Oriel's House of Fluffy Pancakes

"Christmas Card"

This year has been busy enough for me to have forgotten the first part of it completely.

I guess it was spent wrapping up construction on the house so we could put it on the market. Oh, and Analeasa turned three (or maybe it was 10) this Valentine’s Day. I also had the privilege of organizing a Milk … thing, getting fresh jersey milk from a friend’s farm to us & several families weekly. And somewhere in there we enjoyed a quick visit from Nanee and Jim and friends from Australia--I love accents.

Then came the ’06 wedding stampede. We went to 5 this summer I think, and I got to make the cake for two of them, traveling with one to Greenville in the middle of the summer. It was great, and we got to see a couple from college and visit the church where he now pastors. Then there was the wedding in Nashville where several of my friends from school showed up to see Ian and June Kern get married. Wonderful wedding, fabulous fare, perfect party and well-matched couple. And we got to stay at the hotel with my cousins and Christin, then bumped into Mark LaMoreaux to boot. What a blast--3 big weddings in 5 weeks. *

On went the mildly warm summer.

And on went the planning for the second reunion for my siblings. This year’s was in the smoky mountains and we had a blast. I got to use the *bling* awesome kitchen while getting us all together at evening meals so that we could enjoy each other more the rest of the time. The weather couldn’t have been better and the place was beautiful with lots of space to roam and ride on the four wheelers or even play hillbilly golf. Levi shot a turkey and - unrelated -there was only one trip to the hospital (although I’m sure there could have and maybe should have been a couple more). The highlight was bonding around the “campfire” of 4 citronella candles every night. We hope that Job and Bri can enjoy it with us next time.*

After that there was the rush to get everything back to normal after spending so much energy getting ready for that week away. But what is the norm? In the midst of it I took Analeasa to see the Cinderella Ballet in town and she was awe struck. She loves to dance and has now added “ballet” to her repertoire which previously included “tap” and “Irish” and “Improv,” AKA flailing and falling down a bit.

“Turkey lurkey for me and turkey lurkey for you….” “Hello, I believe I ordered the large…” The farmer called these Turkeyzillas. A local dairy farmer raised heritage breed, free range turkeys this year and was going to keep mine a little while past Thanksgiving so they could get a bit bigger. Then she called early and told me they decided to take them early because they were already the size of baby calves. We got their three largest birds weighing in at 37, 39.5 and 42 lb after they hung for three days. Their smallest was 24 lbs! I don’t think I could have fit even that into my 27” oven. Levi got the “fun” task of butchering them all into nice “normal” meal sized portions to go in the freezer for a year of wonderful turkey dinners. That was only one of my trips to get turkeys this year. We bought another local bird specifically for this year’s feast, and that one was a more manageable 15 lbs, then I picked up several from the co-op for the freezer and for several families around here who wanted natural birds for Thanksgiving. Whew.

We had much to be thankful for this year and a shared dinner* with a favorite church family and Ian and Ruth with their little one safely stowed in the belly. I’m so excited with them about that. We also had a couple quick visits from Ma & Pa on either side of thanksgiving and then a super quick trip up to Virginia to get a couple freezers full of chicken and beef (are you noticing a trend?). The bonus from that trip was getting to see Aunt Barb and Uncle Lawrence and hear a bit more about their missionary adventures in Puerto Rico and their trip to Kazakhstan /Germany. Unfortunately Grama Telling was ill so we’ll make a trip to see her some time soon.

When we got back it was a rush to get ready for the big night. The Advent dinner at church. This was a big deal because it was Analeasa’s first “real” public performance. Although she’s not exactly what one would call shy, she has lately become a bit of a nuisance when asked to do anything from memory. But she did exceptionally well playing We Three Kings on the piano as the youngest performer. Unfortunately I was the one who ungracefully flung through the decorations while taking her back to her seat. I just keep praying that she inherits all her artistic ability from Levi’s side. But she earned the special dress I made for the occasion that night by being such a patient and gracious girl. She is growing up way too fast. She wants to do/be everything. She’s even trying to learn a foreign language. She asks to talk “British” regularly. She’s not too bad either. I can see a real drama career in the school years at least, and it excites me as I was never good at that.

And now the Advent season is upon us with all the trappings. Been to a couple parties already, and have plenty more to go. Lots o wrapping and plenty o baking, but it’s all easier with the help of several gallons of hot spiced apple cider. And where would we be without the Wiggins family tradition of Christin’s Christmas Mix(es) in the background . Thanks to her creative musical presents, we have not been subject to the unpalatable “holiday” din on the radio for several years--they stay in the CD player for the whole month.

I love Advent. As frenzied as it seems, and as challenging as it is to keep away from the consumerist mindset, I still enjoy the creativity it takes to establish traditions that will keep this season (and the whole year, really) as an exciting time of celebrating the only thing worth rejoicing over this side of eternity. This year’s theme is light and we are really enjoying the excuse to fire up as many candles as possible. We look forward to improving the month-long celebration every year. Our Advent calendar this year is a mini-lesson/gift hunt culminating in an all out clue-chase for the final bundle. Analeasa has learned the basics of reading so each day she opens a note with an image and directions on where to find the package. The image is representative of a portion of the readings for the week and we try to keep the gift--usually a small decoration--applicable too. This is what I mean by creative, challenging, exciting.

I am learning to see Analeasa in a new light too.* Trying to remember every day that I won’t have another chance to do today over and to make the best of it, for His sake. May this Advent find you well and joyful about the best gift we never asked for. And because Christ has come, all things are new and we get to start over. Let’s make this year count. We hope to see many of you this year and make a trip or two across the country or even the big Pond.
Cheers,
Oriel, Levi, and Analeasa

PS Analeasa just asked me to add: “Analeasa got a package that’s a Bible.” The Word is Light.

* For more exciting details, check previous entries in archives.

Posted by oriel at December 17, 2006 08:41 PM | TrackBack