2025 Christmas Card

I sure struggled this year with designing a Christmas Card. I think I waited too long to get started, and once I DID get started, I got super stuck and just couldn't get myself into a very creative mode.

And for the first time ever, I designed a card and sent it over to Photo Evo to print, they printed the 100 copies, and I ended up hating it so much that I threw them all away. In the trash they went!

Then I was back to square one. This is what I ended up with, and I wasn't happy with it either. I guess I just want a card to capture the absolute beauty and purity and blessing and hope of Christ and His coming to earth ... and I wanted it to communicate without preaching, but actually do the Incarnation justice. After all, what is more amazing than God becoming man to dwell with us? To DIE for us? To make THE way for us to become children of God?!? What other "religion" in all the world has ever claimed what Christianity does? What other "god" can compete with our Triune God? 

NONE. Not ever.

Sigh. So anyway, this is what I ended up with this year:

FRONT

In my Photoscape photo program, I was able to add the "heart" and "true love" on the tree, also the red bow over on the bridge. I also added "Christmas Greetings" near the top of the oval, but I picked the wrong picture for this post, the one that has that on it, and I'm too lazy to go back to the file and get the correct picture. 

BACK

In retrospect, I should just have put the Townsend Park notation smaller, at the bottom of the picture instead of it having such a prominent place on the card; but ... too late for that now!

INSIDE (top flap)

I do like this Scripture, because it says so much: "This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him." I John 4.9 And I think it's a very appropriate text for Christmas.

INSIDE (lower)

Obviously, I added the "No greater love" notation on the tree trunk. This is also from Scripture, but actually Jesse inspired it because he had this verse on his Facebook page. We had talked a little bit about it and it turns out that this is the verse the Army uses because the context for Jesus's words: "Greater love has no man than this: that he would lay down his life for his friends" (John 15.13) is about losing your own life to gain another's life--and I can see the value in viewing this verse in that way. But I truly think that Jesus was talking about laying His own life down for us and that there is NO GREATER LOVE than the love He has shown us. That's why I used it on my Christmas card, because I believe it with all my heart. Oh to truly "live through Him" every day of the year.

What I hope to do this coming year, in order to avoid the situation I was in THIS year, is to work on my Christmas card all year long and have it read WAY BEFORE it is needed. We'll see how that works.

December 31 New Year's Eve

Wednesday:  It was a busy day today and a good one too. A few weeks ago, an elderly lady (Bev) in my Sunday school class at Calvary reached out to me to request transportation (local) when needed. She is 90 years old and had to stop driving three months ago because her car died and she had no finances to fix it. She is a very kind little lady, quite tough and spry, and very clear thinking. I have enjoyed getting to know her! She needed to pick up a few things at Meijer this morning, so we went grocery shopping together. I've also been picking her up Sunday mornings and taking her to church--it's been a blessing to be of help to her.

This week, Dylan and Kelly switched my Tuesday to Wednesday--but I had already committed to helping Bev for the morning; so I picked the children up at about 1:00 and took them over here to play for awhile. I get quite overwhelmed with all four of these kiddos at one time over at my house--they are such a busy little bunch of kids, all talking at once, all wanting my attention concurrently; so sometimes when I anticipate having them over, I experience anxiety beforehand. I am learning, though, that the things I struggle with are noticed by the Lord; and when I commit myself to serve Him and others, He is very available to be of help to me. This proved true today, and I am so thankful.

I'm going to add my photos tomorrow--they are on my phone, and lately I am having trouble syncing them with my computer to upload them. I'm too tired tonight to try to accomplish it.

We had a fun few hours today. I couldn't believe how trashed my place looked after about two hours, but everyone was playing really well, and there were no major tuffs going on; so I just let it happen! These guys' ability to play through chaos is really quite amazing to me. I must be highly OCD! I feel so much better when things are orderly--but I knew that it would only take a little bit of time for me to get it back to how I like it once our day was over. 

Puzzle making and drawing ...

Brendan and Cal played a few games of "Stones."

Everybody tried their hand at making a successful marble run.

This is the game of "Blank Slate".

Brendan, Erin and I played a game of "Taco Cat" which was hilarious. Aidan was building a marble run at the time (I think) and didn't want to participate. Cal watched--he's a little bit too young for this game. We all played another game of "Blank Slate" (Cal and I were partners) and had a lot of fun playing this together. The kids do really well with this game! I'm so pleased.

The last day of 2025 ... this year was the fastest year ever ... but I suppose that's because I am getting older every year, and that's how time feels ... it just zips on by!

December 29 at Emma's

Monday:  Emma and Kota were still recovering from the flu over the weekend, so they couldn't come over Saturday night with the rest of the family--which was really sad for all of us! I checked Sunday night to see how they were doing and to ask if they needed anything that I could bring to them on Monday. They were out of a few items, so Monday afternoon I brought the requested items; plus, I brought over their Christmas presents.

It was so nice to see them! They have been sick for days and days. They are in recovery mode, though, for which they are thankful; mainly right now, they are just exhausted from being sick. West Michigan had a pretty big winter storm during the last 24 hours, so I waited until the afternoon to give road crews a chance to clear snow and ice away, so that I wouldn't be driving in bad stuff.

I didn't stay long, maybe 30 minutes or so. It was a nice time, though, and I am so thankful I got to deliver their gifts.

Emma keeps her Amazon Wish List pretty current, which greatly helps me when it's time for gift giving. What on earth is a person supposed to do with things they don't want or need? Little kids can get by with surprise gifts, but once they get to a certain age, I like to have a wish list to help me choose what to buy.

One of the gifts on Emma's list was the "Anne of Green Gables", Kevin Sullivan movies that I have at my house and which Emma and I have watched together. They are really beautifully done and very true to the books, as much as is possible. BUT they come in two separate parts, and the first part is impossible to find in English! Imagine how surprised I was to find that the first part only comes in French, Italian, or Spanish (with subtitles in English). No way was I going to purchase that! So because of that, I didn't get the second one either. I explained all of this to Emma, and she agreed that she would not have enjoyed subtitles on the Anne movies. We'll just have to see if they ever come out in English. They originated in English, for pity's sake!

Thankfully, there were other things on Emma's list that I could order and that came on time. She was very pleased to receive her gifts. Kota was pleased too with his sweatpants (extra thick for extra warmth) and warm socks. 

Thank you, Lord, for family to love and care for.

 

December 27 Beach House Christmas

Saturday:  Jesse and his kids and I celebrate Christmas at my house usually the weekend following Christmas Day. Jesse doesn't like a lot of commotion or too many people, so it hasn't worked very well for us to combine this gathering with other family. Emma isn't much on crowds either--nor is Kaity, for that matter. Hence, this is the way it works for them.

Sadly, though, this year both Emma and Dakota were too sick to come. They have that strain of flu that has been traveling around and are exhausted from it. I was so sad to hear this!

The rest of the family came at 3:00 for dinner. It was a bit of a hodgepodge because ... I was just "off" this year about cooking in general. For some reason, a few weeks ago I settled on a menu of lasagna, corn, and garlic bread (plus muffins and other goodies). But I failed to check with people if that was an agreeable choice or not (the lasagna). It turns out that ... it wasn't the best choice! I didn't actually find this out until two days prior to the date; so I kind of did a two-choice thing. Matt suggested that I make a crockpot full of French toast, like I used to do when they would come over on the weekends many years ago. So ... I cooked up a loaf and a half of cinnamon swirl bread/French toast, and re-heated the honey ham from Christmas Day. I also baked an entire 9x13 pan of lasagna, garlic bread and corn. For some reason, the lasagna recipe was more difficult than I had remembered! BUT ... it finally all came together just fine.

Here are a few pictures:

All the presents wrapped and under the tree, with the exception of Matt's gift (which was $$ that he intends to donate), and Jesse's (which was also $$ and was given to him last week).

Chris insisted that I open MY gifts first! Gifts for me?!?!?! And look! How beautiful is this?

This is a yard flag for the Christmas season. I love it! I will use it next year and every Christmas to come!

This game that Matt is playing with is from Aidan Paul to me. It's one of those water games with the rubber bands that you try to hook together (I'm not describing it very well). Aidan's intention here was for me to show this to Kaity so that she would rather play IT than be on her phone. I passed this message on to Kaity, which raised her eyebrows a bit.

Then it was Matt's turn to open the gift from Chris ...

VERY cool ... can you see it? It's some kind of car, a Ford GT.

Then Chris opened his gifts ... a bunch of different things like car stickers, exercise equipment, a video game ...

Jesse sat in the only comfortable chair that actually fits his size ...

I'm not sure what was going on (below) except Chris was bopping Ella with one of his gifts. 

I didn't get pictures of Kaity opening her jacket and her bike hip bag ... but she did like them--they were specifically requested by her. We had eaten prior to opening gifts, and then we decided to play a few games. Jesse had to go, but Kaity stayed with us.

Here we are at the beginning of our Pachesi game, which went on for nearly an hour. When FOUR are playing, it gets pretty crazy. And it is a scream to see how competitive these three are! Kaity didn't want to play, and the others insisted that I play, so I did! I love this game! 

Chris finally won, after 45 minutes of play. Ella came in second. I believe I was the losing loser this time.

We played a round of "Blank Slate", which Kaity played too. Ella won!

Matthew. What a sweet person he is--I don't mean that in a weird way or anything. He just has a sweet heart, and I love him very much. 

We also played a brand NEW game that was gifted to me by Ella and Chris. It's called "Taco Cat" and it's really FUN. Lots of laughing and ... it gets a little bit violent! A lot of slapping of hands, etc. Very fun game.

I am so so thankful for these dear folks. I continue to pray that each of them encounters Jesus personally, understands what He accomplished at the cross for them, and commits their lives and hearts to Him alone. What a wonderful Savior we have. If only we would truly live for Him, what a difference He would make in our lives. Praying we would sincerely love Him as we should this year.

December 25 Christmas Day

Thursday:  Here are photos of the kids opening the gifts I bought for them. I didn't arrive until noon today, which gave Dylan's family time to celebrate the opening of their gifts to each other as leisurely as they liked. They were all actively playing with their stuff when I arrived, and no one hurried to open their packages from me--which was surprising, but to me it meant that Dylan and Kelly did a very nice job with their gift selections!

LOOK! Cal got his very own Jurassic Park Chess board! Oh my! He is thrilled with it! I sat and tried to play a game with him--but the pieces are difficult for me to identify, so I struggled. I'll have to get used to it somehow.

Here is Cal examining his wrapped presents.

This is the Dino launcher (Hot Wheels) that he opened first--except we couldn't quite figure out the launching part, so I was disappointed!

Here is Cal opening up the air craft carrier, which took us a little while to figure out; but there is a picture of it assembled later on in this post. I also got him some dinosaur truck transformers, also a little bit difficult to figure out. Aidan was trying to help, but Cal would not allow any assistance!

This is Erin opening up her "Owly" books--she was super excited to get these.

I also got her some "Paint your own Magnet Tiles", which she wanted to do immediately--but I put her off until a more reasonable time.

Here is the little baby doll with accessories that she wanted too. It took us a while to assemble the bed (it helps to read the instructions), but it finally all came together very nicely. Erin was very pleased.

Aidan wanted a mini retro game system--and this is what he opened first. He was really excited to get this.

"Snoopy Beagle Scout" was also a hit. 

This blank Comic Book looks fun. Aidan is quite an author!

Brendan opening up a nice sketch book ...

I also got him a colored pencil set with a nice case ...

AND a nice art supply kit--mostly charcoal pencils and shaders ...

But I think Brendan's favorite was this Pokemon glow-in-the-dark Labyrinth game.

I got Kelly a nice book from my friend, Jen's floral gift shop (Ball Park Floral)--but I had a nagging suspicion that I had already given her this book in prior years!! Kelly assured me that this was a different one. I told her I could always take it back and exchange it for one she doesn't have if she finds that this is a duplicate. It's one of those DIY books with cool ideas--just up Kelly's alley.

Dylan didn't give me a list, so I gave him cash instead.

We finally got the air craft carrier figured out, and even managed to get the bombs to launch--finally! It came with 10 airplanes and a gas truck--all of the aircraft fit inside the carrier.

Erin and I and Brendan played a game of Labyrinth--Brendan won! I wasn't sure I was going to be able to figure out how to play this--but Brendan was patient, so I finally caught on.

See the watch Erin is wearing? It has a lot of very cool features--Erin loves it! Her Uncle Shane got it for her--he always buys the kids nice presents for Christmas and their birthdays. It sure was nice to see him today.

The Lions Christmas game was scheduled today at 4:25 on Netflix. Dylan and Kelly don't have Netflix, so one of their good friends invited them over to watch it at their house. Jesse and I agreed that I would drive over to his place to visit him for Christmas and watch the game over there. 

It was kind of a pathetic game and was a MUST WIN for Detroit. But they lost 10 to 23 ... so no playoffs this year for us. Jesse had said from the outset that it probably would be best if we lost today, because the chances for a playoff berth was SO slim, that we might as well get it over with today instead of holding out on not much hope. Sigh. We really didn't play very well today at all. But I am a Lions fan no matter what (almost), and I really like their coach and their team approach to the game. 

Two days from now, Jesse and his kids will be here for Christmas. I am looking forward to it very much.