Quiet Time

 The house is quiet, the leftovers are about gone and the memories of our Thanksgiving are sweet. We had a house full with our kids, grandkids and my brother. Lots of food, football, and fun. Thanksgiving is our big holiday since our son and his brood spend Christmas with our daughter-in-laws folks. (Whom we love dearly and are happy to share. They have hosted us on more than one holiday and do so much for our son's family.) This week, I'll spend cleaning up the "aftermath"- picking up the toys, and enjoying the memories of snuggles with our littlest grands and watching the "three musketeers" cousins running around the yard and pasture, and playing basketball. (Our cattle are gone now, so they can get out there and roam.) Those three boys are 11,10 and 8 and they are the best of friends.

The Christmas season has become a quieter, more reflective time for me on a personal level. We gather with our daughter and her family on Christmas Eve and Christmas and sing at the Christmas Eve Candlelight service at our church. We don't have the bustle of a houseful of family and preparing a huge meal. We snack around and have tamales, taco fixings and posole (pork, red chile and hominy stew) for our Christmas meal.  Now, I dearly love decorating our house, listening to Christmas music, baking and all of the wonderful fun, but over the last few years, I have "discovered" the season of Advent and it's special meaning-the twin times of waiting for Christ to come. It was not something we observed when I was growing up, but I have embraced this time of waiting and spiritual reflection, and look forward to it every year.