Our Family Christmas
How many of you have ever seen the infamous movie, “Chevy Chase’s Christmas Vacation”? If so, you have a pretty good picture of what the Weber Christmas season is like for us. We come complete with our own version of Cousin Eddie, Clark, Audrey, Ellen, Snots, Art, and in our loving memories an Aunt Bethany. In all seriousness, Hal and I had a great time this past week.
We started off our week at church on Sunday. What an amazing service as we looked at the gift of PEACE that was given to us. Jesus Christ came that we could have peace in our lives, despite the chaos that surrounds our world. The dance team, of which I am blessed to be a part, danced to an amazing song by Ronnie Freeman called “Ring The Bells”. What joy was given to me as we celebrated the gift of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We spent the rest of the day simply relaxing as we knew the craziness of the holidays would soon be upon us. On Monday night we went to CRCC’s Christmas Eve Service. This was truly a celebration of the gift of LIFE we’ve been given. Not only the eternal life we are promised through accepting Christ as our Savior, but of an abundant life he gives us each day. Communion was served as we remembered that the little baby Jesus who was born on Christmas, grew up to be a man who would one day be killed on a cruel cross, but then rose again on third day to give us redemption for our sin! LIFE! To top it off, every person in the service was given a candle to light, the light was passed on from person to person. What a wonderful reminder of our Savior!
Then it was off to my parent’s house for our Christmas Eve celebration. I love this time with my family. We pack 10 people (My mom Cheryl, my dad David, my twin brother Steven, his wife Kimberly, my little brother Chris, me and my husband Hal, my uncle Dennis, my aunt Lori, and my cousin Lauren) into a small house and we enjoy good food, great conversation, and wonderful quality time with the Hill clan. My mom sets the mood with wonderful Christmas decorations! She loves this season! We ate lasagna this year, not the traditional ham and fixings we usually have. Surprisingly, this was a really fun change! Once the food was gone and Steven had done the dishes (he was in the dog house because he thought our mom’s homemade lasagna was from Stouffers), we all settled into the living room to listen to the Christmas story being read from Luke 2 and to reflect on this year. My mom and my aunt always get weepy, but it’s nice because they really do share from their hearts. Then it was on to present mayhem. Let’s just say that Hal and I received a ton of gift cards and that makes me very happy! We have a tradition in the Hill household that every Christmas eve we receive an ornament that commemorates something to do with that year or something that’s special to us. This is always one of my favorite times as my mom explains why she picked out what she got us. I love my family and we had an amazing time with them. Here are a few pics from our night at the Hill house!
Me and my gorgeous mama, Cheryl
My mom, aunt Lori, uncle Dennis
My daddy, David, playing possum
My little brother Chris, cousin Lauren, twin Steven, his wife Kimberly
Then Christmas morning was all about just the two of us. This is Hal’s and my 2nd Christmas being married and our 5th year of being together. We have a tradition of picking out and giving each other Christmas pajamas. This tradition started at my parent’s house and it was one I brought with me. We woke up fairly early (7:30 am) cause I was excited. Ha-ha…I don’t think you can outgrow that. Hal surprised me with a Rockin DJ Snowman with a Transyberian Orchestra song. From there it was on to stockings and opening gifts. I am so blessed to marry a man that actually listens to me and remembers what I say. For weeks I had been talking about learning how to make bread (not as a Christmas hint). My sweet husband ended up buying me a bread maker! One of my other favorites is a stress ball (see picture below). We then made breakfast of cinnamon rolls and biscuits and really just enjoyed spending time together talking about this past year and the things we’ve learned.
Us in our Christmas jammies!
Then Christmas afternoon we headed over to the Weber house, Hal’s parents. We were joined by Rob (Hal’s brother) and Tyler, our nephew. I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I always enjoy Weber holidays because it really is a laid-back affair. We talk and share and laugh and rest. I love resting! 
We ate a wonderful meal together (traditional stuff) and then went off to “nap” it off on the couches. Hal’s family has a really nice tradition of opening their gifts one at a time. It’s nice because you have an opportunity to really appreciate what you’ve been given and to share in those experiences with everyone. My favorite gift was “Sarah’s Date Box”. It is full of gift cards to all my favorite places: Target, Barnes and Noble, Red Robin, Olive Garden, etc. It’s so nice to know that Hal and I can actually go out on dates together and not have to worry about paying for it! Then of course, once Tyler got there, the craziness begins. He’s 6, so he’s into everything. We played cars and basketball and monkey in the middle and then watched Polar Express together. I love the Weber Family!
Glenda, Rob, and Tyler
Glenda, Hal’s mom
Chuck, Hal’s dad
All-in-all, we had a wonderful time of thankfulness for our Savior, Jesus’ birth. The joy of time to celebrate. The peace of togetherness. And love, such love of those we call family. We did have some sadness come into our holiday as others in our experienced diagnosis of cancer and surgery and a death of a family member. It was yet another reminder to us to really cherish the moments we have, to not waste a moment of it. To remember to always be ready to share the news of Christ with any who would hear, knowing that it could all be over too soon. To appreciate one another, to love one another. I pray you all had a wonderful Christmas. And for those of you who struggles, may the Lord bring you peace, strength, and comfort. God bless!
For more Christmas pictures, click on my Flickr site in the sidebar.
Merry Christmas!
My husband, Hal and I will be taking a vacation beginning tomorrow (Dec. 19) through Christmas day. Therefore, I won’t be updating anything for the next week. So in case I don’t see you between now and Christmas….
Remembering you this Christmas and praying that your celebration would bring you a heart full of joy as you remember God’s amazing love shown through His Son, Jesus. Praying that you would find yourself at peace, full of hope, and blessed beyond measure. And may you not forget the reason we celebrate can be found in the face of a baby who became a man, who was sent to die to restore you to the Father. God bless all of you! Merry Christmas!
A Mish Mosh of Stuff
I feel like Christmas is just sneaking up on me! All of a sudden I find myself realizing that there are only 8 days till Christmas. Thank goodness all my shopping is done! I feel like I have been so busy this last week, and yet, I have nothing to say. So, here is my life in pictures:
On Tuesday afternoons, I volunteer at Good News Club. It’s a club that meets once a week, after school, and it’s our opportunity (as the church) to step in and spend an hour and half sharing the “good news” of Jesus Christ with these students through songs, dramas, teaching, etc.
More GNC pics!
My little “boyfriends” in K5. Aren’t they sweet!
For more GNC pics, click on my Flickr site on the sidebar.
Here are some pics from Thanksgiving at my parent’s house.
Me and my wonderful mama!
Me and Hal. He looks a little demented in this picture. I think it’s because he shaved his goatee for the first time in the 5 years we’ve been together, so he feels naked. Haha! Thankfully, he’s grown it back. Love you, baby!
Me and my mom’s dog, Cody. Isn’t he sweet!!!!
My little brother, Chris.
Merry Christmas!
My sweetheart, 5 years and going strong!
Me going stag to the Staff/Elder Christmas Party at Holly Tree. Hal had his last class of the semester and couldn’t miss it.
Hope you enjoyed this last month of my life!
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
May I just say that if you have never been to a Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert, you are seriously deprived!!! For a Christmas gift, Hal’s parents bought us 4 tickets to the TSO concert last night at the Bi-Lo Center. We invited our friends, Jim and Sara Thompson to come with us. What an amazing time we had!!! First off, we started the night off on a great foot…dinner at Wild Wing! Can we say, YUM?! We sat near a window so we got to enjoy the amazing weather and just had great conversations and laughter. Then was the LONG trek to the Bi-Lo Center. My awesome husband found a phenomenal parking space, but that meant a nice little walk…in heels.
We didn’t bring the camera, so I was super disappointed not to have pictures of the concert! We had awesome seats. We were in the lower stadium seating on row G, so we could see everything!!! The pyrotechnics and lighting was amazing! The musicians are mind-numbingly wonderful, amazingly talented! The music itself “melts your face off” as my husband would say. The “MC” definitely makes the show though. His voice is like butta! I would say that we definitely got our money’s worth! Beyond that, I had an amazing time with my husband and our friends. I’m so blessed. So, below are some pictures from the TSO site that I hope would give you a glimpse into the amazement of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. You can check out more pictures on their website.
Life of a Youth Leader
Are you ready for this? This post will be a look at the life of a CRCC youth leader. I am the 11th Grade Girls Co-leader with Sarah Meszaros.
Part of the 11th Grade Group (Anna, Lauren D, me, Sarah “Mez”, Abi, Ashleigh)
As a youth leader, I am often subjected to things such as: Winkie Tackle, soapy Twister, water balloon fights, crazy games that involve ice cream and mayo, girl drama, silly parties, and oh so tacky experiences. It’s GREAT! This past Saturday was the annual CRCC Youth Christmas Party. This year’s theme…Tacky Christmas Sweaters!!! Now a woman of my stature would NEVER own a tacky Christmas sweater, nor purposefully wear one. However, I sucked it up for the good of my jr. girls. EEK!
Dustin in all his glory!
Dustin Hughes, the CRCC Youth Pastor, Sarah Meszaros, and myself made the valiant treck over to the Woodruff Road Goodwill. Surely we would find some tacky Christmas gear there! The hunt took us awhile. Apparently the teenagers and other unassuming folks had already raided the tacky Christmas sweaters. However, just as we were ready to give up…I spotted it. One of the ugliest sweaters I had ever seen. Oh wait, I spotted another! Then we decided that the sweaters weren’t quite tacky enough, so we ventured over to locate those lovely Christmas turtlenecks. Come on, you know the ones I’m talking about. We found some lovely (note sarcasm here) ones! And to make our outfits complete, we added green, bowed, jingle bell earrings to our ensembles and put up our hair in side ponytails (circa 1984). Dustin got off a little better with a lovely green mockneck and a geezer-type sweater.
Lauren, yes, those are stirrup pants she’s wearing!
Anna in her elf hat!
Oh the humanity! There were stirrup pants (yes, I said it, stirrup pants), light up sweaters, santas and reindeer, vests, bells, and some of the ugliest red pants I had ever seen. Oh, to be a youth leader. It requires sacrifice and determination. And a willingness to make a fool of yourself…yet again. For more pictures, be sure to click on my Flickr site on the sidebar.
Sarah & Me
Abi’s lovely vest
Baby Buczkowski has arrived!
I am so delighted to report that some dear friends from our LifeGroup at CRCC had their first child onTuesday, December 4th. Brad and Lauren Buczkowski welcomed Benjamin Isaiah into the world at 6:00 pm. He weighed 7 lbs, 6 oz, and 19.5 inches long.
I went up to St. Francis on Thursday during lunch time to visit with them. Let’s just say, Benjamin has the sweetest face. He slept in my arms the entire hour and a half I was there. Can we say I was simply a puddle of mush!!! According to Lauren, Ben looks like Brad with her nose. I can’t see it yet.
Some things you can pray for: Benjamin had to be suctioned so he has some bruising on his poor head, Lauren is extremely sore due to some issues while giving birth. So pray for both of them to heal quickly and that the Lord would provide for their comfort. Definitely pray for this new family as they head home today that the Lord’s grace would be upon them as they start figuring out life with a baby. We praise the Lord for this amazing gift!
Dancing the Morning Away
So some of you probably know this and some of you don’t, but I recently joined the Praise Dance team at CrossRoads. Growing up I LOVED to dance…I loved the costumes, the praise of the audience, the adrenaline rush of being on stage. After a series of knee injuries which led to surgery, I decided to call all of my sports-like activities quits. A tough choice after being active all my life. But that affinity for dancing has never gone away. I dance all around my house, I dance in my car, I dance at work…I try to get Hal to dance, but it doesn’t work so well. So, it only seemed fitting that when an opportunity to dance came up I was ready to try again.
The Lord has put together an amazing group of ladies on our dance team. Some have had years of dance training, some have none, and some have a little. But there is one consistent thing among all of us….we are passionate about the Lord. Man! What a blessing that is! More than that, each one of us desires to use the unique gifts the Lord has given us to bless and honor Him. When you get 7 women in a group with that one purpose…it’s incredible! Even at practices there is an atmosphere of worship, of thanksgiving, of praise, an openness to the Holy Spirit moving. I am so privileged to be a part of it.
On Sunday, we had the opportunity to dance during our worship time in both services. How amazingly freeing!!! How wonderful it was to simply dance before the Lord with thanksgiving. I guess I now have a sense of how David must have felt when he danced before his Father. I felt freer to allow the Holy Spirit to move during my own worship experience on Sunday, which was quite a stretch for me. I grew up in a church where you mostly followed a set of guidelines for worship….sometimes you clapped, on occasion you may raise your hand, but you certainly did not dance. It’s taken me a long time to reconcile that IT”S OK TO DANCE BEFORE THE LORD! It’s ok to step out into the aisles and raise your hands and sing and cry before your Heavenly Father. It’s ok to move your body in a dance of adoration before the Lord. (And before anyone mentions it, yes I do believe there is a fine line between dancing and dancing sexily).
My prayer is that each one of you would be willing to dance before your God! That you would throw off all that might hinder (opinions of others, your bad dancing skills, etc.) you from freely expressing your love, your joy, and your sense of awe at a God that desires all of your worship. What an awesome journey to be a part of! Hallelujah!
