Christmas

Our Christmas begins at mass on Christmas Eve. The kids performed in the annual Christmas Pageant telling and acting out the story of Jesus' birth. It's a wonderful performance that lasts about ten minutes. The church is packed with parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and just about everyone you've ever met anxious to see their "shining star" walk up the aisle in their costume. With cameras flashing from every angle, the kids don't miss a smile or nod to acknowledge they are truly the center of attention.

Dustin was one of the three wise men.

Rachel was an infant angel.



Courtney was a gift-bearing angel.

After mass we all headed over to John and Kelli's house for the Andel family dinner and gift exchange. We were joined by Ken and Judy, Don and Norma and John, Kelli and Matt. We had a delicious turkey dinner with all the usual trimmings. After all the gifts are distributed to their new owners we began opening them one at a time from the youngest (Courtney) to the oldest (Don). Thank you everyone for all the wonderful gifts!

Christmas morning came none too soon as the kids were up and ready shortly after 6am. They just couldn't wait any longer to find out what Santa had delivered for them. With no time to waste, the wrappings were torn and the faces were glowing. Santa had brought them a Wii with lots of games. No time to play with it now though... we have mass at 8am!

So off we go again to church. It was a quiet crowd of parishioners this time with only a handful of children in attendance. Father Walter was waiting patiently to start mass when we noticed he had no servers to help. Without hesitation, we sent Dustin and Rachel to Father's rescue. After mass we went to visit Randolph and Evelyn Green. We enjoy the company and usually stop by to visit after Sunday mass to partake in ice cream and cookies. Today was no different. We returned home to an action-packed day full of Wii play. Courtney and Rachel ended up crashing on the couch after their late night of bowling, tennis and baseball competitions.

Wait! It's not over yet. Since Sara and Kate were not able to attend the usual Andel family gathering on Christmas Eve, we had a special luncheon with them on Sunday at John and Kelli's house. Kate flew in from New Jersey and brought her boyfriend, Nick. What a nice guy he is. Sara, Travis and Elizabeth drove up from Victoria. John cooked the best roast ever. We exchanged gifts and hugs and were on our merry way back to Rogers for Courtney's basketball practice and plenty of Wii playing time.