december...one

2010. Two years for the price of one. Or was that one year for the price of two??

In many ways, the start of 2010 feels like two years ago. Perhaps it's the out-of-time-and-space-like-sabbatical we had for four months of this year. Or the fact that the last six months of ministry have been so immense in ways I could not convey in this blog. Such stretching and pouring out. Such growing. Such gratitude.

The idea of summing up 2010 beyond that feels too daunting... so I'm sticking with summing up December! The fact that we now have a camera that takes pictures again after six months without is clearly reflected in the size of my December photo file. So honestly, even blogging December highlights alone feels a little daunting! So here. I'll start simply. With a video of Maia singing at her school Christmas concert. Keep your eye on the gal in the Santa dress. (Rather strange that we have a Santa dress when we're not big fans of Santa here. One of life's great ironies...) More to come!

december... two

Back to December again.... even if it is almost the end of January.

Most days in December we read the Christmas story with the girls. Each time, we'd move another piece or two of the nativity scene. I love that the littlest princess is old enough to begin to appreciate the nativity, even if she doesn't grasp the beautiful weight of it yet.

The girls got all gussied up for Christmas with the extended Doherty family.

For our church staff party, we got to prepare hampers at the local food bank. This is the second year we've done this and I hope it's a tradition that continues. Such fun. Not to mention very meaningful to know you're doing a small part to help put Christmas dinner on dozens of tables.

Some of us worked on the food hampers while others sorted toys for the same families. What fun!

Miss Maia was part of a gymnastics class this fall. She literally skipped from one activity to the next. Amazing how quickly they pick up new things. Here she is on the balance beam...

We got walloped with snow starting on the 1st of December. Loads of snow days. Sledding. And our family favourite -- snowshoeing.

Tim and Maia carved out a cozy little home in a big pile of snow at the side of the house. The neighbourhood kids had such fun in there.

How can I convey how much I love these two? Not to mention how sweet they are together.

Tim and I got out on a snowshoeing date of our own. I realize now how rare it is that we get a picture of just the two of us, so here we are...

And lastly, here's a video of Maia and I playing at our Christmas Recital in December. I had about a dozen piano students share their music and I think it was one of my favourite recitals yet. What a good bunch. Teaching Maia has become more and more enjoyable this year as she becomes more keen to be taught by me. It's also been a joy to hear her noodle away at the keys more often this month (January) and make great creations of her own.

december... three

Being that we're 'Jesus people', we don't make a big deal about the guy in the red suit who -- to us at least -- has come to represent shameless consumerism. We don't really ask the question, "What do you want for Christmas?" We love exchanging gifts, but we've tried to keep our Christmas emphasis on, well, Christ! (We always confound the grocery store clerks who love to ask if the girls are ready for Santa to come, and they never have the answer the clerk is looking for.)

At school, the kids write letters to Santa and mail them at the Post Office. I had to laugh when Maia came home from school with this letter.....

She had it all worked out. Santa could sleep in our guest room if he wanted to.

On our sabbatical, I began about a dozen paintings but didn't quite finish them all. So my dear friend Lea-Anne and I got together to work on paintings for Christmas gifts. While I enjoy creating in solitude at times, it's also nice to have a little company too... and someone to bounce ideas off of. Here's Lea-Anne with one of her beautiful creations.

The lunar eclipse. Was anyone else looney enough to stay up until 2:30 am to see it? This is the best shot I could get with my point-and-shoot camera. Better than I thought it would be, actually! Ironic that it was too cloudy for NASA to see it, but clear skies over Zurich that night.

Our town likes to host a Live Nativity at Christmas. Eliana was taken with the donkey... well, all except his loud bray. She wasn't a fan of that. I was particularly enamoured with the llama. Reminded me how much I used to want a llama for a pet one day. Perhaps I was a more odd child than I realized.

december....four

We shared Christmas Eve with 'Grandpa Bob and Grandma Dorothy'. That was very special.

This was the first Christmas Day that we spent with just the four of us. (Well, five if you include the furry family member.) Typically, we'd be on the road but because Christmas fell on a Saturday, we were able to just enjoy a quiet day together and start some of our own family traditions. So let's see... there were blueberry pancakes to start... cinnamon buns... gifts that were a joy to give and receive... our 9-year-old lab Phil to supervise... (I think the black & white capture makes him look even more elderly -- look at all that grey!)

I spent many hours last year creating a digital family album that I was able to give as a surprise to Tim and the girls. Tim loved it. It was all our favourite 2009 photos with lots of journaling mixed in. I don't think I'll ever go back to scrapbooking by hand. Now to tackle 2010 photos...

Christmas morning giggles with the girls.

Maia took this one of us -- not bad, eh?

Tim and I gave the girls a big wooden play kitchen with a tub for washing play dishes, and a lot of play food. They've spent lots of time up there already. Eliana is especially prone to want to serve fantastic combinations of foods for your pleasure (hot dogs and ice cream with carrots, for example). Here she is multi-tasking.... chatting with Nai Nai & Ye Ye in North Carolina while she 'works' in the kitchen.

This family loves hiking. And especially for Tim, I don't think Christmas Day would be complete without a little family adventure. So out came the snowshoes and the sled and the backpack for a trek through a local forest trail as the sun was getting ready to set. It was beautiful.

We also had family gatherings with Tim's mom & co. and my parents et al....

Lianna has a philosophy of life and of gifts -- go big or go home.

The cousins. Love these kids!

And on my side of the family we were all able to be together for dinner. It was a truly good and memorable day together. Lots of laughter.

We decided to exchange 'homemade or from home' gifts this year. I loved this! I gave my mom one of my paintings...

You'd have thought Tim was a kid in a candy store when he inherited a biography of Bonhoeffer from my Dad. I love this about him.

Funniest gift of all. My mom traced all the kids before Christmas so she could make them all a 'mini-me' of themselves. Right away they started dressing them up. I kept seeing their figures strewn on the floor and my heart would skip a beat. Had to keep reminding myself that they were all conscious and well.

Before Christmas, we won a 5-pound chocolate bar in a draw at Maia's school. We brought it to three family gatherings, chipped away at it these last few weeks and are still not finished it. Five. Pounds. Of Chocolate. Good chocolate! Fondue, anyone?

We truly feasted together. It is not lost on me that many never get a meal like this in their lives. A merry Christmas, indeed.

2010 in photos and videos. There you have it!