Christmas 2006... In Review

To the rhyme of "Twas the Night Before Christmas"

Twas the Friday before Christmas and in the Bontrager House,
Tim and Sondra celebrated year two as husband and spouse.
We had our cups of coffee and Christmas tunes on,
Slowly opening gifts, afraid too soon Christmas would be done.

We then packed up the car with gifts galore,
And headed to Kendallville, to see my family and more.
Us cousins had made it a tradition on this date,
To stay at a hotel: laughing, talking and staying up late.

When all of a sudden the sound of an alarm,
Would tell us it was time to head to Grandma's farm.
We'd open our stockings, to say the least,
And then settle around the table for a Christmas feast.

Christmas Eve was just the next day,
But some bad news would soon come our way.
Tim's mom had gotten sick,
So a new date for the celebration we'd have to pick.

The Bontrager kids gathered at Chandra's instead,
"I'll make a meal", she graciously said.
So I tried for the first time, the African Mix;
It's a traditional meal the Bontragers fix.

With rice. And oranges. And apples. And gravy on top,
We ate all afternoon, it was hard to stop!
We missed having Gene and Barb in so many ways,
But we've rescheduled Christmas in just a few days.

Onto Ohio was our Christmas Day stop,
Where we were met by Kendra and my Mom and Pop :)
But the best part of Christmas Day this year,
Was that my brother the Marine was going to be here.

We spent the day doing puzzles and napping,
A few of us doing some last-minute wrapping.
A turkey graced the table for Christmas dinner,
(With all this food, how could we possibly hope to be thinner??)

We exchanged our gifts later that night,
Of course, Mom and Dad spoiled us again - what a sight.
It was a wonderful Christmas once more this year,
And a blessing to spend it with family that's near.

We hope you had a healthy and happy stay,
No matter where you were on Christmas Day.
And now as we bring in another new year,
May God bless you and those you hold dear.

New Addition

Well, we did it... we got rid of the Grand Am. It was a sad day... I had boughten that thing off my brother when he left for boot camp, so of course, it reminded me of him. (Now I understand people when they say they're 'attached to their car'). But the poor thing didn't have any hope left, and it was time to find something else. Niether Tim nor I had anything in "mind" - So along came the Jeep and we absolutely love it.

Introducing...

We were SO excited to finally get to meet little Isabella Joy!


































Our friends Rob and Greta became parents for the first time to this sweet baby girl on November 27. So Tim and I, along with Tim's mom and dad, went to see the new family last night. Isabella is the most petite and precious little girl and we're so happy for Rob and Greta!

Holiday Happenings

I still can't believe it's December already. My sister is well into the heart of her basketball season for Huntington University (that's right - they're a University now :) So this past weekend the team was up here playing Bethel. HU had an 11 point lead against the undefeated Bethel team, but ended up losing with just minutes to spare. Kendra's a junior foward for the Forresters and had 13 points in the game. It was fun getting to watch her play and being with my mom and dad at the same time.

















We also got our Christmas tree this last Sunday evening. Last year we made kind of an 'event' about it - borrowing Tim's dad's truck, bundling up in our mittens, hats and scarves, going to Eby Pines tree farm in Middlebury (in a snow storm), etc. etc. etc. Well, this year was a little different. We hopped in the car, drove 6 miles down the road to Menards, grabbed a tree that was already wrapped, stuffed it in the trunk of our Sebring, and then hoped for the best. Besides having a little crooked trunk, and after trimming her up a bit, I don't think she looks too bad :) And I never thought I'd say this, but after this year, I'm almost tempted to buy an 'artificial tree'. I have never had one, but boy... after the sap and needles this year... they're looking better and better each Christmas. If only I could still have that 'evergreen' smell - that would be the deciding factor :)

T-giving at the Corps

It's always hard not having my bro around for family things... but it seems like Thanksgiving and Christmas are always especially hard. So I have to take this post to just mention what a wonderful person Becky Jones is. Becky is my brother's sweet girlfriend of almost 2 years, and at every chance she possibly gets, Becky is flying down to North Carolina to spend time with him. I can't explain how great it feels to know that even when we can't be with him during the holidays, she is. So when she sent me these pictures of their "Thanksgiving", I just had to share them - and the story behind them.













Becky wrote --- Nate and I headed to the grocery on Thursday ( Thanksgiving ). We went early in the morning as they were only open until 2. Nate wanted to wait to go to the deli to see if they had any turkey until last. Finally we made it over there and I didnt see anything, so I kept walking trying to find a rotesseri chicken. I then heard Nate asking the chef about turkey. The chef and another lady kinda stepped back and whispered to each other and then said to Nate..."Well, we can sell you this turkey for $30, or you can get a meal for $60". I was like (choke), but Nate said..."We'll take it". So right away I asked if we could talk about it first. The chef kept trying to convince us of getting it the whole time we were talking. It was such a huge meal for two people and for so much money. Nate really wanted to get the turkey, so we decided to buy just that. The lady took the turkey in the back and soon came out with a box FULL of food. I kinda panicked because it was way too many sides and I didnt want us to be charged for it all. So we looked at the price they put on it, and also what was inside. There was the turkey, a bucket of gravy, cranberry relish, candied yams, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, rice and broccoli casserole and dressing all for $28 dollars. We couldnt believe it!!! It was so nice of them considering the turkey itself was $30 dollars and each side was $8! We were so excited and happy about them being so kind to us. ---

Thanks Becky for being with my brother when the rest of us couldn't - and thank you to that lady at the deli who completely made a Marine's Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving

(Tim and and his Pilgrim)

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated this... in fact I don't think I can go on to my next post without mentioning the OSU victory over Michigan from my last post, and to say - bring on the Gators!!We spent that day having Thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family in Kendallville. I have an Uncle and two cousins who are die-hard Michigan fans, and let me tell you, talk about the stress of watching a game like that with fans from the opposing side. It was CRAZINESS! (and I'm so glad we don't have to do it again on January 8th!)

Tim and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our families. That was probably the thing I was most thankful for this holiday - that neither one of us live very far away from our parents. So many of my friends have to decide where they will spend the holiday season, and for us, it's just a matter of splitting our time. So we had our Thanksgiving with the Rogers in Kendallville, the Bontragers in Middlebury and the Stahls in Archbold. Lots of good food and card games :)