"Of all the good days of the year..."

Christmas Eve day was filled with wrapping and baking, as it should be. In the early evening, we dressed the kids in their holiday best and brought them to the children's service at Dave & Cindy's church.

It was adorable! Each kid got a halo or sheep head so they could participate, everyone got a bell for the song at the end, and there was a lovely call and response of "Emmanuel: God with us." As a result, Miles now knows this word and its meaning.

In the evening, before dinner, we posed for a couple family shots, the last we will probably take with the old, inferior camera!

What's that? You can't handle how adorable she is either?

Jon and I sneaked out for the 11:00 service at St Anne's in Annapolis. It was regal, gorgeous, dreamy... and over 100 minutes long. They hadn't finished their pre-service oratorio selections when 11:00 hit, so they just went ahead and finished those, and then proceeded to a full mass just laden with glorious music. We stumbled blearily out at about 12:45 to a chill night and a sky full of stars... I regret nothing.

Still, it was a sleepy morning! This is what the tree looks like when you celebrate with 8 adults and 2 kids for Christmas morning:

Okay, so it was more than half for the kids. We couldn't help ourselves.

The kids couldn't believe their luck.

It was way too much fun! 

These hats were from the Blacksburg Christmas market, and were labeled, "To Miles and Adele, from Blacksburg." 

Among our haul this year was a new camera. The next entry begins pictures taken with that, far superior, device. 

I forgot to mention the 12.5 wonderous minutes of snow we saw, Christmas Eve, just before church. Snow was not in the forecast, and Jon & I agreed that it appeared to be snowing against Annapolis' will. The kids were jumping up and down and shouting, "Christmas Miracle! Christmas Miracle!"

They *might* have learned that from watching me do it. Might. 

Pray for me. Forecast here says "Chance of Snow: 0%"

December the 23rd

We are finally established back in Blacksburg, reunited with our trusty macbook, so here comes a tour of our Christmas in Maryland.

As is becoming a tradition, we took the kids to Homestead Gardens to see the extravagant level of Christmas they have there. Once again, they adored the train!

Once again, they freaked out over the masses of toys, decorations of every kind, and cuddly stuffed creatures.

But unlike years past, the kids had gotten their courage up and very willingly approached Santa!

(Okay, so it's our third attempt of the season. They've had practice.) Here, they wait in line without trepidation.

When it was their turn, Miles simply ran up to Santa and handed him his letter.

Here is that letter. 

Santa read the letter, and then instructed Miles to put it in the mailbox.

Everyone on the lap and- no meltdowns!!

Christmas miracles abounded. 

In the afternoon, our good friend Anne came over to help us bake the necessary sugar cookies.

Adele's having a rough time waiting for the final product. 

Not quite yet, Adele!

Anne was just the company we needed! We've missed her so. She's also given me some tips about getting a cute apron like hers...

At last, it was decorating time!

The absolute perfect December the 23rd.

A Sacred Space

This weekend was like an enormous wrapped gift with a bright red bow.

Our first inter-denominational progressive Christmas pageant was on Saturday. It went off gloriously, despite being laughably under-rehearsed.

Pre-Pageant Group Shot

As Miles requested, he portrayed Heavenly Host Angel. 

Adele, as she requested, portrayed Littlest Sheep.

We began at the Blacksburg AME church. Despite that it is only across a narrow street from our church, it was our first time setting foot inside. 

So, when we begin Children's Chapel at Christ Church, we like to remind the kids, in order that they are inspired to be calm and quiet, "This is a sacred space." This evening, the children heard this reminder three times, in three different churches. And it proved to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. I have very few pictures of the actual pageant because it was just too holy. 

The portion at the AME church featured an absolutely lovely a capella rendering of "Mary, Did You Know?" We had the annunciation (glorious Gabriel with his utterly white feathery wings!) & Joseph received a vision, and immediately he and the AME angels burst into a lovely sacred dance to "A Strange Way to Save the World." I was a giant goosebump, the whole time. The kids were big-eyed and silent, and I KNOW I was not the only one with tears.

We walked between churches carrying glow sticks, singing Silent Night, and following a little girl who held a star on a kind of fishing pole.

At the Blacksburg First Church of God, we had a prayer, another carol, and Mary visited Elizabeth. There was a pantomime Magnificat, and we were treated to a contemporary Christian carol that none of the Episcopalians or AME members had ever heard before: The Light of the Stable. There was a guitar and everything!

Next we caroled our glow-stick-lit way to Christ Church (home for us) and everyone took their places for a final tableau.

We pretty much put our kids in their places, crossed our fingers, sat down, and hoped for the best.

Adele was assigned a personal shepherd:

Miles waited and fidgeted with the rest of the Angel Squad. 

 And then, the gospel was being read and the shepherds were mobilizing. At first, Adele seemed to be the only one interested in hearing what the Angels had to say. She came up the aisle with purpose!

 At first, Gabriel was speaking only to Adele, which suited her just fine.

 Finally, the other shepherds caught up, and heard the angels' praises with suitable solemnity (they didn't quite get to "terrified").

 All was picture-perfect for a minute or two. Then, the smallest sheep got a bit antsy and made a left-stage break for it.

To her enduring delight, she was saved by her guardian angel hero, Gabriel.

She wants his autograph. 

After that, they played it safe and assigned her two shepherds. 

 Mainly, it was about children standing about, in awe of the picture they were making, and adults looking on mistily as we sang carols.

 The beauty of a Christmas pageant is powerful enough. But the overwhelming element to this event was the way three churches that have never mixed at any event previously created this one unified event. Each got to put their style and tradition into their portion, but the players and the story were one. It was our project. Mary and I made eye contact and we each saw tears threatening in each others' eyes. This did not help the situation! :-)

All pageants are beautiful. This one touched the divine. Why indeed are we all shut up in these individual church boxes, all of the time? We are many genres of music, but we are singing the same song. I hope we can inform one another's performance more in the future. May this be the first of many similar events. 

The children both know and say it reflexively: Angels say "Fear not!" That is the first thing God wants us to hear when we hear from him, I think.

This morning, before driving to Maryland for Christmas, we did a dramatic radio reading of "A Christmas Carol" at church. I was Ghost of Christmas Present (my favorite character!) and Miles did a quiet but distinct Tiny Tim.

I pretty much have everything I want for Christmas, now.

Merry Christmas, friends. I wish you all some very sacred spaces in these days.