I have no clever title

Happy New Years, everyone! I would like to give the staggering statistics of this blog from last year: We had a full 8 posts. And my dear people, that is...just...dreadful. No promises, but maybe we Carlson bloggers over here can do a better job in 2013. But isn't that the way it goes? I mean, the busier you are, the less you write, and then when you look back at your journal, or your blog, you think, wow...I really didn't do anything this year!

Well well well...this post is not to bemoan the lack of ink on my journal pages from last year, or posts on the blog. This is to relate to you about our Christmas and New Years' activities and fun.

The whole Christmas holiday idea came upon me in a flurry this year (or should I say last year) around 11:01 on December 18th when I put my pencil down and handed in that Scantron sheet for my physics final. After I got home, it was time to buckle down and think about Christmas! Between the help of Julie and Amazon Prime, all my presents came in in time and I didn't have to make any of those cards with a picture of the item and the words "Coming soon!" in a pretty font beneath it. Okay, that's actually not true. One present didn't come in, but we didn't make a card, and it was because it was back ordered.

Christmas Eve was celebrated with the Rimbachs, and then we all transferred over to the church building for our second annual Christmas Eve service, where Dad was preaching. The Christmas Eve spirit was heightened by the light snow dusting that fell on the way too and home from the service. The firebush with the lights looked especially beautiful in the snow!

(This is a Swedish Almond Ring my mom made for Christmas Eve. Isn't it beautiful? And don't you wish you could taste it?)

Christmas day was spent at home, as a family. It was a gorgeous relaxing day, even if the snow from the night before did melt. We didn't need to be anywhere, or go anywhere. We drank tea out of my new Tazo mugs that Julie gave me and played Settlers of Catan (anyone played it?). Then, around 9:00 pm we joined our family on the West Coast for our annual rousing gift exchange. That was really fun. =) You can see how much fun we had: (they were trying to pretend the webcam froze)

The next day, the 26th, brought more snow and more fun as we and the Larrazabal boys transferred the celebrations over to the Morrison's house where we watched The Avengers, none of us for the first time, but for the first time as a group. Heads up if you ever watch Avengers with me: Captain America's my favorite, and I may or may not squeal during the movie. We all stayed up till the next morning, some of us till...4:15? I went upstairs to bed around 3:30...I really couldn't think straight. Another head's up: Do not play word games with Catherine at 3:30 in the morning. She comes up with words that you never knew existed (and she didn't either) and she always wins. The next morning was a calm morning of eating pancakes, water squirting fights, and pictures (with multiple and various kinds of cameras):

This is the way we play spoons. We take it VERY seriously:

Like I said. Calm.

That weekend, we had three of the Deutschs come up, and we again had fun, games and fellowship. And we made a pyramid. I don't know what took the Egyptians so long to make those pyramids. We made and disassembled ours by hand within minutes. ...wow. That was incredibly cheesy. Right. Okay, moving on.

For New Year's Eve we went to a home of a family in our church. We played Taboo and discussed the origins and pronunciations of various words. It was a lot of fun.

The next day, we drove down to York, PA in order to visit my dad's sister and her family. We were able to finally meet Patrick's lovely wife Brittany. Spending the first day of the year with extended family is a superbly excellent way to start the year...and bodes well for the rest of it! (that is called foreshadowing.)

Well, so that's a quick run through of the Carlson's holiday season. It was very busy and amazing. Now everyone is getting back to school. Today, Julie started her last semester of undergrad work and is student teaching. Andrew and Mom started a couple days after new years, and I start the 22nd.

Wait. I forgot to mention! Thrown into the holiday fun Andrew started his Eagle Scout project and we helped with our church's Senior dinner.

So there. There's the first post of 2013 and like I've said, hopefully more this year than last!

Picture Credits: Most of the pictures from the time at the Morrisons were taken by Jon Larrazabal.

114 Years and Still Going Strong

Today is this man's birthday! ...please tell me you know who this is! Okay, let's think through this logically. Sheryl is writing this blog post. What man in history lived a little over a 100 years ago? You got it.
Today is

C.S. LEWIS'S 114th BIRTHDAY!!!! 

I was trying to find an appropriate quote from Lewis that would end this post in a tear jerking way, and some how connected with birthdays, but instead here's a quote from Perelandra:
"The whole struggle was over, and yet there seemed to have been no moment of victory. You might say, if you liked, that the power of choice had been simply set aside and an inflexible destiny substituted for it. on the other hand, you might say he had been delivered from the rhetoric of his passions and had emerged in unassailable freedom. Ransom could not for the life of him, see any difference between these two statements. Predestination and freedom were apparently identical. He could no longer see any meaning in the many arguments he had thought on the subject."
   ~C.S. Lewis, Perelandra.

Have a happy 29th day of November!

I'm being invaded by books!

Here's a little view of my life and my room! Yes, the time has finally come for my senior thesis, and I am trying to finish as much of it as possible this semester so that I can focus on student teaching in the spring. As is the nature of research, my project coming along with excitments and frustrations. Any guess on what my thesis is on?!

In other news... Sheryl is finishing her second full week of college today! Despite the rather unique personalities of some professors, she's settling into a routine. Best of all, she's LOVING her computer science class! I guess it runs in her blood.

Andrew's started 10th grade and is doing very well. He and Mom have taken on the adventure of a special Ketonic diet to help his seizures. Please pray that this diet proves successful in healing him.

And now I must get back to those books. I can hear them calling, even though I've turned my back to them. What pesky things books are - they demand so much attention!

Faith Like a Child

I teach the kindergarten Sunday School class at church, and this past Sunday, I had only three boys arrive. In light of the smaller numbers, I allowed freer reign on the questions. Kindergarten questions are some of the best - but their answers to each other are often even better. Here's one interaction which was absolutely priceless:

Boy #1: Is God everything?
Me: Well, not everything. He is something seperate from us, or from that chair over there. In fact, if he were the chair, we would have to worship the chair - and that wouldn't be right...
Boy #1 (somewhat disinterested or confused by my attempt at an answer): So, is God nothing?
I took a deep breath, and said "no..." I must have looked confused as to where to begin, because the other two boys quickly jumped in to help me answer this question.
Boy #2: God is something. (Thanks, kid. Now we're getting somewhere!)
Boy #3: (in the most matter-of-fact tone) God is God.

Oh, for the faith of a child to say such complex and infinently wonderful truths without even thinking twice. For my students, that statement ended the discussion - enough had been said. Indeed, what else needs to be said? Praise God that He is God.

Romeo and Juliet

The Third Scene:
ROMEO AND JULIET BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE


See below for pictures and why this was performed!
Turn up your volume!

Richard III

The Second Scene:

RICHARD III BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

See below for pictures and why we performed this!
Turn up your volume! Sorry these aren't the best quality...

Merchant of Venice

Here's the first scene:

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

See below for pictures and a description of why this was performed! =)
Turn up your volume!