A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices

I have been thinking about Christmas a lot lately. Who knows why, it's not like the whole of the "Christmas Season" explodes in our faces through lights, music, parties, food, shopping, presents, and so on. My original thoughts were how I see Christmas differently than I did when I was younger. My parents and grandparents worked really hard the whole time cooking, baking, buying, working, and still trying to get us kids to see the real meaning of Christmas. Now that I am an adult and it's more or less up to me to do the work of celebrating, it doesn't seem as thrilling. I still love all the traditions, memories, and fellowship that come with this time of year. I can't help but wonder what the what has happened to Christmas. I so badly want to take a step back from the decor, cookie exchanges, gift giving out of love and/or guilt, endless parties with people you may or may not know or like, the blaring commercials trying to convince everyone that Christmas will suck if you don't get the one right present or a million presents, elf on the shelf (whatever that is about), and so on. Sorry for the huge long sentences.  I don't really see these things as evil, it's the fact that we make idols out of them and forget what Christmas is really about. How many times have you heard that phrase in a cheesy hallmark made for TV movie?

Ingrid loves Christmas
she loves to tear up paper

Anyways, what really got my brain synapses firing and my heart stirring came through a text message of a friend who works in the ICU here. We invited she and her husband to our annual Christmas dinner but she was on call that same night. She explained she probably wouldn't make it because their census was high due to the increased number of suicide attempts at this time of year. I had somewhat forgotten this sad fact since my patient population is a bit different this year. But it's true, underneath the illusion of perfect Christmas season, people are perhaps more lonely, sad, angry, lost, and hopeless this time of year. Their situations seem more dark and hopeless in contrast to the bright twinkle lights that surround them. It really isn't the most wonderful time of the year for some people. It is a poignant reminder that all is not right yet.

Lamb Wellington from the feast

Not that I think we should have a decorated tree in our house all year but Christmas should be thoughtfully celebrated and clung to year 'round. It shouldn't be confined to a day, an event, a month, a shopping period of sales, or whatever. God is God throughout time and transcending time. The hope of Christmas applies moment to moment. Just when we want to give up, feel utterly alone, lost, unloved, ugly, dumb, angry, discouraged, and hopeless should be when we teach ourselves again and again Christmas. Not the Christmas of whirlwind activities, fake smiles, and presents that turn to dust but true Christmas of the Bible.

Harper, the Christmas Cherub?

God of the universe, creator of all things, out of love, sent his only Son to humble human birth as a baby in order that we can have eternal life. But not just hope for when this life ends and all sorrows and troubles shall cease, but a present and living hope as well. God cares deeply of our momentary afflictions and our present sufferings. And since Jesus walked this earth as a man, he is no stranger to our weaknesses, heartaches, toothaches, arguments, tears, and so on. He lived as we live. Hope, peace, and love for the moment to moment. Hope, peace, and love for the future.

snowshoeing on Christmas Eve

Also, let me take this a bit further. Remembering this truth at Christmas isn't just the little bit extra that gets us through a tough spot. Faith in this is everything for salvation. It is all our hope, love, and peace. A part from Jesus, we have nothing and can do nothing to free ourselves from the broken patterns of this world. Christ had to be born a man, live the perfect life we cannot live no mater how hard we try, be crucified for our sins so justice could be satisfied, and overcome Satan, sin, and death through His resurrection. This had to happen that we may be saved and have hope, life, peace, and love. That is why I celebrate Christmas. That is what I teach myself  when I become sad and angry at work on Christmas Day. That is what I cling to when death touches my family or suffering knocks on our door. I want to celebrate Christmas, giving glory rightly to God, all year long and all life long.

O Holy night, the stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear Savior's birth
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
'Til He appeared and the soul felt its worth
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Merry Christmas!

hello from narnia

I have been thinking about Christmas a lot lately. I was thinking I would blab a little on the blog about it, but I right now I just want to put up snow pictures. For your eye pleasure, here a few more i-phone photos of our ordinary days. Don't worry, a Christmas ramblings will come shortly. Probably later today even, since I will be killing time trying not to think about going into work at 11pm tonight.

city creek canyon (or narnia)

state capitol building from top of memory grove/city creek canyon

another beautiful, cold sunset in the neighborhood

Davis made my flapper head thing, it was for his work
Christmas party

and it snowed again. it's so pretty.

So in other news, work has been a little slower for me. I have been canceled a few times. I am not complaining, it works so well with my winter-i-want-to-hibernate-and-drink-hot-tea-and-never-have-to-drive-in-the-snow-can't-stop-being-southern-mindset. It's also given me a little extra time to think about Christmas. This time of year just often becomes too busy. Also, this will make my mom happy, I finally had snow tires put on my car. It won't change my mentality about driving in the snow but it will at least make it a little safer. 


Happy Friday!

the ordinary days

I often just write about the big events, visitors, happy parties, and so on. When I look at pictures I've taken, it's mostly of ordinary days. I don't write about those days as much, that's the sigh we all live in more often than not. The drawn out days between Saturdays, the mundane of moment of getting by the best we can. The worry that weighs us down through the week, the fourty-eight hours of hope which are quickly snatched away. Or maybe that is just me?  I just look forward, failing to see God's presence in the moment, desiring a change in circumstance to bring me more comfort. Constantly, my mind is filled with plots and plans for the future. Trying to move my chess pieces just right to win an easy life. How does one live in the "already but not yet"?


I heard on the radio recently that if you want to make your weekend seem longer you need to make more memories. Our brain measures time by events. Therefore, the more you do, the more memories you make and then your time will seem more full. Or just maybe your weekend won't feel as short when the sun sets on Sunday evening. (Need I say more more?)

I am not sure what I am trying to say. Maybe all I want to convey is that the little pieces of people we get is never the whole picture. We always want to present the best version of ourselves and seem awesomely put together. We want all our time filled and have a sense of importance. We want purpose. We want hope. We want love. We look to those bigger events, happy parties, and the break from the ordinary to fulfill us. We look to fellow man for our ultimate love and approval. Yet, we still feel so weary and empty in our hearts.

Maybe at Christmastime I get overly thoughtful and sentimental. I just can't help but think all of humanity is in the time of waiting, hoping, and longing. At least that is where I am. He came once before in form of man and has promised to return again to bring us home, to fulfill all His promises. Living in a weary world, Christmas brings that thrill of hope when all our longings and ordinary days will be forever satisfied in His presence.

But until then we live in the present with an eternal perspective. I cling daily to the cross and yet rest in my heart that all will be made right one day.


Here are some ordinary day pictures :)

the day we fit a 6 ft tree in the back of the VW GTI

garland I made, inspired by my sister-in-law

ingrid has matured enough to get a dog bed and not eat it

decorated the tree
topped with our toilet paper roll and aluminum foil star

it snowed and got really cold

I am too scared to drive in the snow

So, I walked to the trax station at 530 am
so I could take public transportation to work
(and not drive in the snow)

lonely commute in the early morning

I worked a night shift two days after the snow
and the roads were cleared to my liking
it was so cold/beautiful that morning

 

 

 

went with some friends to see LDS church's Savior of the World
Christmas production. Temple Square had some serious lights.

today's view. white and grey. light snow falling

using her bed properly

Those are just pictures of my ordinary days.

thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving, the holiday often engulfed in football, shopping, and people rushing into Christmas, we tried to do none of those things. Not that they are bad, we just wanted to slow down and enjoy the fellowship which comes with sharing lives with our friends and family. Since both sides of our family live plane rides away, we had friends share the holiday with us. Also, we love food. Therefore, Thanksgiving is a really awesome holiday of eating too.

Our great friends from Colorado, the Lampmans, drove into to Salt Lake City with their two little boys for a few days. We also had our wonderful friends in town, the Moffatts, share the time with us as well. Six adults, three young ones, and one dog had a lovely Thanksgiving together.

Davis' first turkey

Davis was our turkey master this year, his very first turkey. It was a tasty bird. Everyone contributed to the sides.

part of the spread

Along with the traditional turkey, we had many of our individual families favorite sides. All from scratch green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, brussels sprouts roasted with bacon, chicken dressings, mashed rutabaga, fresh bread, and cranberry sauce (canned and fresh). Several of our families also traditionally have a plate of pickled items. That was present as well but eaten before the meal. We got to use our fancy china from our wedding. 

After eating, we played games, ate pies (pecan, apple, and pumpkin) and had beverages into the evening. Everyone spent the night at our house. It was a dream come true for Davis to be able to host two other families mostly comfortable under our roof. The next morning we all woke up slowly and enjoyed a sweet potato pancake and bacon breakfast together.

Davis and I baby holding with Harper and Ben

Baby faces

After breakfast, we headed up the road to the local zoo. The weather was lovely. We saw the oldest elephant in North America while the younger two did headstands. Most of the animals were sleeping, possibly post Thanksgiving food comas. But the gorilla, he had the best sleeping arrangement going.

gorilla naps

At first we didn't see the gorillas out, then we spied a large furry lump under a sheet. We walked around to the window and Mr. Gorilla uncovered his head. He was resting on a pile of blankets, feet propped up on the wall under a sheet. After a few minutes, he had enough of us and covered his head again under the sheet. Silly gorilla.

We showed the Lampmans more of Salt Lake City, but they just need to come back for a more thorough visit. We so enjoyed sharing our home with our friends. Due to the little ones become ill, they headed home on Saturday.

We hope everyone had a lovely holiday!

davis loves a themed party

Davis is a sucker for themed parties. He loves them. He loves them even more when there is a good historical story behind them. A few years ago, we celebrated his birthday with a Great Depression themed party. It was quite easy to plan for because people just did not have a lot during that time. As November 17th drew closer, Davis and I had several party conversations. I suggested a Mexican themed party, margaritas  and tres leche cake sounded really good to me. Davis wasn't satisfied with the simplicity. Then I suggested a Mexican and Austrian party, since they were partners through marriage briefly at one time. The sentence that followed has probably never been uttered in all of history, it is quite unusual but so Davis. His eyes lit up and he exclaimed "a Zimmerman telegram party! I have always wanted to have a Zimmerman telegram party!" So we did. And just in case you need to brush up on history; read the invitation that came straight from the mind of the guy who has dreamed of such a party for years, I have copy and pasted it at end.


So, we invited all our new friends in SLC to celebrate with us. It's hard to believe we've only been in Utah six months with the turn out. Our house was packed! Everyone  was extremely gracious to get into the theme with Davis. He was tickled so many really got into character/costume. We are so very blessed in every way, we even had Lora and Andrew fly in from Boulder, CO to celebrate with us.

a pinata and beer steins

tres leche and tres cakes
and a ton of margarita supplies, thanks y'all!

el presidente and his senorita

german folk supervising the lime juicing
at the carnitas bar

straight from oktoberfest to mexico :)

best costume award to jenna, best frida complete with uni-brow

the pinata met it's match with the tennis racket

Thank lora and andrew for spending the weekend with us!

Such a fun evening. Happy birthday Davis!

thanks for everyone loving us so well!



--------- the email invitation that confused the masses and ended up in a few spam folders due it's title of "urgent diplomatic message"------------


At the outbreak of the Great War, the United States pursued a policy of non-intervention, avoiding conflict while trying to broker a peace. When a German U-boat sank the British liner RMS Lusitania on May 7th, 1915 with 128 Americans among the dead, President Wilson insisted that "America is too proud to fight" but demanded an end to attacks on passenger ships. Germany complied. Wilson unsuccessfully tried to mediate a settlement. However, he also repeatedly warned that the United States would not tolerate unrestricted submarine warfare, in violation of international law. Germany saw no other option than to use submarines to break the British blockade.
Then on January 16th, 1917, British intelligence intercepted the following coded telegram dispatched by the Foreign Secretary of the German Empire, Arthur Zimmerman, to the German ambassador in Mexico, Heinrich von Eckardt:

FROM 2nd from London # 5747.

"We intend to begin on the first of February unrestricted submarine warfare. We shall endeavor in spite of this to keep the United States of America neutral. In the event of this not succeeding, we make Mexico a proposal of alliance on the following basis: make war together, make peace together, generous financial support and an understanding on our part that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The settlement in detail is left to you. You will inform the President of the above most secretly as soon as the outbreak of war with the United States of America is certain and add the suggestion that he should, on his own initiative, invite Japan to immediate adherence and at the same time mediate between Japan and ourselves. Please call the President's attention to the fact that the ruthless employment of our submarines now offers the prospect of compelling England in a few months to make peace." Signed, ZIMMERMANN

Mexican President Venustiano Carranza considered the proposal, but thought it was too risky since 1) the US was far stronger militarily, 2) Germany's "generous financial support" was likely too good to be true, 3) even with financial support, the US was the only major arms dealer in the Americas, and 4) the English-speaking population of the southwestern US was too well stocked with guns and ammunition to allow for a lasting occupation.
The American public was angered by the proposal, and the US entered the war against Central Powers in April 1917.


THIS SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16th AT 6:30PM, however, you are invited to Mexico City to a ZIMMERMAN TELEGRAM PARTY to celebrate the GLORIOUS ALLIANCE of the GERMAN EMPIRE and LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS MEXICANOS (and Davis's birthday). The Mexican Foreign Ministry is located at 659 Elizabeth Street in Ciudad de Salt Lake.
Dinner will include traditional carnitas, quesadillas, chips, salsa, queso, margaritas, and Mexican beer. Rumor has it Secretary Zimmerman also loves unicorn-shaped pinatas. As guests of this diplomatic celebration, you may come as German emissaries or as Mexican Foreign Ministers and their staff. Costumes are encouraged. Mustaches will be provided for all. If one were to bring gifts, fine ideas are German beer and treats from the Fatherland or a bottle of tequila, margarita mix, Cointreau, or some limes for use in Presidente's kitchen (gifts are not required by any means). There may be a small French envoy joining the festivities, but ve can put our differences aside for one night, ya?

President Carranza only requests that you RSVP and indicate whether you are bringing a bottle of liquor (so we can be sure to have enough, but not too much, because that mierda can be expensive.)
AS ALWAYS, spouses are encouraged to come.


Sincerely Yours,
Esmeralda Curiel
Secretary to President Venustiano Carranza

star shots

This morning, I woke up to a few inches of snow blanketing Salt Lake City. I love snow but really only on my days off. Today I had to be at work working at 6am. The dark early morning hours scraping snow off my car wasn't so fun. I don't think many people saw the snow coming, or at least that it was going to stick and accumulate. The roads were a bit slushy and slippery, my least favorite thing about snow. I would have taken a good picture to show off the arrival of winter but it was dark. The snow is still lingering a bit, mostly in shady areas. It is interesting to see yellow fall leaves and snow simultaneously, does not seem quite right.

had to scrap all this off (some of it into my shoes)
before work.

As promised, I managed to snag a few star shots from Mark. In addition, a few non iphone shots of the trip as well. Enjoy!

group shot thanks to camera timers

big hole, tiny people

my favorite harper

starry night

milky way on the right

the brightest is Jupiter

there was little to no moon that night, all light was cast by the stars.
milky way at center
so lovely, so very very lovely.

I am so spell bound by God's handiwork. His creation gets so big and vast with the heavens and then so tiny and intricate on the other end of the scale. Yet, with all the detail and enormity, He knows us each by name. We are fearfully and wonderfully made, and so very very loved. Pretty crazy.

congratulations!

I forgot to mention this but my younger brother, Daniel, recently became engaged to his long-time girl friend, Ashley. We are all super thrilled she will officially be in the family although she has basically been a part of our lives for years now. Love you both!

early november adventure

For what will probably be our last camping adventure of the season, we made a quick trip down to the Moab area of Utah. It was a great, chilly night of camping and a warm Saturday of exploring. So glad we decided to go because this morning we woke up to snow falling.

Ingrid watching the snow fall this morning

 As I mentioned in the previous post, Davis has gotten into star gazing and it was a moon-less Friday night. Davis' enthusiasm for night sky watching has spread and for this trip we had six adults and one baby join in. The night sky was perfectly clear and being in the middle of the desert, we saw a whole lot more of the starry span than is usually visible in the city. Our friend Mark, the amateur star photographer was present again. I promise to one day post a few of his shots. We saw dozens of shooting stars, the Andromeda galaxy, and what we believe to be the moons of Jupiter. I am slowly improving my ability to point out certain stars, planets, and constellations. We all can't help but spend the night in awe of vast array of heavens and know that God is quite a lot bigger and more creative than we give him credit.

davis taking in the scenery

it went a long way out there

desert hole with snow capped mountains in the distance

Since we arrived after dark, none of us know what exactly our camp ground looked like. Nor did we know the spectacular view that awaited us. The area has a view of the Colorado River as it curls through the canyon lands of Utah. The area is called Dead Horse Point, for sad historical reasons, but clearly it is a beautiful and rugged bit of earth.

crusty campers in love and clashing flannel prints

wee harper and davis

Also, in this area is Arches National Park. We spend the afternoon doing a turbo tour of Arches, seeing rocks turn into bridges without man's intervention. Before moving to Utah, I honestly had no idea how many national and state parks it had. And so many of them are just incredible for so many different reasons. I keep thinking how little thought I have given my whole life to the beauty God put into rocks.

double o arch

delicate arch, graces the utah license plates

suuuuuper skinny arch

After Arches, we had a Mexican food fiesta feast with shared margaritas,  since we had some driving to do, in the town of Moab. With our bellies full, we headed back to the big city of Salt Lake.

I can't believe it is already November. We have some fun things lined up this month, much to look forward to!