Christmas/New Year

This last week of 2021 led up to our family Christmas/New Years celebration.

I greatly admired the Nativity display at the house where our home group met Sunday, so I borrowed it for the post opener.

The weather was mild all week. I walked a couple times, once to the bridge nearby and was surprised to see how high the river was. 

One of those times I crossed paths with this handsome biker.

Rebecca and I had a delightful day together on Wednesday. She pretty near mastered one of her piano pieces. I played the accompaniment. We had fun.

Thursday, the 30th, the robotics team had a party - a movie and games. I came toward the end and joined in a game of Nerts. Great fun.

All week long the work on Stephan and Karen's new house continued steadily in eager readiness for our family get together Saturday. Here is Karen's summary:  Finishing up kitchen and bathrooms

Despite their state of exhaustion, they welcomed us into their lovely space, still in transition.

I came early with the food I'd worked on for a day and a half, and hung the stockings on the stairs.

The family units arrived one by one. Then the fun began! 

As usual, there was more than enough food. 

This was the second or third time that we I drew names and assigned one to each member. The secret gift-givers presented theirs in turn to the youngest first and in order to the oldest  (guess who).  We all watched and enjoyed each surprise and reaction  Sadly six members were missing.

Then it was game time! We introduced some to a new one, AZUL, and had two games going on at the same time, with Splendor on the other end of the table. After which we all joined in a round of Hand and Foot. Just wish we could do this more often.

Hand and Foot (the table is not really V shaped :-)

This is my Christmas loot. There is a small  . . . . . in the little box on the right, something I collect. Can you fill in the blank?

And now, blessings in the New Year to all my faithful readers and friends!

THE END

P.S.: Very seriously considering ending this weekly blog. Don't know if I can, as it's become such a habit.

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! 

Transitions

We had a few beautifully sunny days and somewhat warmer days, very inviting to go out for walks. 

Michael also took advantage of clear days to continue felling trees, cutting up huge logs, splitting wood, adding to the winter supply.

Most other days he was at Stephan's hanging light fixtures.

Son Sam worked there also installing kitchen cabinets.

Karen continues to blog about the house-progress.

I spent a few days on my various blogs. This weekly one is the least time-consuming. The two versions of my life stories, English and Spanish required more time to edit, review the translation and schedule to publish chapter 19 - Life in the Big House - for the December 1st deadline. 

Wednesday was the last Basics program for the year. Rebecca and I got to hang out together. When I dropped her off at home after, I realized I hadn't taken a picture in her holiday outfit, so she posed for me in front of their lovely Christmas tree. (Oops, her head is falling off ;-)

The robotics team is gearing up for the new season to begin in early January so they transitioned to two meetings per week. I stopped by on my way home from Muncie and enjoyed seeing how much fun the students were having putting the robot back together.

As I walked out, I looked through old photos and found this one of Sam from the time Elijah had been on the team. 

I had just spent time with Sam. He joined me at a meeting in Muncie. I was greatly relieved to hear from him the doctor's assessment of the recent MRIs. Comparing the recent ones with the previous ones taken in 2016, he did not see a significant enough change in the cyst to warrant any action. This is a great relief.

Friday evening we welcomed Bethany who is on home assignment from her work in Tanzania with Mavuno Village, a family-style orphanage.

We found out she loves to play games too. So we had a fun time playing Splendor first. Then she introduced us to a new game she had with her--AZUL.

Saturday she began her long drive to Philadelphia after more good conversation at breakfast and a quick selfie. We are truly grateful for the friends who find their way to our home, the blessing of living in the Crossroads of America.

Saturday evening we attended a Christmas performance at The Commons Theatre in Alexandria. Our friend Tamara was one of the directors (and I borrowed this photo from her FB page).

As if Michael had not done enough, at the end of a busy Sunday, he decided to make bread!

"What kind shall I make? What shall I listen to in the process?"

We slowly transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas. I envy those who are able to decorate the day after Thanksgiving. Somehow it has never worked for me. What about you?

Miscellany

Cousin Karin cheers us with flowers from different seasons--sunflowers, roses, and lilies. They are not from her garden. The memorial bouquet arrived after her brother Ed's passing. 

The season not represented in the bouquet showed up here on Sunday--our first snowfall.

Now, back to last Sunday, the beginning of week forty-six. In the afternoon, I attended a baby shower for a young couple we've befriended since they moved back to Upland to start a new life after some difficult times. 

Monday Night Dinner at Stephan and Karen's always includes a great meal, fun conversation, and of course, a tour of the new house to check out the week's progress. The window wall is coming right along. Stephan used left over wood he had milled for other purposes.

As any homeowner understands, maintenance and repairs are ongoing. Tuesday, a blocked drain took hours to fix. Part of the problem was not knowing exactly how the plumbing had been installed when the house was rebuilt.

Rebecca was here twice this week! Wednesday after piano lesson she comes and then we go to the Basics program at the church. And Friday was an E-learning day, so she started out at the library with her mom, stayed for Story Hour and then I picked her up to spend a few hours with us until Kayla got off work.

Kayla is in charge of activities and programs at the local library, and comes up with very creative ideas. Even if borrowed from Pinterest or elsewhere, I am always impressed at how she pulls them off. The first thing she did was hand me a leaf to add to the tree with my response to "I'm thankful for. . ."

Of all the many activities we enjoyed together, I only got one photo of Rebecca. She finished several of her E-learning assignments: writing, reading, and optional fun ones--a walk outdoors gathering leaves, an art project, a board game (Splendor!) with family members (abuelo joined us!). She still loves to dance freely to music.

Michael had more time Saturday after an early morning hunt, so he baked bread again!

Callah bread

That evening he suggested we work on a watercolor project. He looked up a photo that best reminded him of his last dog. I simply followed a tutorial. I'd say he has the greater talent and patience.

For months now, my creative energy has been poured into writing, so I was grateful for his suggestion of this art activity for our leisure time together. 

Have you found time for creative activities in your leisure time? Or, do you ask "What leisure time"?

Last week of October

 We do enjoy the cozy feeling and fragrance of candles on autumn evenings.

Autumn decor

Fall changes happened almost suddenly. These two pictures of what I see out of my window as I write, compare the color differences between the beginning of the week and the last day. 

Michael went out to blow the leaves that blanketed the driveway. No longer had he finished when it was covered again. We looked out and saw them falling like rain.

Stephan reminded us Monday at his dinner table of his great disappointment when he was a small child. I don't remember this, but he said that I explained that it was the first day of fall, which is when the leaves fall. He looked longingly and hopefully at the trees, but nothing was happening. That memory stayed with him to this day.

For lack of photos, here are two oldies. Christmas cards we sent to family from those early days in Germany.When we arrived at Mike's brother Terry's, he had them sitting out for us.

Christmas 1971, and 1973

I've noticed that often when disposing of old photos and letters, they are returned to the sender. Do you do that too? In my case, I find them meaningful, the messages I wrote long ago help me put together the puzzle of different periods of our life story.

I cam across this photo last week, and it was especially meaningful because my dear cousin Ed, we called him Eddie, passed away October 29. He was only four months older than me. He was recently widowed, and leaves behind a young daughter.

In this photo taken at the time of my parents' 50th wedding anniversary celebration, he is holding our granddaughter Kayla who is now 30-years-old.

Here is a great article and photo: Former Union College President Edward de Rosset Dies at 77.

Michael keeps busy all the time, but lamentably I have no photos to show of his work. The heating system at Stephan's house is complete now! Michael is now feeling the need to begin gathering in wood for our winter supply. Hopefully a couple weeks of decent weather will help.

Saturday I was scheduled to work at the Helping Hand store. I had fun interacting with the clients. This is a Taylor University Korean student who so enjoyed shopping and finding all kind of items that will help him survive his first Indiana winter. Here he is wearing or carrying them in bags or pockets. 

Mid morning, when the crowd had died down, I had a surprise call from a high school classmate in Argentina. What an interesting conversation after sixty years!

I had already agreed to help Kayla with the library Halloween party she was in charge of. Sadly, she was in quarantine and couldn't be there. However, she had planned and prepared so well that we seven helpers were able to pull off a very successful community event.

I was in charge of the station where kids had fun digging for hidden gumballs eyeballs in the spaghetti mess of brains.

Of course, one of my favorite moments was watching great grandson Kalani kicking around the balloons Tamara and I had painstakingly blown up. That was all he was interested in. A future soccer player perhaps?

Rebecca could not be there, of course, but dressed up anyway. I stopped by after and handed some goodies through the door. 

Sunday, we enjoyed a Moriah-meal. Ever since someone gave us these unique plates, we've enjoyed "plated" meals. 

We had a lot of catching up to do. The young engineer is "adulting" quite well! And, of course, we had to play a few rounds of Splendor.