In the water

 

Skating

Illumine

 

Another wreath

 

Nativity

Cookie cutter

Wreath

 

Names

 

It's hard to beat the charm of name cards written by a child just learning how to form letters. 

Decorating turkeys

 

Red, white and blue

 

Dried bouquets

 

We didn't have any fresh flowers ready for Mother's Day, but we sold a lot of dried bouquets on Saturday at the market. 

Sunrise

 

A small group of us gathered at Brian and Amanda's new house for a sunrise service early Sunday morning. 

Christmas Eve dinner

 

Dinner was breakfast this Christmas Eve. 

Fire

 

Christmas Eve morning was a perfect time to sit in front of a fire. 

Decorations

 

TSC had poinsettias for $1 and Norfolk Island Pines for $2, which were deals too good to pass up. 

Snowflakes

 

There were tears as I got out these quilled snowflakes that Naomi made last year.  

Journal

 

The little Christmas tree, with Naomi's quilled snowflakes, is behind me. I didn't have to get it out since it was in the back of Libby's car waiting for the next craft show. Nearby is also the card holder that Naomi borrowed for her show. There are three unopened Christmas cards on it. I don't know when I will open those missives of cheer and life and goodwill.

The twenty-fifth of December is coming. One day turns into the next whether we are ready for it or not. We dread it and yet long for it to be over. This is one thing we can quantify--the first Christmas without Naomi. The first holiday where the past is vivid in our memories and we catch glimpses of a future we long for and yet we are stuck in a present without clarity or direction. We don't know what we want, except the impossible, which is that the source of this pain and loss would be obliterated; that all would be put right, the way it is supposed to be.

And there is the irony. The truth of Christmas. The gasping cry that the source of our pain and loss would be obliterated and that all will be set right, the way it was meant to be.

That is why Christ came. 

Activity

 

The shop was filled with activity on Friday, between wreath-making, truck-fixing, and dog-chasing. 

Stuffing

 

Wreaths

 

Naomi made the first Christmas wreaths of the season.