Jackson Christmas 2011

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Stella

Dad & Mom J

A stop along the Pacific

Iris

Miles' new Firetruck

Kari & Stella

By Peet's Coffee Shop - Miles & Stella

Evee & Auntie Julie

Evee, G'ma, & Stella

Miles & Mike

 

Dad/G'pa/Great G'pa J

Cousins watching Cars

Haircuts on the front Lawn - Iris' first

Sweet Iris

Josh & Iris

Boldog Karácsonyt!

My blog title has nothing to do with a bull dog, nor a misspelling at that. It has everything to do with wishing you all a Merry Christmas from Budapest (at least for today).

This year we will be on two continents on Christmas Day. That's a new one to chalk up on the never-done-before list. We fly out early (very) on Christmas morning to arrive in CA that night meeting up with our entire family. We are more than excited to see the little ones below, face to face, and of course, our kids and spouses.

So, pictures to come of our family time together. Planning on taking a family picture since we don't know when we will be all together again, knowing Clint, Jamie, and their girls take off for Christchurch, NZ on January 4. More aftershocks occurring there... please pray for them in this huge transition.

I am thankful for you, my readers, and wish you a blessed Christmas. I am grateful for the indescribable gift that God gave us in Jesus.

The Day the Sun Stands Still

Stonehenge was built facing the spot where the sun sets on the Solstice.

Every once in a while the Yahoo news catches my eye. Today it was the article about the origin of the Stonehenge rocks. Things like this fascinate me and catch my interest. But, even more interesting than the mystery baffling scientists of how the rocks were transported more than 100 miles from the Stonehenge site was the "Who Knew?" video at the end of the article on the Winter Solstice.

Winter Solstice - today, December 21 or 22 depending where you live - is the shortest day of the year, or you could say it's the longest night of the year. But, did you know that the sun stands still just for a moment on this day? And, did you know that Christmas Day is even influenced by the celestial calendar? Take a look at the video and I'm sure you'll discover some trivia that you never knew about this day.

Longer days ahead!

Sentimental Value

After selling our West Michigan home two and a half years ago, Dennis and I began to sort through our possessions knowing we were about to move overseas. Thirty years of marriage and four children later we had plenty to sift through. What did we want to keep, give away, throw away or sell? After days and weeks of sorting, packing, a successful garage sale, numerous Goodwill runs, and Craigslist calls, we narrowed our possessions down to a 10 x10 storage space. Clothes, books, and some household items accompanied us on the day we flew to our new home in Budapest. If it wasn't for the sentimental value of some things, that 10 x 10 space could have been smaller. But, there are some things that a price tag can not measure the value of... like the old MasterCard ads... priceless best sums it up.

So, today I'm reading our daughter's blog as they get ready for an overseas move to New Zealand, and I am holding back tears. I remember what it was like to consider what was important or valuable or sentimental enough to keep. This was Jamie's dilemma as she contemplated whether a few sentimental items were worth the $10/cubic foot space in the packing crate to be shipped to Christchurch.

Iris

I had an old rocking chair that Dennis' mom gave me when we moved to Holland, MI. It was wooden except for the seat which was covered in a brown leather that had worn through so that the stuffing and springs were beginning to show. I threw a blanket over it and it served the wonderful memory of rocking our 9-month old Julie at the time. The rocker sat by her crib and it was one of my favorite places in our home at that time. It was a place of respite while I rocked Julie before nap time and at bedtime. We would look at picture books and then I'd softly sing "Jesus Loves Me" and "Oh, How I Love Jesus" before laying her in the crib.

When Evee was born, I reupholstered the seat to match Jamie's nursery colors and passed it on to her.

Jamie & Joni playing at the little red table in Houston

My grandparents owned an ice cream shop when I was a little girl, and from what I'm told they sold some pieces of little furniture made by the Amish in the area. My little red table and chairs came from their shop and have all the markings of Amish craft, including the painted designs on the table and chairs.

I remember setting up my table and chairs in the small apple orchard behind our farm house and having tea with my dolls. Once I left for college and later got married, the table and chairs were stored in the farmhouse attic. When we moved to Houston, TX to plant a church I took the table and chairs with us. Josh was almost 3 and Jamie was just 9 months. That little red table and chairs served as a place to color or draw or have pretend tea or set up a grocery store or an extra table for the little ones when we had company. It was at that table that Jamie told Joni about Jesus, and Joni ask Jesus into her heart at a young age.

When Dennis and I were sorting through our big move, I gave the table and chairs to Jamie.

The rocker and the little red table and chairs are the only two things Jamie decided to take with her to New Zealand. At this point, their only two pieces of furniture.

Sentimental value... Jamie couldn't have summed it up better:

Both pieces went on that truck today and as I rocked Iris in the middle of boxes and the movers, I realized I would have paid a lot more to keep those things.  They make up home for me and are apart of who I am and what I want my girls to know.

Priceless.

That Saturday feeling...

Thinking of my mom today. It's Saturday. Growing up, Saturdays were clean and bake days. My mom still does that at the age of 80. Still makes the same chocolate chip cookies and chocolate cake I grew up on, often adding pie or another type of cookie into the mix. I called home a few nights ago. It wasn't Saturday, but mom was making peanut butter cookies, and Dad was unwrapping the Hershey kisses to top them off. I had to smile at the thought of it.

My mom is the best house keeper I know. Dennis says she spring cleans every week :). She keeps things neat and tidy, no clutter, and clean as a whistle, but still with a lived-in feel. Keeping a well-kept home is something I learned from my mom. Give away what you don't use anymore, throw out what's worn out, and take good care of what you have.

Being the only girl in a farming family, it was up to me to help mom with the homemaking. Once I was old enough to help out around the house, we created a system. The Saturday she would clean, I would bake, and the next week, we would trade. I remember as a teenager, if it was my week to clean, I'd come home from school on Friday's and start cleaning the upstairs bedrooms to get a head start so my Saturday was free to go to a home basketball game or whatever.

I'm in the kitchen today making pie dough for a dinner tonight when we'll be having some Hungarian friends over for pasta, and apple pie a la mode for dessert. Ela tells me it's Zoli's favorite. Spritz cookie dough is awaiting it's destiny in the fridge. In the states, I have an electric "cookie shooter" that presses the dough out at the speed of a cookie factory, as long as you keep a 1-2-3 rhythm. My mother-in-law gave it to me for Christmas years ago. I found a manual press here in the city that is doing the job just fine.

I'm hoping to make dough for a Christmas favorite. Our family just calls them "Christmas Cookies." I first tried them at a Christmas cookie exchange when we lived in Holland, MI... that's a long time ago. They were melt in your mouth little sandwich cookies that started the cookie tradition for our family.

This year I'm adding a new cookie. We'll see what the family thinks. While in Poland, I tasted some yummy cookies made by the European Union President's sister, a favorite passed down in the family. I couldn't stop eating the shortbread strips covered in a translucent white icing. They're simply called "Butter Sticks." I'm hoping mine turn out as good as hers.

I plan to freeze the cookies, hoping they stay intact in flight on Christmas day.

Though Saturdays aren't my cleaning and baking day per say, I still get a Saturday feeling... a feeling of fulfillment and satisfaction of a day well done. When the house is fresh and clean and the sweet aroma of cookies, cakes, and pies permeate every room of the house. It's always a nice reward to cozy up on the couch with a good book at the end of the day or put in a favorite movie :). 

I've got that Saturday feeling today, so much so that I had to stop and post this blog :)... thinking about my mom, and Saturdays, and traditions. Now on to rolling out that pie dough.