Waiting for Dusk

New Year's Eve

Something sparkly...

...something bubbly...

...something unexpected:

(If you can't see it, the video is here.)

I totally wasn't expecting Risanna to take her first steps right then, but she did — Paul and I were playing with her while Deborah was on the phone with Abby, and she just stood up, let go of Paul's hands, and walked over to me. We were both stunned, and called Deborah over. Paul took the video a few minutes later with his new camera.

Resolutions, introspection, political analysis, prestidigitation, predilections, prognostication, and predictions? Not really my style.

Happy New Year, everyone!

The Thanksgiving Double Triple Reunion

Thanksgiving here was an occasion for a very rare occurrence: not just one three-sibling reunion, but two! On Wednesday, my sisters drove down from Canada and rode up from Texas on the train, joining all of us at my parent's house in Valparaiso.

Becky, Sharon, Andy.

While all that was happening, a similar three-sibling reunion was happening in Winona Lake, where May flew in from Pennsylvania to spend a few days with us, as well.

Deborah, Paul, May. (Remaining sister Sara not shown.)

On Thursday, we all got together in Valpraiso for the feast.

Yum. Fabulous food, on Mom's these-do-NOT-go-in-the dishwasher good china. Deborah had the idea of making place names; pilgrim hats and bonnets for the Indiana family, and Indian feather headdresses for the out-of-staters. (I argued that it should be the other way around, but the practicalities of making only four pilgrim hats won out.) I supplied the calligraphy at the last minute; I am waaaay out of practice.

Once we were too stuffed to walk, we took time out for other things.

Photos of all the cousins together...
In no particular order: Joshua, Jonathan, Josiah, Javier, Joél, Fiona, Aiden, and Risanna. Yes, we bucked the trend my sisters set of naming all the kids beginning with J.

It was fun to see cousins from all three families doing things together.

Games galore...

Silly stories with Grandpa.

We had much to be thankful for!

It would have been enough!

A few days ago, the church that hosts Fiona's preschool was offering a Passover Seder for anyone who would like to come. We didn't go (I didn't know about it; it was my birthday, and I'd elected to go out to eat that night) but Deborah's curiosity was piqued, and she started Googling.

One of the pieces she came across was a Passover song, Dayenu. Dayenu means "It would have been enough," and starts its fifteen verses by outlining God's freeing the Israelites from slavery in Egypt:

If He had brought us out from Egypt,
and had not carried out judgments against them
— It would have been enough!

If He had carried out judgments against them,
and not against their idols
— It would have been enough!

If He had destroyed their idols,
and had not smitten their first-born
— It would have been enough!

If He had smitten their first-born,
and had not given us their wealth
— It would have been enough!

If He had given us their wealth,
and had not split the sea for us
— It would have been enough!

...and so on, covering five miracles and five meetings with God.

Christians, believing that the Messiah has come, would not want to stop with the building of the temple, but would want to go on (and here, I start making up my own verses):

If he had built the temple,
and had not accepted sacrifices
— It would have been enough!

If he had accepted sacrifices,
and had not given us Messiah
— It would have been enough!

If he had given us Messiah,
but had not let him die in our place
— It would have been enough!

If he had let him die in our place
but had not risen from the dead
— It would have been enough!

If he had risen from the dead
but had not given us the Holy Spirit
— It would have been enough!

It's tempting to stop there, and in practice, many Christians do: "Sure, God saved me from my sins, but what has he done for me lately?" I am as guilty as any man for letting the pressures and demands of life, work, family, and health get in the way of appreciating the spiritual. It's tempting to merely count one's blessings ("If he had given me a wife, but had not also given me three children...") which is good, too, but... but what? How do His blessings fit with His plan? Neither the theology nor the history are written in stone. The next five stanzas are harder to write:

If he had given us the Holy Spirit,
but did not have a plan for our lives
— It would have been enough!

If he had a plan for our lives,
but did not help us live it
— It would have been enough!

If he helped us to live it,
but did not encourage us in our walk
— It would have been enough!

If he encouraged us in our walk,
but did not also bless us beyond measure
— It would have been enough!

If he blessed us beyond measure,
but did not also promise us heaven
— It would have been enough!

It is enough! But we serve a exceedingly, blatantly generous God who goes far and above what's necessary. And that is the mystery to us: why a perfect God would look on imperfect man, and, instead of destroying us, he gives everything to bless us, and save us, and lift us up, and take us to be with Him.

Dayenu!

Thanksgiving

Once again... if you're trying to reconstruct an accurate chronology of my life, I say: Nyah-nyah! (I'll even say it in Spanish: ¡Ña-ña!) No such luck!

For the first time ever, we had to break out the kiddie table for Thanksgiving. We had seven adults around the main table (the record is nine), including my parents, who were to leave for Spain again the following morning, May, Paul, and my Aunt Martha, who had driven down from Alaska a few days earlier.

Deborah was still overcome with babyness, so I stepped up to the task of making the turkey. (It came out fine... eventually.) Paul and May pitched in with the pie-making, and my mother brought among other things a cranberry salad that I need the recipe to one of these days. (I know you're reading, Mom.) Yummy scrumbos all around.

I had many things to be thankful for — many of whom have names — but Fiona took the cake for cute thankfulness. These were aided by her Sunday school and preschool teachers; I note that the one from Sunday school was a bit more high-minded. One can only wonder at the prompting.

Fiona's preschool teacher had never heard of gnocchi until now. She assumed it was the name of a pet.

Awww. We'll have to see if she still feels this way when they're sharing a room together many years down the road. Fiona was the subject of another girl's drawing, too, which warms the heart, as well.

The Princess and the Plumber

You know you play a lot of video games when... your kids dress up as characters out of Super Mario Bros. for Halloween. In our case, Princess Peach and Mario.

Yay! We're video game characters!

Wait, WHAT happens in this game? The princess gets kidnapped, and the plumber has to go rescue her in the sewers while being attacked by flaming flowers, bouncing turtle shells, and horrible monsters? This is SO not what we signed up for!

Mommy makes it all good.

Fourth of July

Better late than never, right? Just a bunch of pictures from the 4th...

I found myself in a parade this morning. We'd driven over to the park in the morning so that Fiona could do her bit, and Deborah noted that parade registration was still open. So, with five minutes' notice and a few borrowed flags, Aiden and I manned a parade float.

Fiona was just a few spots behind us, doing a little pom-pom and dance routine.

A pensive cheerleader...

Gimme an F! Uh, wait, maybe that's not the cheer to practice in class...
Yay, Fiona!

They had games and activities at the park after the parade. Here, I'm taking Aiden down a giant slide...

...while Fiona is put out fires with the WLFD.

After a nice picnic supper, my parents and I formed a non-profit corporation, and we all settled down on a blanket to wait for dusk.

Wildflowers at twilight. My mother was rather impressed that I got this shot, given how little light there was.

Boom!
I realize I could have zoomed in, or cropped this or any number of things... but somehow this shot appealed to me more than the others. Just a warm, open space, people watching the fireworks burst overhead, people enjoying themselves.

The results are in

The results of the 2008 Eisenbrauns Ancient Near Eastern Valentine Contest are in! I was this year's instigator and judge, and I'm quite pleased at the level of participation we got. Go check 'em out!

I'm Dreaming of a White Thanksgiving...

In Winona Lake, for as long as I can remember, the first appreciable snow of the season has, more often than not, occurred on Thanksgiving or the day before. This year falls right into line.

Can we eat yet, daddy?

We had a fairly quiet day; since there were only two adults, we (again) eschewed turkey in favor of something simpler, in this case, steak. We've been married for more than 10 years now, and we've never made turkey. Ever. Grilling duties fell to me, and everyone got their order just right... once I got the fire started. For some reason I have abysmal fire-starting skills.

We did go around the table and share a few things we were thankful for; Aiden, when asked, said he was thankful for "that" — a bowlful of cranberry sauce. Fiona was thankful for necklaces. I was thankful that all the bills were paid, we both have jobs we like, and everyone's healthy.