Detta är Dagen

This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

-Psalm 118:24


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Friday, December 19, 2008

Radha Bhavan and Old Age

Here's the view to the east from Radha Bhavan. If you click on this picture, you can see it much larger and if you spot the TV tower (located in the top center-right of the picture on the farthest ridge you can see), our school is located just below that and a little farther away. We go to church right next to that tower. You really should click on the picture and look at the up-close view of this- it is our town - sprawling across the mountain ridges. You can see how the houses and shops just stack on top of eachother making the most use of the space, and I'm sure that nothing is 'up to code' especially considering that the Himalayas are still active...

Anyway, of UTMOST IMPORTANCE here is that on the day that I took this picture, I had Will and Annie with me and my little 3-year old WALKED all the way home (yeah, from where I'm standing taking this picture to farther than that TV tower in the distance!) He's an amazing hiker!! Go Will.








This is Radha Bhavan- a huge crumbling mansion with a nice flat field where the neighbor kids play cricket. The picture is taken from a steep hill overlooking the mansion. The above pictures are up-close parts of the ruin.



Here are my kids- all dressed up for the Christmas Chapel service.

I often think how neat it is that though I won't be alive to see my children in their old age, God allows the very young to somewhat resemble the very old. This picture invites me to imagine Annie and Will as aged siblings in a retirement home someday. Only God knows the number of each of our days, but I think old age is a precious gift and I enjoy envisioning my children as great-grandparents someday long after I'm gone. :- )

ramblings

I haven't been posting much recently since we've been keeping busy wrapping up the school term here. I have some pictures of Radha Bhavan to post and some cute ones of Annie and maybe Will too, but this computer is too old for our fancy new camera so I'll have to do it later on Nate's computer. Anyway, as for happenings here, last night we slept well - each kid only woke up ONCE! It was a huge improvement on the night before when I got up, helped a kid, put him/her to bed, crawled into my bed, fell 'asleep' for a few minutes before being awakened again by crying. This cycle happened about 20 times in 8 hours and made me think I must have been out of my mind to ever want to have kids in the first place! But then this morning came and we awoke rested and the kids were happy and life seemed to have fallen back in place - ahhh, yes, kids are wonderful. I recommend them! That said, they're also a lot of work and we've joked about giving Annie away at next week's white elephant gift exhange. :0 )
Well, I don't have much else to ramble about, except to note that I didn't feel so bad today when I realized that all the blogs I check haven't been updated in awhile either... so I'm not the only one who's a little occupied. Here we're getting ready for a brief Christmas and a long trip to the beach! YEAH!!!

Sunday, December 14, 2008

a week in the life...

The house is quiet this warm December Sunday afternoon. This afternoon we’ll head off to the Christmas Chapel with tea afterwards. This week has flown by very fast for me. Nate proctored and graded exams, finished up comments and other math department stuff while the kids and I had a string of social events. Monday was the regular ‘recover from the week-end’ laundry, dishes, cleaning, cooking, picking up toys, and the never-ending diaper washing (to name a few activities). Tuesday I packed the kids up and we joined several friends taking taxis to Radha Bhavan. I’d never been there before, but it is a huge mansion on the mountain ridge across town that now lies in ruins. Floors and ceilings have caved in leaving tall roofless walls sticking out of the seemingly fertile mounds of rubble. There were tall plants growing up in front of fireplaces and in doorways. At one point I wandered into the middle of several rooms, realized that the floor in much of that part of the mansion had caved in, and panicked slightly upon realizing that I wasn’t sure which way was out. I couldn’t see any of the people we came with, but managed to pick my way back to the outside carefully. I noticed several marks on the walls that match the electrical wiring and outlets, and made me realize that it couldn’t be that long ago that the place was lived in. Now it looks like it is hundreds of years old and hasn’t been occupied in ages. It was a neat outing. There was a hilltop where we could sit and see the view all around – the snow peaks lying on the horizon in contrast to the valley thousands of feet below us. We could even see our school buildings and TV tower in the distance on a far ridge.

Wednesday was our last Christian Fellowship time of the semester – it’s been a neat group to be a part of and we spent the evening praying and singing Christmas carols together. Thursday we had four senior boys over for supper. They had asked Nate if they could come over for supper and to study Calculus, and they also enjoyed looking at our books: MC Escher, optical illusions and magic eye. These are the most popular books on our shelf when the students come over (smile). On Friday, four junior girls joined us for lunch and we sat and talked about the upcoming holiday, exams that were over, and what next semester will bring. That night I was up late baking lussekatter – a Swedish bread served on Santa Lucia day- Dec 13. Will and I woke Nate up with singing, a candle, and tea. Will thought we should sing ‘happy birthday’, but by the time we got to Annie’s crib, he had caught the spirit of things and handed Annie a lussekatter saying, “here Annie- this is for you!” She happily sat down hanging her legs out between the crib rails, and bit into it- they’re both getting the hang of our crazy traditions. For breakfast/fika, we had invited neighbors over and a few other people we thought might enjoy the Swedish holiday. We all sat around for a couple of hours just enjoying hanging out, sipping warm drinks and eating home-made Swedish breads and cookies. It was a really nice way to start the day. We had a relaxing day (except for Nate who spent the afternoon grading), and then we went out to a restaurant with a group of friends for a birthday dinner. Will was such good company through it all, but Annie was distraught that she couldn’t be home in her bed sound asleep. If we think of it next time, we’ll get a babysitter, I think, but this week’s busy-ness got the better of us and we weren’t that organized this time.

Anyway, that should catch you up on life here, (since my mother at least is probably curious why we’ve been so out of touch!) Nate is so loving to host all kinds of events with me and attend even more events. (hahaha – Microsoft Word is telling me that I should write: Nate so loves to host…, but that wouldn’t be true at all!) Our honeymoon keeps going on and on- we’re nearly at 4.5 years of marriage, and it’s such a treat to be his girl.
Well, happy Santa Lucia day and 3rd Sunday of Advent! It’s been a good week here and I’d better start getting things together for going to the Chapel service in a couple of hours.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Youth

I love these young ones!






And as of today, my man is back to his youthful look (yeah, I robbed the cradle). It's been a couple of years since he looked this young, and he's just as handsome as ever! Will spent the afternoon saying, "Nice beard, Pappa", and Pappa would respond, "Nice beard, Will".

Friday, December 5, 2008

Advent

My sister sent me fall leaves and acorns last year, and I enjoyed decorating with them again this year - thanks! (also, I had to post this pic because I like how it captures the snowmen looking up to their superior 'HomeMaid' snowmaid-smile)
Lighting the first candle of advent.

Our 'advent' calendar Christmas tree- all decorated. Will has been thoroughly enjoying this new tradition.


Here's the tree up close and personal with Will unwrapping a gift in the background.

And every week we meet with several other staff here for a potluck and Bible Study time together. This week it was at our house and Uncle Pete let Will sit on his lap and play his guitar. We have been using a selection of Advent readings during our times together. So I've been thinking about Advent recently. I remember a little book that my dad read during Advent when I was growing up- it contained little devotionals about the significance of each candle of Advent. I wish I could remember more from it than I do. Advent seems to have slipped by me - what is the purpose, what is the meaning, why do we mark off the days?
The best summary I can come up with for now is this:
Advent- a time of focused waiting in anticipation of the celebration of Jesus' Birth.
Is that right? Since we don't wish to carry on meaningless traditions, we're still sorting out Advent at our house . I welcome your thoughts/suggestions/traditions/helpful readings on the topic. :-) Merci!