Merry Christmas!!!!

Christmas 2014

It’s that time of year again.  The weather has turned cold.  Nights are getting longer.  Frost covers the windshield in the morning, and the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers have been eaten, frozen, or thrown away.  It is officially Christmas letter time. 

Leon, our grandson, (child of Ryan and Tiffany), is two and is much anticipating his third birthday in February.  Since July he has been telling us he wants a polar bear cake.  I assume he means one shaped like a polar bear instead of one made out of polar bear.  Even at two, he is a wizard with electronics.  He can access Netflix on his own, plays games on the ps3, computer, and my kindle.  Sometimes he gets into areas he shouldn’t.  He was playing fruit ninja on my kindle and accidentally clicked on an ad for Christian mingle.  Apparently he is starting his search for a girlfriend early.  Last month Leon was going through a stage where everything was a performance to him.  Whatever he was doing, eating, playing, even potty training, ended with him shouting “ta da”.  Leon is talking up a storm, but sometimes has a problem making himself understood.  In case you are wondering, we’ve been going to “parades” and getting candy, not “police raids”.  In August we attended a local Irish Fest.  While I was playing with the bagpipe band, someone gave Leon a foam sword and way too many pieces of candy.  It wasn’t a good combination.  Val has about 10 minutes of video featuring Leon racing around the parade grounds, waving his sword, looking for a fight.

Meredith (Meri), will turn 15 in January and is already looking forward to 16.  In May she used some of her puppy money to purchase a used Ford Ranger pickup.  It has some issues, but she loves it, and it has been useful for the rest of us to drive.  After a final litter of puppies from her golden retrievers Duke and Ellie, Meri decided to stop breeding them and kept a puppy (Reedus) for future ventures.  Meri is a freshman in high school.  She plays the clarinet in band.  She loves singing and is in Chamber Choir.  She had the part of a yodeler in the fall play and is enjoying making friends.  In May, Meri was confirmed, and did a great job reciting her memory work and verses.  This past summer Meri worked at detasseling.  While the money was good, she quickly learned the lesson most Midwest teens learn, “Detasseling stinks”.

Maddy turned 20 in October, and is a sophomore attending college in Minnesota, studying elementary education.  Last spring she had the female lead in the children’s theater version of Rumpelstiltskin. She worked very hard on learning her lines over spring break.  The play turned out great.  Val, Meri, Leon, and I were able to drive up to see it.  Maddy came home over the summer and worked at the day care Leon attends.  This fall she was in the Reader’s Theater as a story teller, and is singing in the College Choir.  We have been able be there for two choir concerts and the Reader’s Theater.  She tried out for a part in the fall musical “Music Man”, but didn’t get it.  Apparently her Iowa accent wasn’t convincing.  At her school the daily chapel services are shown on the internet.  Val and I try to watch and play our favorite game, “Where’s Maddy?”

Ryan and Tiffany divorced this year.  Both are working hard on the challenges of part time parenting.  Ryan is living at our house, and job searching after the shoe store he had work at closed in November.  Leon is with us a good part of the time.  Tiffany is living in WWWWWW and attending college online.

My mother Margaret continues to live with us.  In October she had a hernia surgery and is still working on getting her strength back.

Val is telecommuting for her job at XXXXXX.  Her activities include being newsletter editor for her sewing group, preschool Sunday school teacher, Lutheran Women’s Mission Society, ladies guild at Church, and listening to Christmas music out of season.   I’m working on my 27^th year at YYYYYYYYYYYY.  My bagpipe playing continues with the pipe band in ZZZZZ. 

Every year I look forward to Christmas.  The whole meaning of Advent is preparing or looking forward to Christmas; to the birth of our Savior.  God is gifting us with what we most need, a savior to redeem us from our sins.  As He promised in through his prophets and to Abraham, he has shown us mercy, rescued us, given us salvation through the forgiveness of our sins (Luke 1).  Have a merry and blessed Christmas.

Love the McVals!