Anticipating Christmas

 All the preparations for the Big Event we celebrate create eager anticipation, even longing. Christmas greetings coming in and going out - some in the form of cards, and increasingly more via the internet. 

An annual bike ride Michael enjoys is the Luminary, to see the Christmas lights in areas of Indianapolis. He decorated his bicycle for the occasion. There were only seven riders from Muncie who joined hundreds of others. Unfortunately, the people who used to serve hot chocolate and cookies were not there. 

 

As usual I spent time at my writing desk. This was the view one morning, the moon was still up. The trees are bare now, the weather is very mild for this time of year, and anyone wishing for a white Christmas will be disappointed.

Memories of past Christmases surfaced every day. Here a few favorites from last year. I had forgotten the one representing Mary, Joseph and the baby, which was intended for use as our next Christmas card. Sadly I totally forgot.

Below it you can see how much the babe has grown.

Anticipation took on different aspects. At Stephan and Karen's new house, work accelerated hoping to be ready to host the annual Christmas Eve Brunch and Koch family gift exchange. Read about it here.

If you got all the way through you learned that there was a change of plans. The family event was postponed for a week. The brothers were most definitely sleep deprived working through the night, and their dad spent many hours there as well. The brunch, however, was still on, with one difference - it would be a carry-in instead of the Chef's usual fare.

That's where my hours in the kitchen came in preparing: baked oatmeal, torta pascualina (Argentine spinach pie), Grandma Hoyt's fruit salad, Sharon's sweet potatoes in orange cups. 

So, we had a memorable last brunch in the old house, crowded but cozy and happy. 

I especially enjoyed having the families of our two greats there.

There was also a 16-day-old baby in the crowd. The protective mama allowed Karen the privilege of a few moments. That's when I came up with a question and my camera! She protested, "You can't expect me to answer and take a picture at the same time!" (Sorry, Karen.)

Then there was a tour of the new house to observe the progress and a few family photos outside.

Christmas Day is very different as empty-nesters.  It was a rather quiet time with only Diane here. I confess to feeling depressed. 

I treasured each glimpse into the home celebrations - the old and the new traditions.

Grandma Linda makes pj's for each of the grands every year and that is one gift they open Christmas Eve.

2020                 2021

Kayla's house looks Christmas-card worthy in preparation for the joyful family time. Thank you, Matt, for this snapshot.

On Instagram I followed the household celebrations at Sam and Kristie's and also Malachi and Lexi's.

These beautiful internet gifts ministered to my soul! 

And here's another favorite memory, one of the last Christmases with Mother.

Festivities are not over. The Koch family celebration is now scheduled for New Year's Day! 

2018 Week 51: Christmas Chaos

Christmas is over, now it's time to reflect and recover.

Let's look back over the week.The Wednesday after the last blog post, I surprised Mother for a short visit. I was there for her quarterly care plan conference. Her annual cognitive and mood evaluation was better than the last one. She knew all the answers. Short term memory is to be expected at her age, but given some clues and reminders she is able to recall. And her mood and attitude are amazing. The social worker says, "If I live to be 97, I want to be like Mrs. Hoyt."

We looked at her new cards and photos, arranged them on the bulletin board, and visited Aunt Margaret.

A few of us enjoyed painting tiles again in our weekly art club, and chatting, of course.

My favorite is the one on the right.

Jimmy's gift needed to be delivered to free up space in Mike's car so we went over to their house and got to enjoy Leah's decorations.

Later that night, a note and photo told us that Jimmy and his gift had already bonded.

Almost every spare moment until Christmas was spent preparing and wrapping gifts, writing notes, mailing letters, cleaning and tidying the house.

Our first Christmas celebration event was Stephan and Karen's annual brunch--lots of good food and conversation, catching up with friends we hadn't seen in a long time. 

It was a beautifully sunny day.  Most of us went out for a walk to and through the woods. On the way past the little pond I noticed a couple frozen frogs. Are they simply hibernating? Will they come back to life?

Kayla couldn't forget the fun family tradition of her growing up years--Christmas Eve meal of artichokes and shrimp. She invited us over for an evening of snack type food and fun. We attempted the artichoke meal a couple days later at our family gathering.

How do you like Rebecca's horse? She had to settle for a stuffed one instead of the real thing.

Lego constructions were a team effort. Sorting the colors helped.

The next day Michael, Diane and I traveled North to have Christmas dinner with Mother in the main dining room.  

And finally on the 26th in the afternoon everyone came to our house. That's when things became happily chaotic.

We talked about who's birthday we were celebrating and what would we give Him. 

Jude (6) said, "Myself. He already has my gift."

We were reminded of the message of the song about the little drummer boy who honors God with his gift and talent of playing music. 

The number of Christmas stockings grows with each new girlfriend. However, this year I added a golden one on the stairs to represent Jesus and to remind us of how we may honor Him. 

Among the many gifts were a Kathryn Hoyt original painting for each of her Koch grandchildren.

Here are some of my favorite pictures. Thank you, Leah.

All the young uns 20 and under

Only a few years ago Elijah used to measure up to me every time he came over. He just couldn't wait to be taller than me, no great feat really. Look at him now at age 13, almost 14.

And now, the final family event is a three-day vacation in a big house near Madison, IN. More about that next week in the last Meemaw Moments post.

2015 Christmas Week

I've really enjoyed these mini nativities on the kitchen window sill and thinking about the story they represent. It has to be the most repeated story.

Teeny tiniest from Mexico                          Nativity from Argentina                                        Leah's clay creation 

The greatest story ever told is repeated in many forms of music throughout the entire season anywhere and everywhere.

Sunday morning the smallest children sang a couple carols. Such sweet faces and genuine expressions!          

Monday was basically dedicated to calculating final semester grades for the last class, Tuesday to more shopping, and Wednesday to wrapping and labeling gifts. 

Thursday, Stephan and Karen hosted their traditional annual Christmas Eve brunch.

Great food and fellowship. Always a fun time with old and new friends.

Christmas morning dawned mild and sunny. Deer grazed in the pasture.

We had all morning to prepare for the family gathering.
Among the first to arrive was my favorite great granddaughter. We quickly discovered that our Christmas outfits matched!

As usual Rebecca was the favored little princess.

Michael served us our choice of turkey and/or ham.

The Christmas story this year held everyone's attention. It was told by very small children and acted by adults--Movie on Cwismas.

The pile of gifts loomed monumental, even the stockings on the loft railing were stuffed full. Every year I think and talk about cutting back, but it never happens. Perhaps it is a small but fitting reflection of the divine generosity we celebrate at Christmas.

However, we were reminded by the absence of one of our family members that far more important than presents is presence.

The little ones enjoying some new toys.

The lovely Kayla modeling a new hat

Everyone lingered as late as possible, enjoying, eating, laughing, playing games. Sam and Kristie's boys spent the night. This scene reminded me of similar ones many Christmases past (minus the pottery display).

We continued the family fun the next morning. At one point I sat at the piano to play and sing Christmas carols. I used a Little Golden Book from my childhood and had to laugh when I saw the names and how to read them. At the time I only had two brothers. Two more were born years later.

What surprised me most, and made me very happy, was the sustained interest of the little guys. We actually got through ALL the carols. Of course, toward the end, little hands were playing along.

So now Mike and I are taking off for a couple days alone!