12-25-04 Journal

December 25, 2004

Hendrick & Dr. Akor	Sunday, Gary preached a sermon on "The Gifts we receive because of Christ". Ina Sue was hostess for dinner so we had Patrick Heatwoles, Ellis Riehl & Jennifer Heatwole, Hendrick & Martin Akor. We had a good time visiting over dinner of rice & beef, green beans, spinach salad & candy-bar cake with thickened cherries. After the guests departed I needed to finish putting together a quiz on the gospels for the service in the pm. The evening service was made up of children's meeting & the gospel quiz. I was amazed that not even the hardest of my questions stumped the audience. Example: What was "The Pavement"?
Ellis Riehl & Jennifer Heatwole	Monday was very chilly. Ina Sue said that when she hung out the towels to dry that they turned into boards! In the evening we had Dale Dickersons over for grilled steaks, baked potatoes, spinach salad & chocolate/cherry trifle (left over from yesterday). After the meal we enjoyed a good game of Rook.
Dale & Kevin ganging up on us...	Tuesday was another normal day at work for me. Ina Sue made ribbon jello & a chocolate/cinnamon roll ring??? In the evening the school gave their Christmas program. They acted out the Christmas story from Adam through to the manger included the prophecies. They did a wonderful job. You could tell that a lot of people had really put a lot of time into it. Great job, Ralph, Robin, Dorcas, Audrey, Julie & all the rest of you who worked so hard and did so well!
Ruthie & Laura debating strategy	I was able to come home from work a little early on Wednesday. We did a few odd jobs around the house before heading over to Dale Banges for our small group Christmas caroling. Dale Dickersons, Dale Banges, Daniel Brubaker & ourselves made up the group. We really enjoyed singing the Christmas story to a number of Dale's friends & neighbors. Afterward, we met back at Dales for a snack together.
The manger scene at the school program	It was a warmer day on Thursday. Ina Sue baked rolls for the mail carrier & newspaper lady and did some scrapbooking. I worked at the shop a little later then came home and took care of the baby while Ina Sue went in to Bamberg for some grocery shopping. After she got back I worked on getting our finances caught back up.
Bro. Merle took care of baby while we ate	Friday, Christmas Eve! We kept the shop open until a little after 2:00. Then I came home and we worked on baking until about 8:30. We did not intend to spend the whole afternoon and evening cooking but I guess I aimed too high on the recipes I chose.... After we got the kitchen cleaned up we still had time for a great little Christmas Eve together. We shared some sparkling grape juice, read the Christmas story, sang carols & gave our little gifts to each other. This is Carolina's first Christmas. Then I gave the little munchkin a bath and we all headed to bed.
Christmas caroling...	Saturday, Christmas Day we slept in a while but Ina Sue had to get up in fairly good time to wash her hair. I got up too and made almost two gallons of eggnog. We were able to get everything together & left for Hephzibah by 9:30. We picked Hendrick up in Barnwell then headed over to Dad's in time for Mother's dinner. She had ham, vegtables, rolls, sweet potatoes & pecan pie for dessert. In the afternoon we exchanged our gifts. Karen Hobbs gave me a beautiful tea olive tree for our yard. Rhonda gave Ina Sue a really soft & slinky neck pillow. She loves it. Then us four brothers drove over to Hephzibah to play some tennis. It was dreadfully cold and on top of it all Kent came out the winner....
Showing off my new Christmas present...	Then back to the house for more visiting and fun. Uncle Byards & Maryann Yoder joined us for our carry-in supper. What a pile of wonderfully delicious food. I'd better not get myself started...! After supper we all sang Christmas carols together then we headed home around 9:00. Got home about 10:30 in time for a reasonable bedtime.
Hendrick & Kari working on puzzles	Jordan Hobbs opens his present