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On Christmas Eve we went over to the house of some friends in the ward. Four families got together for dinner and fun on the night before Christmas.
We had a little talent show, with some singing...
...and some dancing.
Mary and Joseph took extra special care of the baby Jesus.
On Christmas morning, we found that Santa had come. Among other things, he brought the family a Wii and brought mommy a Nuvi (GPS).
Gifts were unwrapped with great anticipation...
...which sometimes turned into a frenzy.
Stockings had also been stuffed.
There were plenty of gifts to go around.
I'm pretty sure Emily didn't have nearly enough baby dolls before Christmas, and Madeline had to have been dangerously low on dress-ups.
Once stuff was unwrapped, it was time to do some serious playing.
And unpackage stuff for a while.
Emily got crafty with a gift from Grandma.
And we finished off the night with a family Wii bowling party.
What happened this week...?
We had a great Christmas. Santa came, many of you sent gifts, cards and emails, and we were grateful for all of your kindness. On Christmas morning we received a phone call that a man in our ward, Tom Poland, had died. He was only 59 years old, but had been quite sick for some time. It was sad for his family to lose him on Christmas day, but nice to be able to give them support and help with his funeral, which was held the Friday after Christmas. I conducted the funeral, spoke, and spent most of the day with the family. The ward did a fabulous job with a meal following the funeral, and his family, most of whom are not members of the church, were deeply grateful for everything we did. I was sad because Tom was one of the first convert baptisms I was involved with when I first served as ward mission leader shortly after we moved to Pennsylvania.
We miss our friends and family at holiday time most of all, but appreciate your thoughtfulness so much. We wish everyone a happy, safe and healthy 2008!Best wishes to all,
Matt, Joanne, Jessica, Emily & Madeline