holidays
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gentino thanksgiving.
Hi friends! How was your Thanksgiving? Ours was lovely and relaxing. Unfortunately, Amie’s illness spread one by one to the other kids (and now to David and me), but with our court hearing over on Tuesday, nothing could dampen our spirits! David’s brother, Joe, wife, Lindsay, and son, Lucas, drove down from Pittsburgh to spend Thanksgiving with us, and stayed with Steve and Linda. It was wonderful to live just around the corner, and make as many trips between houses as we needed for supplies. Joe and Lindsay were super gracious about being exposed to germs all week, and the kids all had a great time playing together. I mean,…
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halloween 2015.
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it’s the best of mother’s days.
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easter party.
Easter is the most important holiday of the year for David and me, because it’s our celebration of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. For most of our marriage, we’ve tried to celebrate in style, whether it was brunch and mimosas with friends during seminary, a rooftop terrace get-together in South Asia, or buying our kids a special Easter gift each year. Because this is our day of days; it’s the reason we have for the hope within us. And so this year we threw a party in our backyard for our church, a week late to allow more folks to come. The band who played at our adoption fundraiser, Volcanoes…
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easter 2015.
Thanks, Shari, for the photos!
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christmas day.
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christmas eve gratitude.
66. our kids are old enough that we got to sleep in this morning 67. a lazy, rainy morning inside a warm house 68. David’s homemade bagels 69. gifts under the tree 70. strong, hot coffee 71. rediscovering curtains in the attic from India that are perfect for the baby’s room 72. my whole family will be together on Christmas day 73. our first Christmas with Steve and Linda here 74. looking forward to a service tonight with our church family and Chinese take-out afterward 75. Amazon packages arriving all week 76. I made fudge for the first time yesterday and it tastes delicious (recipe here, I halved the amount…
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stovetop potpourri.
I’ve got a secret to a fabulous smelling holiday house without using expensive candles or chemical air fresheners, and it’s a “stovetop potpourri.” I’m not even sure where I got this idea but I definitely can’t claim it. The base ingredients are cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, and orange peel, but sometimes I like to add a generous sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice and nutmeg. Throw in a small saucepan and cover with a couple inches of water. Bring to a boil on the back of the stove, then turn heat down to “low.” The important thing to remember is to check your mixture from time to time to make sure…
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simple holidays, part three.
Many people I talk to long to have purposefully simple holidays but don’t feel like it’s possible to make a change. The most-repeated reasons I hear for not simplifying this season are 1. not wanting to disappoint other people (family, friends, church, kids), and 2. not wanting to miss out on fun memories. Well, I don’t think merely not wanting to disappoint people is a good enough reason to do anything. Guess what? You’re going to disappoint people. This is something I’m learning to accept more and more. You are responsible to make good, life-giving choices for yourself and your family; you’re not responsible for other people’s reactions. In life…
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simple holidays, part two.
(See if you can spot the part of the tree my kids decorated) Today I thought I’d share with you a few of the ways we keep our holidays simple. Our way is not the only way — this list isn’t intended for that. It’s merely intended to show you that we don’t try to do everything, and that it’s possible to have a purposefully simple, joyful holiday season. – Christmas decorations are simple. Some of you love, love to decorate for Christmas. Others find it a chore and just do it because you feel like it’s expected or don’t want to let your kids down. I think our family…