COMPLETIONS

Colossians 1: 12-17
12: "Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience.......14: And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony".

This was in my church's weekly devotional guide as a letter from the pastor. She compared it to putting on clothes. We should try to "wear" compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, patience and love during the new year. I really liked this idea and will try to reflect all of these ideals.
I actually was able to complete several things this week. Even though it is not the new year yet maybe this will bode well for me. I finished knitting a blanket for my granddaughter that I started soon after she was born. It was originally to be a crib blanket but turned into a blanket for a twin bed. I know that at 4 she does not appreciate it now but hopefully will someday. I also was able to print the pictures and script from the 5 Christmas Bears story and put it together into a book. I also took two jackets to have the sleeves shortened and while that sounds lame one jacket is 4-5 years old so finally I have something new to wear to work. I also shortened a pair of pants and a top myself. I hope everyone has a great New Year's Eve and a happy new year.

5 CHRISTMAS BEARS DAY 27

It is nearing the time to return to hibernation. The bears are frequently seen looking longingly out the windows. The time of Christmas is a wonderful time but the reality is that everything returns to a more normal time. The parties, gifts and celebrations give way to school, work and or course 11 months of sleeping! There are only one or two more days left. Cousin Brown Bear has decided to stay with the family now that he has reacquainted himself with them. They are very happy to have him.

5 CHRISTMAS BEARS DAY 26

Unfortunately, just like in "Home Alone" a friend got left behind. Her name is Pinky. She was hiding under an ottoman and that is how she was left. She is determined to make the best of the situation and found a friend. Baby Bear loves to play Go Fish on the computer but Pinky is just too small to use the computer. They decided to play the old fashion way with cards. As everyone can see, Pinky is ahead with one pair already laid down. It will be several weeks before she can get back home but there are other friends to play with and she is safe so there are no worries.

5 CHRISTMAS BEARS DAY 25

There were many gifts to be opened and there was chaos abound. Mr. Bear was very happy with his new hat. Just the thing to keep him warm during the long months of hibernation. Mrs. Bear liked her water clock although she is not sure if it freezes when outside during these cold months. The sudoku was a welcome gift. It will also be useful during the hibernation period. All in all it was a wonderful Christmas Day.

5 CHRISTMAS BEARS DAY 24

Christmas is really about the birth of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Christmas Eve would not be complete without a reading from Luke 2: 6-14. Verse 7: And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. Verse 14: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!". From all the bears - Merry Christmas to all.

5 CHRISTMAS BEARS DAY 23

It is very nearly Christmas Eve and the family has not yet visited Santa Bear. Baby Bear is very excited. He wants to make sure that Santa Bear knows what he wants for Christmas. At first he was dismayed that everyone wanted to go. He soon realized that it was a great opportunity for the family to be together. They all gathered for a group picture with Santa Bear. This was a fun day.

5 CHRISTMAS BEARS DAY 22

Christmas always means family. Young, old and in-between are together. They share stories and experiences. The bears decided that they needed to visit the Old Ones. There are three generations of bears. The two larger bears go back one and two generations while the very small bear goes back four generations. The Old Ones are not up to very long visits but everyone is so grateful to still have them in their lives. It is always good to see them.

5 CHRISTMAS BEARS DAY 21

It was a cold wintry day today and the bears decided to stay in, stay warm and read a few of their favorite books. They snuggled up on the bed where they were very cozy. Baby Bear loves the Mother Goose book and Brother Bear really likes reading about the Berenstain Bears Science Fair. Papa Bear is so funny! They stayed there and read for quite awhile.

5 CHRISTMAS BEARS DAY 20

Now that cousin Brown Bear was settled in, everyone gathered around him to hear about his life. He regaled them with stories about his travels and experiences. After talking about himself for awhile, he asked the other bears to tell their stories. All in all it was a fun afternoon.

5 CHRISTMAS BEARS DAY 19

Everyone is excited today. The bears' cousin is arriving. Mr. and Mrs. Bear have not seen him since he was a bear cub. It is hard to get together with family when the hibernation period is so long. In some cases, they are far apart and there is not enough time to travel to see one another. You can imagine the anticipation of cousin Brown Bear's arrival. One thing is very obvious - he travels light.

5 CHRISTMAS BEARS DAY 18

Even though Mrs. Bear was peaking at Christmas packages the other day, she was still responsible for the bulk of the Christmas gift wrapping. The rest of the bears caught her napping after a particular hectic session of gift wrapping. They decided to be nice and not wake her up. After all, no one likes a grumpy bear.

5 CHRISTMAS BEARS DAY 17

Mr. Bear apparently bought AND wrapped (?) a Christmas present without Mrs. Bear. Try as she might, she could not resist sneaking a peak into the package. She knew that it was wrong and if it had been hidden in a closet then of course she would not have looked. Since it was under the tree, she thought that a small peak would be alright. Unfortunately, she could not see anything and there fore still had no idea what he had bought for her.

5 CHRISTMAS BEARS DAY 16

Baby Bear overhead the other bears taking about a trip. It seems that the car was going to see some cousins. Well! Baby Bear knew that his cousins Swartze and Lambie had visited the house during the summer (while the bears were hibernating) and he was upset that he did not get to see them. He jumped in the car seat so that he could go visit them. Mrs. Bear was amazed that he thought he could go alone and told him in no uncertain terms that he had to stay home and could not go. He was very sad that he could not go but was happy to see this picture of the two cousins.

5 CHRISTMAS BEARS DAY 15

The bears stayed inside today. Packages were delivered by both the US Postal Service and UPS. The bears decided that it would be a good day to wrap some presents. They were able to wrap only three since they kept arguing about what paper and ribbon to use. In the end they settled on paper with stylish snowmen. It was fun and they did not even get tape on themselves.

5 CHRISTMAS BEARS DAY 14

It has been a busy couple of days. There was ladder climbing, computer playing and just general mayhem. Mr. Bear and Baby Bear decided to take some time out and watch some television. It is always chilly in the afternoon so they snuggled up in a chair with a nice fleece blanket. After perusing several channels they decided on a cheesy holiday movie. They did not see the ending of the movie since they fell asleep and napped!

5 CHRISTMAS BEARS DAY 13

The Christmas cards have started arriving. It is fun to hear from everyone. The bears enjoy reading the Christmas letters but even when friends don't send letters it is still fun to receive cards. They were however very surprised to hear from their cousin Brown Bear. It seems that he is going to be coming through their town and would like to stop and visit. Mrs. Bear is very excited and is writing to invite him here for Christmas. What fun that will be!

5 CHRISTMAS BEARS DAY 12

Today the bears found a new thing to play with (on?). They could not believe their luck when they spotted a ladder in the family room. The bears had a ball climbing around and on it. It occupied them for most of the day. At times all three were on the ladder and they were very lucky that they did not fall off. After supper they were back out in the family room but unfortunately the ladder had been moved. The bears were very disappointed.

5 CHRISTMAS BEARS DAY 11

Brother Bear was looking out the window this afternoon and realized that the lake had a bit of ice on it. It was snowing and you could easily see where the ice was versus the lake. He is hoping that it will freeze solid so that maybe he can go ice skating. He likes to skate occasionally but does find that he gets cold easily.

5 CHRISTMAS BEARS DAY 10

Today was by far the coldest day this December. There was no reason to go outside and since Mr. Bear set up the computer schedule, Brother and Uncle Bear along with Baby Bear really were at a loss for what to do. They were sort of chilly so they decided to sit on the hearth and put their backs to the fireplace with hope that they would warm up soon. They did not seem to get warm and found out (to their amazement), there was no fire. No wonder they could not warm up!!

5 CHRISTMAS BEARS DAY 9

It was chilly today so Brother Bear decided to play a computer game. His favorite is Go Fish. He can play that one for hours although that usually incurs the wrath of the other bears since they all want to play. Mr. Bear decided that on days like this there would be a schedule so that everyone can have time on the computer.

5 CHRISTMAS BEARS DAY 8

While wandering around the house today, Baby Bear and his Uncle found an entire forest full of animals. There were lions and tigers and bears - oh no! there were also squirrels, an elephant, a buffalo and many more animals. The Uncle and Baby Bear tried to make friends but the animals all seemed to be too busy. They decided to try another day.

5 CHRISTMAS BEARS DAY 7

Wow, these guys are BIG! I wonder what they are guarding? You cannot walk into the living room without passing by them. They never seem to speak. They just stare straight ahead. However, it turns out that we can come and go as we please since they never look at us. Since the living room right now is our main area of living, it is good that they ignore us.

5 CHRISTMAS BEARS DAY 6

Mrs. Bear does love to play the piano. Right now she is practicing for the big sing-a-long later in December. The bears love to sing and Mrs. Bear is making sure that she can play the songs that they all love. "Jingle Bells" is one of their favorites as well as "Grandma Got run Over By A Reindeer". They all get to giggling when singing that last song. They think that it is so funny!!

5 CHRISTMAS BEARS DAY 5

The bears are surprised that the house has not yet been completely decorated for Christmas. They are appalled that there are still Thanksgiving pilgrims and Indians out. They look for the Christmas tree but apparently there is a problem with the lights so the tree is not yet up. The bears are very disappointed.

CHRISTMAS BEARS DAY 4

Now the whole family is downstairs. After 11 months of hibernation, they are very very hungry and head for the kitchen. They realize that while they might eat different foods in the wild, they are limited to what is in the humans' pantry. They decide to start slow and just have some toast. They find some honey and decide to have that with their toast (bears have strange tastes in foods).

CHRISTMAS BEARS DAY 3

Mr. and Mrs. Bear are very happy to see Baby Bear. In fact Mr. Bear cannot stop grinning. They take some time to catch up and find out what Baby Bear has been up to since they last saw him. It is a short conversation since they hibernate for so long and really do not do much outside of December. Even so, they are all happy to be together again.

CHRISTMAS BEARS DAY 2

Today Brother Bear and Uncle Bear wake up. They represent the black bears and brown bears. They can see that Mr. and Mrs. Bear are already awake and they enjoy a joyous reunion with them. they decide to go down the stairs but suddenly remember that Baby Bear has not yet awakened. They must wait while Mr. and Mrs. Bear wake up Baby Bear.

HIBERNATION

This is the story of 5 Christmas bears. Most bears hibernate during the cold winter months. A true hibernation is when the body temperature drops to almost freezing. Bears do not have a true hibernation however. Their body temperature only drops about 5 degrees. The Christmas bears hibernate beginning in January and do not come out of hibernation until after Thanksgiving.

Now that it is December 1st, Mr. and Mrs. Bear come out of their hibernation first. They are upstairs in the house and look around to see what all is going on. It takes them awhile to get moving since they have been sleeping for 11 months!!! They represent the polar bear branch of the bear family. Stayed tuned for more adventures of the 5 Christmas Bears.

LIGHTS BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Tonight we went to the zoo for the lights. They really do an amazing job. The temperature was in the low 40's with very little wind and just an exceptional evening. The only animals we saw on display were the artic wolves. I captured a picture of one fairly close. Usually we are there in the summer and the wolves are not near the edges of their enclosure. It had been several years since we were at the zoo for the lights. They have a display that is set to music. It is near cheetah valley and it was wonderful to watch. In this day and age I suppose that it is not an unusual display but I really enjoyed it. If you get a chance to see the "Lights Before Christmas" please do so.

INTERRIM

The kids left today and even though they were here for a very short time, it was chaos - a nice chaos but chaos nevertheless. Now is that time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. December 1 is Tuesday and it is nice if all decorations can be up but chances are that they will not be. However most likely everything but the trees will be in place. I do love the Christmas season. The outside lights as you drive at night are welcoming in the dark December evening. Inside the house are lights and colors and again, it is very welcoming during those long chilly evenings. The pastor at my "former" church (I have not as yet switched membership and still receive correspondence)wrote an interesting piece on the term "Happy Holidays". In her mind the term happy holidays was used in connection with the secular celebration part of Christmas. The store sales, buying of gifts, parties etc. It was separate from the actual celebration of Christmas - the birth of the Saviour. These are basically two separate entities. I found it interesting that she did not necessarily have a problem with the two - Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas. I hope that everyone enjoys this week and the beginning of the "holiday" season.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

I know this is lame but I did not know what pictures to post. This is the year when the kids are with my daughter-in-law's family for Thanksgiving. Luckily we have very good friends who are willing to have us join their family for dinner. It was a great dinner too! My friend brined the turkey and it was so moist. The dressing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, cranberry salad, cranberry bread, crescent rolls were all fantastic (as well as my bean casserole - not the traditional one). The pumpkin pie was great also. We watched the football game and some other friends dropped by for a quick visit and then we left to come home. JR claims that he is going out early tomorrow morning but he will not tell me where. Then he will pick me up and (believe this or not) we are going to Bass Pro. I have not yet been there and thought I might as well go tomorrow. The kids are coming up on Saturday so that will be a lot of fun. I hope everyone had as great a day as we did. Happy Thanksgiving to all.