November 25 - “Getting started”

I was up at around 6:30. That’s a little later than usual, but hey. We stayed up the night before. Like, past 1 a.m. late, watching a movie. Yawn. 

I made my way groggily into the office, and soon thereafter I was joined by Luke. He is a talking machine, and he kept me more than entertained until the rest of the crew woke up. And when that happened, Chris and I spent a good deal of time chatting with Josh and Christi. 

The first wave of cousins blew in around 10:30. Just Christina, Noa and Ezra. I assumed the others were still in bed. Sure enough, the rest of them trickled in sometime later. Nathan and April and Cailyn were running their Black Friday errands, so the rest of us grabbed a bite to eat around 12:30 or 1. The final missing Santa Fe puzzle pieces arrived in plenty of time to join in the grub. Oh, and they even brought an extra or two. Their shortest pup waddled in. So did Cailyn’s good friend Griselda. I know she has another name, but I can’t ever remember it. 

After everyone had their fill of scrumptiousness, the youngsters all adjourned to the street in front of the house for a quick pre-Turkey Bowl practice game. And wow! was it ever a barn burner. The first half was rather slow-moving, but then Cailyn made a reception, was promptly tagged, and proclaimed loudly, “I got got! I got got!”  Yep. That may or may not have become the mantra for the rest of the game (at least from a certain referee/play-by-play announcer on the sidelines). Oh, and the player of the game number two was almost certainly Nani, when she received a pitchout and was blindsided by a grossly illegal tag. The ensuing 89 yard penalty placed her team in position to stroll in for an easy score. Sadly, however, it was her only play of the game. Just like Chris - go out on top. Now they all should be set for the actual Turkey Bowl today at noon. Of course the excitement of this warmup game will be awfully hard to beat. 

Last night were some more exciting events, not the least of which was the putting up of the Christmas tree. And the best part? For the first time ever, we had a tree with lights already built in. Pop together the three portions and plug it in. Voila. Lights. The moms all jumped into action and got the fluffing done. Looks great, gals. Then kids then got in the act. Nani handed out ornaments, and they got the tree looking even greater than great. There are still some more things to get done after the big football game today, but it was a perfect start. 

Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬ says, Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

Father, thank you for our family-filled Thanksgiving and a fun start on Christmas. Amen.