Pre Christmas Update

Merry Christmas! Well, almost. We've had so much going on lately that I decided to post about a few things before Christmas, so that nothing is left out.

First of all, you Southerners are about to experience an authentic Indiana winter! This morning on my drive to work it was 1 degree and the wind chill was -16. Don't worry, by Thursday the temperature should make it up to a balmy 27! It was so cold yesterday that Andy stayed inside almost all day long. I think that the last time that happened was when we brought Hannah home from the hospital!

Here is a picture of the girls in their Christmas dresses, for church yesterday. Our Christmas Eve service is at 10pm so we don't typically make it. And, all other Christmas celebrations tend to be pretty casual, so I'm not sure that the girls will get dressed up in their dresses again. It's too bad because they looked so cute! I'll have to do some fiddling with my camera to make my pictures bigger, if I try to enlarge this, it just gets fuzzy. Add that to the list of things to do before Christmas!!

Last night was the long awaited "Papa Morgan's Magical Christmas" at Boggstown Presbyterian Church. We've been rehearsing since Halloween and the nervousness has really been building. Andy was the main character, Papa Morgan. From the start of the play until the very end, he was on stage. I have to say, he didn't take this role on happily but he did a great job last night! After all the grumbling and lots of memorization, Andy really pulled it off and I'm proud of him! Everyone congratulated him on a job well done and boy was he relieved to have this behind him. All in all, it was a good experience that allowed us to get to know more people in the church even better. (It's a small church, we all know each other fairly well already). But I can definitely say that Andy won't be disappointed if someone else takes the lead next year! Hannah and I had much smaller roles in the play, too and on the way home Abigail said "Good job Daddy, Mommy and Hannah!"

Last week was our church's childrens' play, "A Not So Silent Night" which is the story of the manger scene, told through the perspective of the farm animals. It was very creatively written and allowed the kids of all ages to really shine. Our Abbs was the youngest person in the show and she was very nervous and not quite sure about being an owl. She did a wonderful job though, all except for a brief exit (stage right) to go to the potty! She and the other owls "who whooed" right on cue! Ever since the play she has been singing a song that was led by a couple of the older girls and echoed by the younger ones. It feels like our refrain for the season, she sings it all the time! I took a video but had trouble posting it. The words are:

In Bethlehem a babe was born, with love enough for all.

While kingdoms slept, the Lord came down, to grace a manger stall,

And in the glorious light, angels appeared that night

Singing, "Come, come, Christ is born. Come, come, world forlorn.

The Child of peace and sacrifice is waiting to be found."

And finally, in my office gift exchange, I received a Gingerbread House Kit! Andy, Abby and I had a great time putting it together on Saturday during Hannah's morning nap.