Monday, December 25, 2006

Rick goes home to the Lord

Last night during dinner we got some sad news. Rick went home to the Lord midday on Christmas Eve. We are not sad for Rick. We know that he is celebrating and no longer struggling. However, we are sad for his wife and two daughters and of course the entire FLCS family who loved him so much. We prayed during dinner for the family and then reminsced about some old Rick stories. He was the president of the school's booster booth for decades and just loved athletics. I'm glad I got to see him, and we will probably attend the funeral sometime this week.

Sometimes it seems rather trivial to talk about the tiny little details of life when you know another family is grieving, but, of course, sadness is going on everyday. It's just harder when it hits close to home.

I hope we all remember, as I mentioned in an earlier blog, the people that are hurting this holiday season. This time of year can be difficult when you are grieving, and I think it's important to never forget that and remember those people in our activities and prayers.

Yesterday, as most of you know, was Christmas Eve. Since JB and I were married back in 1998, we have spent Christmas Eve with my family and Christmas Day with JB's family. This also worked out for Keith and AD. We aren't sure if this tradition will continue or not as JB's residency means we aren't sure what our holiday season will be like, but at least for this year, it worked out nicely.

We had a fabulous day. We went to Church at Calvary Chapel in the morning, had breakfast at IHOP (I really love IHOP! Why don't they have these in the Polar North?!), and then came back to the house and opened Christmas gifts. I got some wonderful presents including a Chipotle gift card, long pajama pants, and beautiful necklace/earring sets among other things.

We then broke for naps. I slept an hour but JB and AD (our two initial-name-family-members took the cake. (This means "did the best" for my non-native English speakers). AD slept FOUR hours and JB slept THREE! While they were sleeping, my mom and I went for a walk. When everyone woke up, we played a new game -- Blokus and enjoyed steaks on the grill.

We also taught the fam "Mexican Train Dominoes". I have no idea why the game is called Mexican Train Dominoes, but our good friends Hans and Rachel taught us how to play, and we love it. For some reason, my parents have the game despite the fact that they had no idea how to play it (and truthfully weren't even aware that they owned the game). In fact, they have instead used the game as a door stopper for the last two years. (Ceramic dominoes are HEAVY!)

Playing Dominoes -- I'm seated on the far right and winning nicely, but I had to take a break from the domination to take a photo



Take a look at the score of this game folks. Yes, you are reading it correctly, Wendi has 25 points and the rest of the grew has over 150!!! How amazing is that?! Hans, even YOU haven't played a game that good. Unfortunately, while I did end up winning, things didn't stay quite so lopsided for very long.


I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas today. If you get a chance, pop in on my friend Tara's blog. I am very proud of her. Tara has the best attitude despite the fact that her family is in Mexico while she is waiting for a flight out of Denver! How many of us could keep good spirits despite our holiday going NOTHING like we had planned? If you think of complaining this year about anything, check out Tara's delayed-Mexican-holiday.

Merry Christmas everyone! I'll be back later today with photos of the day at the Kits. I hope you all have a wonderful day and remember the true reason we celebrate -- Christ's birth.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I am VERY impressed with your Mexican Train skills, Wendi. i would say that I'm looking forward to playing with you and John again, but now I'm not so sure! Well, I don't really care about winning, but it's Hans that is REALLY worried!

P.S. When are you guys coming home?