Alert and Oriented (x4)

I have to tell you--this has been the most fun ever! The anticipation each evening...from our family, from you all, from Ted's co-workers and even from the kids' friends, has been such a kick. We thought we had it nailed as to who was blessing us, but we were oh, so wrong. One of Caleb's friends finally fessed up last night. He's such a dear, along with his whole family. He told us that each year his family prays about who they should do this for. They want to bless a family who has especially blessed them throughout the year. We didn't even know we had blessed THEM at all! But what joy they have brought to us. Each gift was accompanied by a card that reminded of us the REAL reason for the season--the Christ Jesus came in the flesh as God's unspeakable gift to us here on earth. What a lovely reminder and beautiful way to share God's love at Christmas time. We can't wait to start this as our own tradition next year. EXCEPT just one thing: This guy? Clai...

Christ is born, the angels sang, the shepherds watched, the wise men came. And that's just the very beginning of the story...He was wounded for our transgressions, scourged for our sins and was crucified, died and was buried for them. And He rose! HE LIVES! For you and me! Not only for our salvation, but so that we can have life to the fullest. He loves us, He really, really loves us! With unspeakable joy and a full heart, Happy Christmas to you and yours from The Hoyles (and Claire). (EDIT: I am supposed to also add here the names of the Bigdogs, Otis and Staley, and Baggie the cat, who do not have a cute Christmas dress to wear). Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift. (2 Corinthians 9:15)

Several of you have either commented or sent me emails about what came next... Well, as of 6:30 this evening, I finished Christmas shopping. Tomorrow morning I go to our local homeless shelter to volunteer for a couple of hours and then at 4 tomorrow afternoon, I check in at church for worship team practice for Christmas Eve service. I have fallen behind in pretty much every area, but I promise to post soon. You're all going to have to wait to see what our secret friend has brought us. We are delighted with everything and are looking forward to paying this forward to another family.... Stay tuned...film at 11.

...we received from our ding-dong ditcher a pretty little glass Christmas tree filled with chocolate. My personal weakness and a food group in an of itself....

For the multitudes ( ok , the ones) of you following our story... Last night, true to form, the doorbell rang at about 9:15....strange how that happened right after I returned home from a meeting with one of my suspects. Who, of course, acted completely dumb and confused when questioned. Hmm ..... Anyway, last night's gift was a beautiful wintery throw with aqua and white snowflakes on a Royal blue background. And soft? Oh, my. Think of a "soft as" dial and go about 4 clicks up from the "Cloud" setting. This is just so much fun! I'm already planning on doing this for someone else next year! I would do it this year, but you can't really do the "12 Days of Christmas" with only 8 days left. I guess I could start on Christmas Day and extend it out that way, to 12 th night? Anyway, stay tuned. I am hoping to post photos soon (when The Girl tells me where she's put the digital camera).

Sunday night, at about 8:30 p.m., our doorbell rang. This is pretty unusual. On the one hand, almost everyone who knows us, just taps on the door and walks right on in (yeah, we keep it unlocked usually. Probably not the safest thing, but I have 3 dogs who alert me if something’s up). On the other hand, those folks who do know us know that Ted tries to get to bed before that because during the week, he has to leave for work at 3:30 a.m. Not a typo. Three. Thirty. A. M. The good news is he’s home right after normal people eat lunch. But I’m digressing. My doorbell rang. We all were startled. Claire, aka “la femme Cujo,” was especially indignant that the bell rang at what around here is a pretty late night. When the kids opened the door, there was a card and a pretty Christmas door mat. The card wasn’t signed, but it said “On the First Day of Christmas,” in handwriting that looked like someone was trying to disguise it. I counted...yep...12 days from Sunday and we're there…. Then las...

goes unpunished. Usually, by Thanksgiving, I have completed my Christmas shopping. Not so this year. The pretty little tree in my sidebar tells me I have 16 days left before the big day. That means 15 shopping days. You all realize I work for a church, right? That this is probably my busiest time of the year? And of course, since we are in a new building now , I have been told that we have to empty out our giant, filled to the gills 10’ x 20’ storage unit by the end of the month. In my defense, I wasn’t able to drive at all until around Halloween. And then, my stamina was limited. Now, we’re pretty broke, so I’m thinking just an afternoon or so and I’ll be able to wrap things up in one fell swoop, so to speak. But, in your quiet times, please say a little prayer for me that I can get it all done, as little as there is to do this year. Hopefully we’re getting the tree up tonight. SHEESH! And rumor has it that the in-laws and out-laws may even be coming here for Christmas. I gotta get my...