our december has marched on and on.
cody had his first "manual transmission" driving
lesson. raleigh has let
him drive up the road many times in our automatic transmission cars, but i guess it was time for him to learn how to drive a stick. they went round and round in the back yard, up and down the hill, starting and stopping. it took me back to my first lesson in my dad's 78 ford. i hopped and jumped up the road, and it was flat ground. cody did much better than i did. maybe it's a guy thing?
the weather turned bitterly cold some weeks back and we ended up with snow, and hopes of a white christmas. kyle was the most excited. he popped out of bed one morning at 6am put on his snow clothes and was off to sled. by the time the other kids got up he'd been out there for almost and hour. we all enjoyed the winter weather, it's amazing how peaceful things seem when it's snowing. and as it turned out, we did get a bit of snow on christmas day. the first time i can remember having a white christmas down the hill since i was in the 7th grade.
each year our church gives away a fairly large amount of christmas boxes to anyone who needs them. we handed out 112 this year i believe. the boxes come packed with a complete turkey dinner just waiting for preparation. it takes a lot of volunteers in many ways to get this job done and we enjoy being a part of the help. my kids were generous helpers once more, doing anything that was asked of them. we helped wrap the boxes and sort the items. label, pack, count and recheck every box, and then help carry them to the usually overwhelmed receiver. it makes my heart leap with joy to watch the families who are genuinely grateful walk out with their box, often with tears trickling down their faces.
we have had time for some silly family memories this year too. one of which was a ride on the transit bus with dearma. i saw an ad in the paper about a christmas light tour sponsored by the transit system. the ride was free of charge if you donated a non perishable food item. kyle has been asking if we could go for a ride on a transit bus so i figured this was a good time to do it. what i didn't know however was how long the tour would be. the ad said boarding would begin a 4:30, and seats were first come first served. we arrived a bit early to secure a place in line in hopes of being the "first come". our first clue that this was a unique thing to do should have been the line of senior citizens ready and waiting. our little group were by far the youngest passengers on the ride. we did have a great time on the 3hr trip. candice chatted the entire time telling dearma all kids of things including how neat she thought it was that it only cost people a can of beans to ride the bus.
cody and taylor also took some time to make a batch of cookies, the only baking we did this holiday season. i had much joy watching the two of them work together on the task. they joked and teased each other to no end. the relationship has blossomed between them this year in many ways and it makes my heart smile.
well, it looks as if there will be a part three to this post. stay tuned!!!
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