Wreathed in smiles

December 11, 2012

OK so I couldn't resist the title as I am blogging wreaths today

I have documented in several Christmas journals about the three wreaths that we have at Christmas, oneon our front door, one on the front door of my doll house and one on my parents’ grave. The one on the front door was one we had the very first year we were married and we loved it. After
20 years it was getting a bit tired looking but we couldn’t find an alternative that we liked. Last year we bought a cranberry wreath and we thought we loved it. Turns out we didn’t

However this year we found a new wreath – in B and Q of all places – which was us to a T and so we bought it. This is the first year it has been in pride of place on our front door and we really like it.

So I guess now we are the house of 5 wreaths (well 6 as we haven’t thrown the old one out yet!) The cranberry wreath is hung over the garage but I fear may not stay long as the birds keep pecking at it thinking it is made of real berries.

I have used the new wreath as my picture of the day and my JYC for today.

I have a new page to share which was made with a gorgeous kit called First Cold by Mel designs.

And when you go to look at that kit do remember the 12 days of Christmas is almost at an end so go snaffle a bargain over at Pickleberrypop.

Today I am thankful for

Christmassy songs and celebrations
Nigel’s work being more manageable than he anticipated

and finally my page a day calendar page is

One Christmas, my wife, Joy, and I wanted to plan a family trip. Our boys were 23, 21, and 19, and we figured we might not have many more Christmases when we were all together. I assumed the boys would
want to go skiing, as we had often done before. But when we asked them, they said in unison, “Let’s go to the beach!”

“The beach? How could you have Christmas at the beach?” I grumbled. But my objections were drowned out by a trio that soon became a quartet as Joy reverted to her Southern California upbringing. So I asked some well-traveled friends where we should go for sun, sand, and adventure.

We finally hit on Ambergris Cay, an island off the coast of Belize in Central America. Warm sun, beautiful reefs for snorkeling, trips to the mainland to see Mayan ruins, crocodiles, monkeys … it sounded like fun, but not like Christmas, so on the plane trip down, I read the Christmas story in all four gospels, trying to find a way to connect beaches with Bethlehem.

Ambergris Cay was a paradise. On our first night, we walked to town to find dinner, and Nathan pointed to a big sign by a restaurant door: NO SHIRT, NO SHOES? NO PROBLEM!
“See, Dad,” he said, “they’ll take anybody here, even wackos who wish they were skiing!”

Nathan’s words brought to mind a phrase from Luke’s Gospel: “Good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” Like the restaurant, Jesus takes anybody. A bunch of guys smelling like sheep at the door? Great, send them in. A grumpy Minnesotan pining for snow? That’s okay, Jesus will give him six days of love and laughter with the most precious people in his world and hope he gets the message that Christmas is about people and not places.