Briefly

Once again, time seems to be slipping away. We've been busy preparing for Christmas during this Advent season. (Sidenote- Advent is the time of preparation for Christmas. It includes the 4 weeks leading up to Christmas). We have our Advent wreath and Advent candles at home. I've been doing an Advent study with my women's group- "Immanuel: Praying the Names of Jesus Through the Christmas Season." We also have our various Advent calendars around the home, reminding us of how very soon Christmas will be here.

The main reason we have found ourselves busier than ever is because we've had a special guest visiting from afar- Gigi, one of my friends from Macau. She's been here for 10 days now, and will be leaving us on the 26th. We have had a delightful time sharing American Christmas traditions with her and introducing her to her first ever winter experience. She no longer has to sing the song- "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" because it is her reality now.

I'll post some pictures of some of our fun adventures soon. In the meantime, I'll leave you with this strange sight of blackbirds trying to take cover from a recent snowstorm. There were flocks of them all around our house- on the rooftop, in our little trees, along the base of the house, and swarming this big group of trees in our backyard. I don't know how much cover they had from the snow, but it was interesting to watch them flock everywhere together.