More Christmas photos

Jonathan's special Christmas gift to me was a repair kit for my autoharp! He bought all new chording bars with the felt pads so that now I have all the chords! He spent a while Christmas morning switching the old to the new. Before he screwed it all down, he wanted me to strum some chords to make sure everything was all right.

It was not! The chords sounded worse than awful. Every one of them sounded awful. We were appalled. What had gone wrong? Jonathan finally figured out that he had put all the bars in backwards, but it was not his fault. The factory had done it backwards to start with. So, he carefully turned all the bars around, and sure enough, now the notes sounded right! I so appreciated Jonathan doing this for me for a lovely Christmas gift.

Christmas morning we had saved a couple gifts apiece to open. Here are Timmy and Danny with their new little tractors Jonathan got at Big R.
We thought we would get a picture of the Christmas mess after opening gifts Christmas eve, just for fun. Then I wasn't sure whether I wanted such a picture on my blog or not! Then I decided that this is the kind of picture that make people laugh and feel better about themselves, so here it is!

Remember it could be worse! I probably already had picked up a lot of wrapping paper! When you consider gifts for nine people... I hadn't expected so many gifts for each other, but the children had secretly knitted, bought, gotten free, or otherwise managed to put together quite a few gifts of their own!
Now below are Crystal and Rose on Christmas morning on our way to Grandma's, ready to drop off a Christmas fruit basket and fresh pineapple which we had forgotten to take to some friends the day before when Jonathan and the boys took them a load of firewood. It wasn't quite like the good deed we had just read about in a Christmas story by Louisa May Alcott, when a rich man took a load of firewood and other nice gift items to a poor family, because we were taking the firewood as exchange for help our friend gave us. But still, it was fun to do it on Christmas Eve. The boys and Jonathan helped stack it, and our friend said he would cover up the pile and surprise his wife with it on Christmas morning!

Christmas Eve Day while the boys were helping their dad with the load of firewood, getting hay and other errands, the girls and I went to Elizabeth to buy and bring home the newest addition to our farmette--a French Alpine buck goat. We put him in the back of the van, and he did great coming home. Now he is making friends with our does.

Christmas at Grandma and Pa Lucas's

Jonathan visits with Grandpa. On the table were some goodies we brought along: a big fruit basket; a dish with cheeseballs formed into a snowman (the hottest, spiciest middle belly ball got eaten up first!), a dish of fresh pineapple, and a big carton of chocolate mint whoopie pies. Here is one view of the long table (or should I say tables?) in Grandma and pa's dining and living room. The ladies in the very front are Jonathan's sisters, Esther on the left and Barbara on the right. Ruth, Dave's wife, is beyond Barbara, and across from her is her daughter, Cheryl who is a little older than Crystal. Stacy is between Esther and Cheryl but you wouldn't know it because she is trying to hide from the camera as usual!! :)

Grandpa got some of the families together by their tree for a picture. Dave and Ruth's family didn't get together for a picture until late in the afternoon, when my camera was gone, so I missed getting a picture of their family. Too bad! Below is Jonathan's brother Robert with his wife Julie, and their two girls, Danielle and Cassady.

Here is Jonathan's sister Esther, with her husband, Jon, and their children, Stacy, Vanessa, Rebekah, and Ryan.

Let's see. Which brother and family is this?

Our Christmas Project for Christian Aid Ministries

One of our family's favorite ministries is Christian Aid Ministry, a conservative Mennonite organization in Ohio. We receive their monthly newsletters and their disaster relief updates. If there is a disaster in the world such as the tsunami in India, or Hurricane Katrina, they immediately send relief. They send humanitarian aid, men to help rebuild, and of course, Bibles and gospel literature.
They also have a project catalogue with ways for ordinary people like us to help. You can put together school backpacks, hygiene kits, or layette bundles for babies who have nothing. This year, we chose to use some puppy money to do projects for CAM. The girls were very excited about putting together layette bundles for a Christmas gift for Jesus. Here we are shopping at Walmart for the necessary items.

The catalogue had a list of exactly what needed to be in each bundle: six diapers, a large baby blanket and a receiving blanket, diaper pins, plastic pants, two onesies, two sleepers of different sizes, two pairs of socks, and a baby cap. They had to be new because of customs regulations in certain countries. The girls are choosing blankets.

It's hard to get pictures to be in order on this blog. In the next post, there are pictures of us putting the layettes together. THe girls put theirs for baby girls together with a friend, and my Sunday School class then put together two bundles for baby boys. On Christmas Sunday, after class when we sometimes go up front to sing or say a verse, my class went up front with the bundles. I wanted them to have a way to feel that they were giving the gifts to Jesus for Christmas. There was already a manger for the evening program, and we had put straw in it. Now the children are ready to go up to lay their gifts in the manger, just as if it were truly for baby Jesus. And I assured them that indeed it WAS for Jesus, because He said that if we did anything in love for one of His brethren, we were doing it for Him.

Here the children have laid their bundles in the manger, and we are getting ready to kneel at the manger to pray for the babies and their mothers and daddies who would receive the bundles. The whole congregation joined us as we prayed. More than one person was touched or moved to tears with this simple time of giving to Jesus.

I was concerned that perhaps some would think we were flaunting our giving. Doesn't the Bible say not to let your left hand know what your right hand is doing? Didn't Jesus condemn the Pharisees for doing their alms to be seen of men? Didn't He say we should pray in secret? Yes, He did. But at the same time, He said, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." He also said, "I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting." It is all about the spirit in which you give. If you are standing on street corners, praying or giving so people will see you and glorify you, you are wrong. But if you do something to bring glory to your Father in heaven, that is acceptable to God.
One reason I put these pictures and this project on this blog is to encourage and inspire any of you who are reading this, to consider doing something similar each Christmas. If Christmas is really about Jesus, how about actually treating Christmas that way? How about actually giving gifts to someone in real need who can't repay you? So often we only give gifts to those who will give back to us. But what about making sure we are doing something JUST for Jesus? This year, this is something we did, and we were SOO thrilled to do it.

Visiting the St. Louis Arch

Jonathan bought me these flowers for our anniversary. So here's the Sweet Sixteen anniversary smooch! This arch should have been over the smooch.
Instead, Timmy is under the arch. And now, below, Danny and his daddy are under the arch. These pictures were taken a couple weeks ago during our trip back east to a friend's wedding in Indiana and to visit my folks in Illinois.

Climbing the steps to the St. Louis Arch.

Below, we are taking a walk near the arch under these beautiful shade trees.

Glen Eyrie Castle

I loved the beautiful bedrooms in the second story of the castle, with the gorgeous lace curtains, pretty wallpaper, and old fashioned furniture, and fireplaces in every room. People can stay in these rooms--for a nice price. Jonathan looking, too.
William Palmer had a bell to call his household together for conferences. Because it was our anniversary, Jonathan was given the privilege of ringing the bell!

I loved all the beautiful flowers in pots. These were near the Carriage house, where the tour began.

And here are more flowers--nasturtiums and snapdragons. They were so beautiful.

Sweet 16th anniversary!

Last week, Jonathan and I celebrated our 16th anniversary. The girls were excited about setting the breakfast table with a pretty, white table cloth. Jonathan made omellettes.

After packing a lunch, sending off a last-minute proposal by email, and loading a very heavy floor sanding machine to take to a friend, Jonathan and I were on our way to town. We had made plans to visit Glen Eyrie Castle just outside Colorado Springs near Garden of the Gods, and had an 11:00 appointment for a castle tour. We started off about 17 minutes late, and were afraid we might not make it in time, but thanks to Jonathan, we made it just in time! Here we are in front of the castle during the tour.
This castle was built by William Jackson Palmer, who founded Colorado Springs as a railroad stop between Denver and Santa Fe. The first part of the tour was a story by the guide and from a DVD about the early years of the castle. It was very interesting to not only learn about the castle's history, but the history of Colorado Springs as well.

In the picture above, Jonathan is peering into the 200-ft. long tunnel that Palmer dug from the castle to the carriage house, so that in bad weather he would not have to walk all the way to his horse stalls. I told Jonathan I guarantee he did not do the digging. He had how many servants, and he probably hired diggers. He must have had a lot of money, for all the trips he made to Europe to buy things for his castle. But for all his money, he lost his wife at the age of 44. She never saw his castle. That was so sad.

Here Jonathan is posing in front of the entrance to the castle, with red rocks in the background.

At the castle door.

Birthday time at Lucases!

We have four birthdays in less than two weeks! First one in April is Jonathan's. He wanted peanut butter pie instead of cake. The girls made it for him since I was busy taking care of a sick puppy.

Blow those candles out, Daddy!

Carrie wanted several of her friends to come to her party, so we had a picnic in town. It was rather chilly, which is why some are wearing jackets. Emily Duddeck, Michelle Giordano and Vanessa McVey are pictured here with Rose and Carrie. We had to change plans about which day to have it, and I only had a few hours to prepare the sloppy joes and two cakes. Carrie made the cakes, and we just put on some boughten icing. Very simple. Sorry, nothing fancy with only a few hours notice. But she had fun.

One of her gifts was a large art book from our friends the OMaley's. Carrie in this picture is letting her friend Emily choose a page to take home with her.

Then we had our own little home celebration on her real birthday several days later. Eleven years old. Here is her pile of pretty presents including books, Story Hour CD's, a hoop and other things.

We have four birthdays in less than two weeks around here!