Have Room?

Years ago when Nathan had just turned 4, Julieanne 7 and Anna Catherine was 9 we were trying to help our children prepare for Christmas with a Nativity play of our own. We made a donkey tail and pinned it on AC who carried Mary aka Julieanne draped in blue fabric and pillow stuffed up her shirt from door to door in the house with 'Jofes' aka Dad (that's what Na called Joseph) Meanwhile Nathan and I were in his room when the knock from Jofes and wife 'great with child' came. As you know we were supposed to say, 'There is no room in the inn' but when it came time for this response Nathan was busily clearing his bedroom floor of the toys and clothes that scattered it. A bit lost, I asked what he was doing to which he replied...'I'm making room'. He knew that there had been no room for the Savior to be born in a nice warm, clean place. In his little mind all that mattered is that he, 'Na-Na Thom-pon' was going to make room.

That is one of the greatest lessons my kids have ever taught me because over the years at Christmas when all the world gets ridiculously busy, I am reminded that I must choose to 'make room' for the King of Kings, my Savior. He doesn't barge his way in or force himself upon me - He waits to be invited. Are you making room?

We leave in a few hours to fly to the Dominican Republic to spend Christmas with Dennis' family. His parents are missionaries there and Dennis and I have never been to see their ministry.Back when AC was 12 she was able to spend a few weeks there with her grandparents so it will be a return trip for her. We are so excited for this chance to be with all of them in the warm sunshine! My mom is also going to be with us so that is a bonus.

We celebrated Christmas last night as a family. We had Chinese food and British Christmas traditions like poppers and Christmas crackers. We were a sight - the kids have all been sick this week.

We only gave stockings this year which was quite enough. And for the first time in 20 years, we did not put up a tree - just put lights on the ficus tree and guess what....it is still Christmas! "It came without the trappings and trimmings and Who hash and Who ham" to quote Dr. Suess because it has nothing to do with those distractions. So, back to Nathan, what's keeping you from making room....?

Merry Christmas!

Julie for the five of us

Expectations too High

Nathan starts anticipating his next birthday moments after celebrating the current one so he had been eagerly waiting one year, no kidding, to take a spin go carting for his tenth birthday. It was going to be great - Julian, our friend from the States, was going to be here as a bonus along with Dad and 5 friends. Seriously, if you've ever talked to Nathan long you realize he often marks time according to his birthday just ask Emily Freeman. December 7th is the day of infamy because he was born, right?

Anyway, the day arrived, the friends, came, we went to the race track. Several of the boys had just gone racing at another boy's party so they were well practiced. Nathan was at the back of the pack with a motorcycle type helmet and was looking everywhere except at the guy who was giving instructions on how to drive the go carts. I could hardly hear the guy's explanations and I was right next to him so I knew this wasn't going to be good for Na. The light changed and off they sped. For 30 minutes your need for speed could be satisfied...well, maybe. You had to know how to work the cars, stay away from the barracades and other drivers. The Westergreen boys would have loved it! Julieanne was #1, Julian #4 and Nathan #14. Nathan didn't go as fast as the others and kept crashing or getting shoved into the barricades so by the final lap he was done. He took his helmet off, tears inhis eyes, exclaiming that he had hated it. Had his expectations been unrealistic, did he think too much of himself and was disappointed he wasn't Dale Earnhart? Whatever the case it was rough. Thankfully his disappointed hadn't ruined the rest of the evening for him. He and Dennis had a good debrief later on that night talking it through. It was yet another one of those life lessons. He is now one decade old.

Week at a Glance

Week ago today, Dennis and Julian headed out for a bike ride - as you can see they had glorious weather at the amazing Wasdale Head! Actually, the whole time Julian was here it was sunny and cold - I'm sure he thought I had been lying about the rainy weather.

Later that night Julieanne headed off to the Christmas Ball looking oh so pretty!

On

Wednesday, Dennis and I were able to sneak down to London for a very speedy trip so he could attend a British Nuclear Society dinner. The girls boarded over night at the school while Nathan stayed with the Hedahl's (an American family on Dennis' team) We got to explore Westminster Abbey which really is a historic cemetry and monument. Centuries old, it did leave you wanting to understand the English history more fully and the role of this church.

Also during the week the girls got to experience their house Christmas Dinners, a tradition to host the pupils by gender and ages. Each pupil is assigned to a 'house' where the houseparent is responsible for their care. They have activities broken down by houses. So the annual Christmas dinners are for each house - they entertain each other, give speeches and gifts and enjoy a fancy Christmas dinner in the original part of the school.

An American Tradition Brought to England

They don't really 'do' baby showers over here - they think it's bad luck to buy things for an unborn baby. Imagine going to the hospital with nothing except your big belly and excitement! I can get away with things over here so I suggested having a shower for Kath, our Australian Bible study leader who after 13 years of trying to get pregnant - is expecting in March!! Unfortunately, she's moving to Switzerland in December. The Bible study was open to this baby shower idea that they had seen on "Friends" on TV. We had a blast - they were really into it. One of the gals volunteered to do a game - "What's in the nappie?" They melted different candy bars in the diaper and you had to guess what type of candy bar it was. It was a bit of a mental obstacle to stick your nose right in there to solve the puzzle. I would never have attempted that game as the British are a bit more reserved than we wacky Americans but they do have a big sense of humor. So they were really good sports when we played the "Mystery Baby Food" game and a few others. I used my scrapbooking to make a scrapbook of letters and advice from each of the ladies to share with our mother to be friend. They said it was the most fun they had had in ages. So an American tradition brought to England was a success.