DECEMBER 25TH 2011

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, dear family and friends!

 I hope this finds you all well and happy and excited to celebrate the birth of our Lord.
Even the church services take on a warm and celebratory glow on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I have always loved Christmas, and the child in me still does. We do not exchange large gifts with each other any more, and haven't for several years. My gift today from Art was a large bag of dark roast Italian coffee beans from Starbucks. LOVE it!!! The money not spent on gifts for us goes elsewhere. We have learned that not everybody has a ho-ho-ho and expensive reason to celebrate....and not every child goes to bed on Christmas Eve with visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads. We take our two youngest grandchildren with us on Christmas Eve, so they can see this for themselves as they pass out gifts. They interact with the children,and we get to chat with Mom, usually a young single parent. In recent years, we have started delivering a fully cooked turkey dinner to a family as well. Why not? A few extra veggie and baking added to the turkey is not going to break anyone. I mention this hoping to inspire some of you to think about sharing what you have been provided with...I know lots of you do lots more than we do, and some have never even thought of it. I know we didn't for many years.

Speaking of grandchildren, Grace just turned 6 on the 23rd. She is our Christmas baby. Shen will be 11 in February, he is our Valentine's baby. Our two oldest are now adults, Kyle is 22, and Amelia will be 20 on the 28th of this month. (She is our Christmas baby too). I just finished visiting with them on Skype, gotta love technology, even if you don't understand a thing about it.

Pam just returned to the workforce. Her determination to work only while her children are in school paid off. She works in a small Medical Clinic M-F, from 9am-4pm. She was blessed to get those hours as the office is open M-Sat, from 9am to 9pm. Ken works hard for his family as he has always done. Our son still spends 90% of his time in the air. His job takes him around the world at least twice a year. I wish he had been a plumber..or a carpenter, or a ditch digger, or....or....:-)
Our  daughter-in-law is still teaching and has just completed some courses thru Wycliffe that enables her to teach others to read in their language, and she will use the Bible as her curriculum material. In 2 days she goes to Mexico..I think she will start some teaching while she is there.
As for us, we spent our usual nearly 6 months in our favorite vacation spot. We both love NL and look forward to returning in May.
In early December we had an early Christmas with our dear friends in Barrhead, in what has now become our annual Klufas-Christmas, now expanded to include friends John and Marlene Szwec.. This corresponds with the Christmas Banquet at the Barrhead Alliance Church, where we attended for many years. We meet old friends again, and enjoy visiting with them.  It was special having an all too brief visit with Sylvia, but the quotation comes to mind..."Don't cry because it's over. Rejoice because it happened!!"

 In February, we are heading to Texas with my sister Daphne and her husband Edgar for a holiday together, which we have never done. Being separated by 5000 miles for so many years only allowed for brief visits, especially in our working years.

Take care of yourselves, and each other. Enjoy the rest of the season, and may God richly bless each of you in 2012 '

Those Thornhills
(Art and Valerie)