Christmas wrap-up

Well, I haven't posted in a few days... so here is a quick summary of our events over Christmas. Last Friday, the Bess Christmas gathering commenced. Added to our traditional taquito dinner, egg toss and balderdash game was a physical contest that quickly developed into a show and tell of stupid human tricks. Below, Mom takes on Rick for an arm wrestle. And here, the men are challenged by Taylor to an endurance test called the "electric chair." Rick won the Balderdash game and with the winning title comes the choice to designate the "cash winnings" of $200. Rick selected Randy, Craig's friend, to receive the gift. Randy just got a job (see my Miracle posting below) and will be getting his own apartment soon. We hope the cash can help Randy get back on his feet. The following day, Saturday, the Bush/Bess gathering took place at Mom and Dad's house. Wonderful food and fun conversation ruled the day as we enjoyed family. In the picture below are the Bush/Bess women. Unfortunately, Yulia and Yana had already left so they are not pictured.

Tuesday (23rd) brought our celebration with Taylor and Collin. We went to eat in Dallas at Roadhouse, and gave them their gift. My picture didn't turn out... so I can't post that. But we had a great time together. We have significantly scaled down our Christmas "gift giving" with the Boys, and I think they understand and appreciate that Christmas is not our birthday. We were able to give them each a simple gift, and focus more on giving to people who have tangible physical needs. We enjoyed Christmas Eve dinner with my parents and Rick's mom and Billy. Then we headed to the carols and candlelight service at our church. I was proud to have them with us that evening. Rick and I went back to help out at the 11pm service as well, and were excited to see a friend our ours that works at our favorite restaurant. He brought his entire family, and I hope that they were inspired and blessed. We awoke on Christmas morning and joined in the preparation of Christmas meals for Meals on Wheels recipients. Typically, they would not receive a meal on Christmas Day, so volunteers joined in to cook and deliver the meals. Rick and I LOVED doing this, and enjoyed delivering them. For some of the people, we were the only ones they saw on Christmas Day.

Pictured below is our assembly line for the meals. After pondering our busy past week of Christmas celebrations, there were a few moments that really rose to the top. 1. Designating the Balderdash cash winnings to be used to help Randy. 2. Turning in our Christmas offering on Christmas Eve for the House of Hope. We have worked hard at changing our lifestyle this Christmas so we could give to this. 3. Participating in the meal delivery on Christmas Day for Meals on Wheels. 4. Enjoying the gift of family-time throughout the week.