December is always a crazy time. It's crazier than usual for me this year because in addition to parties and people leaving for furloughs or for good, I am trying to wrap up loose ends in a big part of my job. Nevertheless, we are still enjoying this season of togetherness. These pics were taken at Gabe's kindergarten Christmas party. You can see some of the kids on the floor with their Christingle oranges. Bronwen introduced me to it last year and it's a great Christmas party activity for kids. It's short, everyone can participate in the
service and it's a very concrete way to talk about the meaning of Christmas. It worked great with the 32 children we had at the party even though the majority were seven and younger. In addition to Christmas parties we have had impromptu game nights with neighbors as people realize that time is short with some friends who will be leaving. Sometimes I feel very good about this. I'm happy that we know so many of our neighbors so well that it's easy to get a bunch of families together on the spur of the moment. There are many people here that we have now known and loved for many years. On the other hand, it's so strange to have a close community, but then to be saying good-bye forever (or at least a long time) so often.
December is always a crazy time. It's crazier than usual for me this year because in addition to parties and people leaving for furloughs or for good, I am trying to wrap up loose ends in a big part of my job. Nevertheless, we are still enjoying this season of togetherness. These pics were taken at Gabe's kindergarten Christmas party. You can see some of the kids on the floor with their Christingle oranges. Bronwen introduced me to it last year and it's a great Christmas party activity for kids. It's short, everyone can participate in the 
service and it's a very concrete way to talk about the meaning of Christmas. It worked great with the 32 children we had at the party even though the majority were seven and younger. In addition to Christmas parties we have had impromptu game nights with neighbors as people realize that time is short with some friends who will be leaving. Sometimes I feel very good about this. I'm happy that we know so many of our neighbors so well that it's easy to get a bunch of families together on the spur of the moment. There are many people here that we have now known and loved for many years. On the other hand, it's so strange to have a close community, but then to be saying good-bye forever (or at least a long time) so often.
