Happy Birthday, Jesus ... and Christa

Better catch up before the year is over. Yes, there were lots of challenging situations this year. But still, we are grateful for a lot of things. We are hopeful that we get through the pandemic without our family being directly effected. James is getting better every day. So do I. We could not go to church at Christmas but we could enjoy services online. Christmas Day we spent with Sarah and her family. Of course we missed Helen and William very much but it was the right decision for them not to come this time. The news on TV is so sad about the pandemic getting totally out of control again. Better safe than sorry. We will get the opportunity again to all be together!

We went as early as we could because the boys were so excited. It was fun swatching them play.

We did FaceTime with James' sister Jane in Windsor (England) which was a lot of fun. 

More playing. 

More opening of presents. 

Sarah and Wade took care of Christmas dinner which of course was delicious. And everybody had fun with the traditional crackers. Even the twins knew about them because their teacher had talked about it at their school.

Well, and then the next day ... of course one of my first thoughts is always about my father because it would have been his birthday too. Oh, the memories!

It was a very nice day. Ha-ha, if even your dentist congratulates you. 

We had a simple lunch at our house. Sarah had brought the cake and the boys were eager to help blowing out the candles. 

Thank you to all who made me feel so happy.

And on Sunday I finally felt a little better to do something special for James. I made the mince pie. His words: now it's Christmas. 

And here is another surprise. I had to look and look again. Yes, my orchid has buds. First I saw 4 but no, there are at least 7. My mother had a yellow one of this kind. You don't see this kind often for sale and when we had the opportunity once we took it. This will greatly improve my winter time.

Wishing lots of blessings to all our family and friends for the coming New Year. And yes, at this time the biggest wish is for Health. 

Role reversal

Guilty. I carried the amaryllis flowerpots wrong. They were in the garage, dried totally out since fall and I really didn't think they were heavy. It was time to put them into the sunroom and start watering. Something went wrong though. I must have picked them up wrong. It was midweek and everything seemed fine. In the following days though something happened to my back and Saturday December 19 I woke up and could not walk because of incredible pain. Just could not. 

Dear James was very worried and I just felt helpless. Sarah and Wade insisted on coming. Luckily they just could leave their house because the boys had fun with Wade's visiting parents.

James, Sarah and Wade decided to bring me to the Emergency room not far from us. It took them a while to figure out how to get me into the car. Strong pain medicine and an X-ray later I was diagnosed, mainly with sciatica. So glad my 3 angels had decided to take me because now with the medicine prescribed I started to, very very slowly, get better every day a little. I gained a new understanding though about the suffering some people have to endure. 

Yes, role reversal. Instead of me taking care of James he now took care of me. He even made soft-boiled eggs for breakfast. They were perfect.

Christmas was just a few days away. At mealtimes our Advent-candle burned which made it very visible. But because of the covid situation and social distancing etc nothing really was planned and I resigned myself to 'what is not done must not be so important'.

Happy to say that James feels better every day. He has started doing some walks in the neighborhood again when the weather allows. 

I on the other hand was very stationary. Some things came to a screeching hold. So sorry I could not keep up with my Advent calendar project on FaceBook. I had so enjoyed that. This year everything is so different.

Christmas Eve - going to the outdoor service at our church was out of the question. Our church also has  a streamed service though and one can find other uplifting services like Carols & Lessons from King's College Cambridge and even a Christmas service in German from an American Lutheran Church we enjoyed lately. Yes, still plenty to enjoy.

These are the days to meditate and contemplate. We are blessed, our health improves every day and our children are so sweet and caring. We have nice friends. One of them brought this beautiful poinsettia to the door. Happy thoughts!

What a week this was. 

Merry Christmas to our family members and friends near and far. There is plenty of love to go around.

It's different this year

Advent time is such a special time. Every day we are reminded what an incredible gift our God gave us. All we have to do is accept it. When we traveled to Israel in September 2017 we learned so much about Jesus' life and it all makes more sense now. It has made Christmas even more special.

Because of covid it is different this year though. No guests, no parties, no simple gatherings. But we still wanted to decorate in the Christmas spirit ... not quite as much. November 29 was the 1st Sunday of Advent = time for our "Hartensteiner Adventsstern". 

The Chrismon tree found its usual place in the sunroom. We also put the straw ornament tree up in the living room (like every year) but didn't take a photo yet. Ha-ha, it looks pretty much the same as every year.

The quilted Advent calendar with the lace Chrismon is ready for Tuesday December 1.

We did make changes though. Instead of putting everything out right away I started setting the nativities up one each day and posted it on Facebook = like another Advent calendar. Here only the first ones. Every one has a special memory for us. I must say that it was much more meaningful to look at the nativities one at a time. They are from different parts in the world and it is amazing how the Holy Family is seen in other countries.

Sunday December 6 was the day for the Chrismon giving. The children were invited to claim their gift after the outdoor service. 

Because it is "covid time" I had also set up a drive-by pick-up in the church parking lot in the afternoon. On the way to it a man just set this up. I see it every year and think it gives such a good message. Santa is kneeling before Baby Jesus.

The man was still working on his display and I hopped out of the car, thanked him and gave him one of the Chrismon. I hope he likes it.

The "drive-by" was a good idea. It was so nice to see several of our church friends. It was a crisp day but lovely in the sun.

The next day we had a sprinkling of snow in the morning. 

We are so happy that James feels better with every day and is eager again to go for walks and we could see our neighbors are decorating their houses too. 

The following Sunday it was warm enough to have lunch outside and go for a walk in short sleeves.

And with this years Chrismon taken care of it is time to think of a new one. I have at least three more designs in my head. Getting them out on paper is the difficult part.

As always there are things to do. We are never bored. 

But I would not be honest if I said that I did not miss the celebration like in years before. Advent/Chrismas time is so special. On the other hand this is an opportunity to focus on the real meaning of Christmas.

Giving Thanks

My last blog was more than a month ago. I just didn't know how to write about the happenings. Ok, I"ll try...

We were very excited because Helen and William were coming for thanksgiving week. They started very early on the Saturday before and of course drove all day. Traffic was heavy as expected and they were even "parked" for a while on the interstate at one point. We kept teasing William 'when he was getting his driver license' so Helen doesn't have to do the all the driving herself. 

Sunday morning Sarah came with her boys and the cousins were happy.

Monday and Tuesday were school days for everybody. William of course is virtual. Helen too had to teach a lot via internet during the week and I had quite a time to get class times straight in my head because of the time difference.

Sarah had to work on Monday but very early which means she is also done early. She wanted to take her boys to the Illuminate Light Show at the Meadow Event Park and wanted to know who else would like to go. William and I did and she picked us up. She has experience that waiting lines may get long closer to Christmas. She had made arrangements for tickets and all went very smoothly. The boys were excited about the "singing and dancing" Christmas trees, Santas and penguins etc. It was a mild evening and we even had the windows down during the very slow drive. 

The best laid plans... One of the reasons why I didn't know how to blog is this. James is for quite some time under the care of a dermatologist. At the latest check-up she decided that he needed to see a specialist about something and the only appointment he could get was on Tuesday of Thanksgiving week. Luckily it was at 9:30 am and we thought we would be back in no time. Little did we know.

I was not sure whether James wanted me to write about it but there is the issue of raising awareness. For many years now James does all his hiking with a hat on his head but the errors of his youth have caught up with him. Of course to be fair none of us knew about the damage the lovely sun can do. Good that he is now under the care of a dermatologist and she sees him next day when it is something so alarming as this was. No time was wasted but it seems to have been very fast growing. Squamous cell carcinoma. Mohs surgery is a procedure done in stages, including lab work, while the patient waits which allows the removal of all cancerous cells for the highest cure rate. It took all Tuesday. In the evening he got a call that he needed to come back the next day at 8 am for more.

We are in awe about Dr. Rausch and her team. Wednesday the surgery was supposed to be closed for the Thanksgiving celebration. She came in anyway with 3 from her team to take care of James. He was the only patient and they worked all day into the evening. Late he got a call that he needed to come in on Monday again because there was still one more area which needed to be taken out. What a wonderful caring dedicated team this is. It had to be said.

Of course we wanted William and Helen to have a good time here. Sarah had invited William to spend the night from Wednesday to Thursday which was wonderful. He spent all day with his cousins. Auntie even cut his hair. Helen wanted to watch and get pointers on how to do it. 

Sarah wanted the Thanksgiving feast in her house. So much easier with the children. Everything was planned ... who brings/makes what etc. William and Caleb each receive monthly children's cooking recipes and there was the suggestion of three different veggie side dishes. Helen went early to help the older boys and her sister with preparations. 

James just didn't feel good enough to celebrate. He had been so pumped full with numbing medicine those two days and had been told to not do anything to raise his blood pressure or carry more than 5 pounds. Everybody was disappointed including us. I am sure though they had a lovely time together. Helen came home in the evening but William was invited to stay another night. 

Sarah had to work Friday but Wade was off. We had of course agreed to pick William up early but Wade chose to meet either Helen or me at the Meadow Farm / Crump Park for a little hike. The weather was unbelievably nice. Helen met them there at 10:30 am and shared photos with me.

James felt so much better by now and we had suggested to Wade that they all might have lunch with us. I had texted the photo of Papa and his bandages to Sarah the evening before and they had prepared the boys about the situation. It ended up being a lovely relaxing time. 

I had even made an apple pie after Sarah's recipe. It had been something Helen had been hoping for on this trip. When I got the granny smith apples I even remembered to buy vanilla ice cream. Yeah!

The boys watching the cutting of the pie.

Stella, who loves to steal food, knows she will not be successful today.

After lunch the boys played nicely. Rolling down was fun.

VIDEO 

Watch the Master     (0:18)

And Helen showed them how to somersault backwards. Yes, Auntie can do that!

Well, and then it was time to say good-bye. William and Helen were driving home the next day. The cousins always have such a great time together.

Their drive home was very good. Great weather, not as much traffic as expected. Helen made good time. It's always great to get news about good arrival after the 600 mile drive.

Quiet times again. Of course on Monday James' third day of his ordeal. He has a big part of scalp missing on top of his head now but the doctor is confident that she got it all. If we understand it right there had been 51 samples to study in the lab  for them during the surgeries.

On a lighter note, we have great joy with our "old" established camellia. 

The two Christmas cacti seem to be Thanksgiving cacti.

And, of course, my newest amaryllis ... from ALDI.

Yes, even in times like this, lots to give thanks for! Thanks to the LORD!