much! Dan and Jim taught my sons how to water ski, water safety, how to drive a boat and many more life lessons . . . and all of the time being wonderful Christan role models. They also make me laugh . . .definitely happy days and memories for all of us!
Bev, Judy, Nancy, Debbie, Nancy (front)
Good friends help us laugh at all of our problems! We all feel better when we whine together!!Eighteen years ago--in 1989, some girlfriends started meeting for breakfast on the second Monday of every month. You have heard of the organization called MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). We called our group MOCKS an acronym for Mothers of College Kids. Since that time all of our kids have graduated from college, we are all mothers-in-law now and we are all grandmothers. I just counted and I know that among the eight of us there are 57 grandchildren—maybe I even missed some.
We have become a sisterhood of sorts. At breakfasts, we have shared our tears and our laughter. The group has saved our husbands hundreds of dollars that we otherwise would have needed for therapy and counseling. We do not limit our times together anymore to once a month breakfast—that is just the only protected date that we have on our calendar. We love to get together whenever we can think of an excuse. Sometimes we even invite our husbands.
Today we went to Long Grove and did some Christmas shopping. I don’t even like to shop and I shopped with the best of them today. It is so much easier to find great buys when you are in a group! Debbie made the discovery of the day—a traveling picture for our group. We will bring it each 2nd Monday of the month to breakfast. At each breakfast we will decide a worthy friend that should keep the picture for a month and then bring it back the following month. You’ve perhaps heard of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. We relate.
Ryan, probably my most enthusiastic model.I love sending and receiving cards. It makes me feel connected to friends and relatives. I read every letter and look at every picture. But sending cards out is a process. I start thinking about the next year’s card when I have mailed my current cards. Not completely consciously just when I notice a particularly interesting card, I file that somewhere in the recesses of my mind for use maybe next year. I love family picture cards but unfortunately it is very rare when our whole family is together and organizing a picture –well, if you are the matriarch of a family—I need to say no more. I admire those families that regularly pull it together.
Once and awhile I come up with an idea right away and stick with it. That has probably happened twice. Then sometimes on a road trip in the fall, I start putting together ideas. But sometimes, December 1st comes and my mind is still blank on cards. One year around the first of December, I went to the Wheaton Public Library and sat on the floor looking at children’s Christmas books for an afternoon. I used an idea that I got while there but I never did like that card. I liked the first creative card that I did. It was lots of fun to do and I had the idea early in the year in plenty of time to hone it. It is kind of sad when the first thing you create is your last great idea.
This year, I kept my eyes open all year not really desperate for an idea but hoping for an inspiration. One time I went into Alphagraphics for some project and saw a picture on their bulletin board. It had six adults all in the same kind of chair—just sitting and looking good. I think they were all people that worked there. I spent a few minutes studying their poses and smiles. December 1st came and went this year and I did not have any better inspiration so I decided to take photos of our family sitting in their kitchen chairs. My family is tolerant— resigned, knowing that if they do not cooperate, I will create a picture of them in Photoshop. After I had the pictures and got rid of all of the backgrounds in Photoshop, I thought an accordion fold card would be fun. However it was far too costly. Two of my family mentioned during the picture taking something like, “It doesn’t matter what I look like because the people on your cards are so small that you can’t really recognize who they are anyhow.” Okay, so I made them as large as possible and put them on an 8 ½ X 14. I just couldn’t send it out. It was too presumptuous to mail that large of a picture of my family. I reworked it and got all of them to fit on an 8 ½ by 11. The pictures taken on different days in various homes at various times had all kinds of lighting issues. I decided to print them in black and white. They looked so dull. I remembered liking Lois’s red and black Christmas Tea table so I decided a touch of red would help. The problem was I needed to create red on a few more people to balance the picture so Ryan, and Kathi and Steven—sorry about the changes in your clothing. I was ready to proceed except there was no caption for the card—just 21 people sitting in chairs. I wondered about submitting it somewhere on the internet for a best caption but worried that the captions might not be fit to print.
I have an Order for Christmas that helps me mostly get everything done that needs to be done and leaves the least important items until last. My days came and went on my Order schedule when I had to have the card completed. I wrote up a small poem. Bob wondered why I was up until 1:30 a.m. but I was really digging deep this year for inspiration. (That is a disclaimer when you get the card.) Then came the arduous task of deciding whether to print cards at home—testing various papers—getting estimates from three places and waiting in line to place an order. Woops! I saved them in Word 2007 and needed to return home and bring another file back with them saved as a 1997-2003 document. That accomplished, I bought envelopes and realized that when I got a new computer in April, I did not save last year’s Christmas addresses. So that is why none of you are getting Christmas cards from me. Just kidding. I cannot quit now. I am working on those addresses. If you don’t get a comment on your card and if you are in the beginning of the alphabet, your card will be in the mail in a couple of days. The others will come a bit later. I am feeling good--like I am ready to move on to the next project of my Christmas Order but first of all—a basketball game, a Wheaton College concert, a neighborhood gathering, hors doerves, a women’s day out trip to Long Grove and two birthday parties. Christmas will have to wait a little longer.
I do love weddings! For twelve years, I was a wedding coordinator at Wheaton Bible Church. During that time, I found that my very favorite weddings were when a couple is in their 30’s or older and getting married for the first time. Their happiness is so contagious and it would cause Bob and I to sit in the back row and hold hands and remember how we had fallen in love. My new best favorite type of wedding is when two people have lost their spouses and have found love again.
Rhonda Williams’s husband, Tom was such a very special person. He was a head surgeon at Central DuPage Hospital. He was helpful, effervescent, did many missionary trips, and lots of fun. He was also the best friend of our pastor, Rob Bugh. They owned a ski boat together and were both barefoot water skiers. Tom died at age 49 in April 2005 after having been sick for only four months with throat cancer. He has three children. Tom had so much to offer. God had other plans.
Our pastor’s wife, Carol Bugh was beautiful inside and out. She was a quiet woman of faith and kept her home and family of three daughters and a son functioning with Rob’s demanding schedule. She was also fun loving and athletic, a skier and climber. She was diagnosed with colon cancer and died one year later in August of 2006 at age 50.
Those two deaths rocked our church and we grieved deeply. People in the congregation began to pray for Rhonda and Rob. Though afraid to mention it out loud, they wondered in their hearts if Rhonda and Rob could find love again and maybe with each other. And yes, they have.
Our pastor Rob and Rhonda Williams (a pediatrician) will always miss their first loves, Carol and Tom. But God has given them a second opportunity at love. They are so very cute together like teenagers almost. We are thrilled that they will be married next weekend. Their love story makes me smile. We wish them much happiness!
Nicole posted these questions. So here they are for you. Answer them and post them on your blog or email me your answers. Don't you just love Christmas!
These are pictures of Lilly's room--just in case you thought I was stretching the truth on Nicole being the quintessential home decorator.
