How silently, how silently he wondrous gift is giv'n!
So God imparts to human hearts, the blessings of His heaven.
So God imparts to human hearts, the blessings of His heaven.
No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin,
So every year I go looking for the different colors of sawdust to put in the manger scene. Since our figures are small I am always on the lookout for small animals or figures that would fit in to our "nacimiento". I remember one year I found a group of little dogs. This year I found some little chickens. I remembered where I had seen pine needles this year and that became the straw for the stable. 
How we enjoyed each other as we sat around the table that Christmas Eve. What a blessing to see our family growing! Every member a special unique person and very precious to us!
In this next picture is our daughter in law, Chrissy, who has been a wonderful part of the family being the wife of Philip whose face is on the star by her. Philip has always been the unchangeable son who has always been there when we needed him. We thank God for him.
Here we have our son in law Nick. We couldn't have asked for a better husband for Anita than what he is. Of course Anita is the one below him. She has always added a lot of joy to our lives!
Last but not least is our Tim. It has been a challenge to our faith to say goodbye to him and see him go to Iraq. We are so thankful for God's care over his life as he is there serving in the Army! Our life without this our youngest child who will be 25 next year would not have been the same. He is a unique individual and we expect to see wonderful things in his life in the future!
Christmas as you can see has and always will be a delightful time where we are thankful that Jesus became flesh and lived with us. I can understand how the John could say many years later, We have seen his glory as the one and only who came from the Father full of grace and truth." Its because of Him that we can experience His joy in this season!
Where meek souls will receive Him, still the dear Lord enters in.
Some time when I was small Daddy sat us down and told us that the only time that he knew his mother lied to him was about Santa Claus and he never wanted us think that he would lie to us.We would say that Santa Claus was bringing presents, but we would always know that in reality it was just that .. a game. Play it we did, with all our strength. ( Years later with our children we decided that Santa Claus was not an important part of the way we wanted to celebrate Jesus' birth so we talked about the wonderful gift that God had given us by giving us His son and that is why we give gifts.)
In church it was a time for all children to learn poems and scriptures by heart to recite on "Noche Buena" of Christmas Eve. I'm sure that we were nervous as we stood there reciting our poetry. Now as an adult I realize that we could not really fail, because no matter how it came out the parents were proud of those their children as they recited the scriptures or the poetry that
had been assigned to them. (I am the second girl from the left.)
Of course at that time Spain the big emphasis for the children was the Three Kings Day on January 7th. Their traditions were built around the fact that because the Three Kings gave gifts to Jesus that day if children were good they too would receive gifts.
When I came to Mississippi for college, I began a whole new set of memories around Christmas. Both of my grand parents were alive-the Whittens in Weir, and the Mitchells in Louisville which was only 30 miles apart in the north central part of Mississippi. I remember walking the woods of the farm in Louisville in the cold of winter, crunching through the leaves left from Fall. My Uncle H.C. who lived in Starkville would appear with Aunt Peggy and the kids on the Saturdays to help feed the animals and some other chores. We would usually end up at his older brother's house, my uncle Bruce, for supper. At my other grandparent's house Daddy's two brothers with their kids would come down a few days around Christmas. We would sit around with big cans of pop corn and play Canasta, or Rook and tell stories days gone by. I learned a lot about my great grandfather who was a preacher as I heard them reminisce. We ate a lot of good food, among others my Mamaw's pecan pie which still makes my mouth water thinking about it.
So now looking back even thought those were only about 6 years.. those times with the family came to be precious in my recollections and a very important part of my Christmas memories.
When Steve and I got married we began a whole other set of memories. The first Chrismases we spent in part with Steve's family. One Christmas I probably didn´t even know I was pregnant, but the next Christmas Cristina had arrived and was between 2 and 3 months old. We drove from Pensacola to Mississippi to celebrate Christmas with the family and then help celebrate my sister Margaret's wedding days late. We also celebrated my Whitten Grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary.
We didn't know it then but this would probably be the last time we celebrated Christmas all together as a family with the Whitten since after we left for Costa Rica for Steve to study Spanish and then to Honduras where we were to be for eight and almost 9 years Papaw Whitten would die. So that Christmas was unique for the four generations that celebrated together those 22 years ago. We have since seen my parents reach their 61 years together. But in this picture we were honoring Willie and Velma Whitten, the two wearing glasses for their 60 years together.
So began another phase in my life, as a young mother who by the next Christmas was expecting who now is my 30 year old son Philip. Central American Christmases are mind blowing if you have never experienced them. The biggest change for us was the noise on Christmas Eve. Of all the Latin American countries we have lived in (Honduras, Ecuador and now Guatemala) looking back on our Christmas Eve experiences Honduras would win hands down because of the noise that went on all night. In the following picture you can see the fireworks waiting to be sold.
Our first Christmas Steve said as he tried to sleep though it, "It made me think of Vietnam!" I was 5 months pregnant at the time and I too felt under fire. We learned quickly that the way to defeat that feeling was to visit other people and eat the sweet torrejas which was a sort of cake baked in brown sugar and just fellowship till the noise had died down. The former concept that we had of "Silent Night" or "not a creature was stirring" became displaced by the excitement of the fireworks going till at least 3 in the morning. The challenge when the kids were little was to keep them awake so that they wouldn't be awaking you early for Christmas presents in the morning. Also when we watched the fireworks they were not nearly so scary as when you listened to them in your bed and tried to sleep.
As our kids got older Philip began saving for some fireworks and he would treat us to our own personal firework show. The memories of sitting back and watching Philip and sometimes Tim setting up the fireworks are there as well in my Christmas memories. When the children became old enough to really appreciate the meaning of Christmas I realized that I was going to have to make some memories-that I couldn't sit and yearn for the days when I was little or with my relatives in Mississippi, I had to make memories for my children.
Christmas has always had a special place in my heart. It has been a time of surprises, of family, and most of all of the wonder of Jesus becoming a man. What an incredible thing it was when God sent Jesus as a small baby to a stable in Bethlehem! Micah prophecied years earlier that the Messiah would be born there. So the stage was set.
I suppose my first memories of Christmas were in Spain. I have memories of visiting places that had rooms and rooms of the different events around Jesus' birth. Every year we never tired of seeing the representation of of all the circumstance that sorrounded the birth of Je
sus.
sus. Some time when I was small Daddy sat us down and told us that the only time that he knew his mother lied to him was about Santa Claus and he never wanted us think that he would lie to us.We would say that Santa Claus was bringing presents, but we would always know that in reality it was just that .. a game. Play it we did, with all our strength. ( Years later with our children we decided that Santa Claus was not an important part of the way we wanted to celebrate Jesus' birth so we talked about the wonderful gift that God had given us by giving us His son and that is why we give gifts.)
In church it was a time for all children to learn poems and scriptures by heart to recite on "Noche Buena" of Christmas Eve. I'm sure that we were nervous as we stood there reciting our poetry. Now as an adult I realize that we could not really fail, because no matter how it came out the parents were proud of those their children as they recited the scriptures or the poetry that
had been assigned to them. (I am the second girl from the left.)
Later on there was part of a poem that Cristina Rosetti wrote that
stuck with me:
What can I give Him,Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd I would bring a lamb,
If I were a wise manI would do my part,stuck with me:
What can I give Him,Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd I would bring a lamb,
Yet what I can I give Him,
Give my heart.
I think what remains in my heart so many years later of those years as a child in my home is the love of my Daddy and my Mother for us as well as the love of Jesus who came down to earth for us so many years ago. I remember the fun of trying to make or find something that we knew would thrill the heart of the one who would be receiving that gift. We knew that God had given his best, so we wanted to do the same. It wasn't a matter of the monitary cost of the gift, it was what it cost me personally to offer that present-my imagination, my thought. I don't remember being disappointed. I just remember the excitement that was in the air.
In Spain I remember the cold days when a good hot chocolate accompanied by churros calientes was a treat. I remember the "villancicos" (Spanish Christmas carols) we learned and sang as well as the American Christmas Carols. When I was in school Christmas also meant Christmas presentations. I was remembering one Christmas when we put on "Sound of Music". We added our Christmas repertoire in the second part. Since I was in an AirForce High School in Madrid, Spain which was on the SAC AirForce Base we had the privilidge of having the Air Force Band accompany us. The excitement of the performances became a part of my Christmas Memories.
Give my heart.
I think what remains in my heart so many years later of those years as a child in my home is the love of my Daddy and my Mother for us as well as the love of Jesus who came down to earth for us so many years ago. I remember the fun of trying to make or find something that we knew would thrill the heart of the one who would be receiving that gift. We knew that God had given his best, so we wanted to do the same. It wasn't a matter of the monitary cost of the gift, it was what it cost me personally to offer that present-my imagination, my thought. I don't remember being disappointed. I just remember the excitement that was in the air.
In Spain I remember the cold days when a good hot chocolate accompanied by churros calientes was a treat. I remember the "villancicos" (Spanish Christmas carols) we learned and sang as well as the American Christmas Carols. When I was in school Christmas also meant Christmas presentations. I was remembering one Christmas when we put on "Sound of Music". We added our Christmas repertoire in the second part. Since I was in an AirForce High School in Madrid, Spain which was on the SAC AirForce Base we had the privilidge of having the Air Force Band accompany us. The excitement of the performances became a part of my Christmas Memories.
Even now as I hear Christmas Carols being performed instrumentally it brings back the excitement of singing with the Air Force Band in the background. What delightful memories filter back to me as I sit and listen to the instrumental renditions of those songs. In this picture only my bangs are visible behind the nun on the right. I was part of the nuns singing Latin songs in "Sound of Music", a small part but exciting to me nevertheless!
Of course at that time Spain the big emphasis for the children was the Three Kings Day on January 7th. Their traditions were built around the fact that because the Three Kings gave gifts to Jesus that day if children were good they too would receive gifts.
So all the little children would put out their shoes to receive gifts. One wonders how that would transalate in these days when kids want X boxes and such-they would have to have mighty big shoes for that!
When I came to Mississippi for college, I began a whole new set of memories around Christmas. Both of my grand parents were alive-the Whittens in Weir, and the Mitchells in Louisville which was only 30 miles apart in the north central part of Mississippi. I remember walking the woods of the farm in Louisville in the cold of winter, crunching through the leaves left from Fall. My Uncle H.C. who lived in Starkville would appear with Aunt Peggy and the kids on the Saturdays to help feed the animals and some other chores. We would usually end up at his older brother's house, my uncle Bruce, for supper. At my other grandparent's house Daddy's two brothers with their kids would come down a few days around Christmas. We would sit around with big cans of pop corn and play Canasta, or Rook and tell stories days gone by. I learned a lot about my great grandfather who was a preacher as I heard them reminisce. We ate a lot of good food, among others my Mamaw's pecan pie which still makes my mouth water thinking about it.
So now looking back even thought those were only about 6 years.. those times with the family came to be precious in my recollections and a very important part of my Christmas memories.
When Steve and I got married we began a whole other set of memories. The first Chrismases we spent in part with Steve's family. One Christmas I probably didn´t even know I was pregnant, but the next Christmas Cristina had arrived and was between 2 and 3 months old. We drove from Pensacola to Mississippi to celebrate Christmas with the family and then help celebrate my sister Margaret's wedding days late. We also celebrated my Whitten Grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary.
We didn't know it then but this would probably be the last time we celebrated Christmas all together as a family with the Whitten since after we left for Costa Rica for Steve to study Spanish and then to Honduras where we were to be for eight and almost 9 years Papaw Whitten would die. So that Christmas was unique for the four generations that celebrated together those 22 years ago. We have since seen my parents reach their 61 years together. But in this picture we were honoring Willie and Velma Whitten, the two wearing glasses for their 60 years together.
So began another phase in my life, as a young mother who by the next Christmas was expecting who now is my 30 year old son Philip. Central American Christmases are mind blowing if you have never experienced them. The biggest change for us was the noise on Christmas Eve. Of all the Latin American countries we have lived in (Honduras, Ecuador and now Guatemala) looking back on our Christmas Eve experiences Honduras would win hands down because of the noise that went on all night. In the following picture you can see the fireworks waiting to be sold.
Our first Christmas Steve said as he tried to sleep though it, "It made me think of Vietnam!" I was 5 months pregnant at the time and I too felt under fire. We learned quickly that the way to defeat that feeling was to visit other people and eat the sweet torrejas which was a sort of cake baked in brown sugar and just fellowship till the noise had died down. The former concept that we had of "Silent Night" or "not a creature was stirring" became displaced by the excitement of the fireworks going till at least 3 in the morning. The challenge when the kids were little was to keep them awake so that they wouldn't be awaking you early for Christmas presents in the morning. Also when we watched the fireworks they were not nearly so scary as when you listened to them in your bed and tried to sleep.As our kids got older Philip began saving for some fireworks and he would treat us to our own personal firework show. The memories of sitting back and watching Philip and sometimes Tim setting up the fireworks are there as well in my Christmas memories. When the children became old enough to really appreciate the meaning of Christmas I realized that I was going to have to make some memories-that I couldn't sit and yearn for the days when I was little or with my relatives in Mississippi, I had to make memories for my children.
Our first Christmases it was almost impossible to find a Christmas tree like we were used to. The artificial trees were a bit beyond our budget so we decided to do what the Honduras did. You bought a dry regular tree and used detergent soap to make it look like snow all over the tree. Then we decorated it. We used to call it our painted stick but it worked and we were happy. Here Cristina was about three and Philip was a year and a half.
I remember one year when I was particularly homesick for all the fun and the excitement that I had experienced with my family as a child. I sort of sat up and said I need to make some memorable memories for these 4 children that God has given me. Tim was 7 months old, and
Anita was 3, Philip was 6 and Cristina was 7 1/2. I remember getting some felt and making some green stockings with decorations on them. I also made an advent calendar with different scriptures of the prophecies that were fulfilled with Jesus's birth and his life. Nana Lassiter, their grandmother, had brought us a tree so we were able to put our
"painted stick" away and here we are at that time in our lives.
When they were little I felt like it was so much work every year, but I as driven by the joy that I saw in their faces and knowing somehow that these were indeed memories that I was making every year. While I was doing that, thinking about Christmas dinner and all Steve recorded a video that year that has become traditional for us to watch of how we were then. One year, after I started working fulltime at Alliance Academy in Quito, I figured they probably wouldn't miss it. Cristina asked why it wasn't up and she made us a new set of scriptures.. mine were getting a bit shabby by that time. We kept that set for 17 more years till I somehow misplaced them last year so here you have the new set that made this year for Steve and for me. It still amazes to see how many prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus!
I remember one year when I was particularly homesick for all the fun and the excitement that I had experienced with my family as a child. I sort of sat up and said I need to make some memorable memories for these 4 children that God has given me. Tim was 7 months old, and
Anita was 3, Philip was 6 and Cristina was 7 1/2. I remember getting some felt and making some green stockings with decorations on them. I also made an advent calendar with different scriptures of the prophecies that were fulfilled with Jesus's birth and his life. Nana Lassiter, their grandmother, had brought us a tree so we were able to put our
"painted stick" away and here we are at that time in our lives.When they were little I felt like it was so much work every year, but I as driven by the joy that I saw in their faces and knowing somehow that these were indeed memories that I was making every year. While I was doing that, thinking about Christmas dinner and all Steve recorded a video that year that has become traditional for us to watch of how we were then. One year, after I started working fulltime at Alliance Academy in Quito, I figured they probably wouldn't miss it. Cristina asked why it wasn't up and she made us a new set of scriptures.. mine were getting a bit shabby by that time. We kept that set for 17 more years till I somehow misplaced them last year so here you have the new set that made this year for Steve and for me. It still amazes to see how many prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus!
We got to doing our manger scene more seriously when we moved to our second house in Quito, Ecuador. Steve got a board and drilled hole in it after he had painted it brown. He bought some typical little houses at the market and put christmas lights through each hole and there we placed a house. We had our figures that we had bought years before for the manger scene. It was 18 years ago that we added that tradition to our family. We would buy the different colored dirts and grasses and make our manger scene.
So every year I go looking for the different colors of sawdust to put in the manger scene. Since our figures are small I am always on the lookout for small animals or figures that would fit in to our "nacimiento". I remember one year I found a group of little dogs. This year I found some little chickens. I remembered where I had seen pine needles this year and that became the straw for the stable. 
The year of 2007 was a special year because we were able to be together in Florida with all the family. We had a new grandson who was turning 5 months the 25th of December. We just enjoyed being together. This year Tim who is holding his nephew Jared in the picture is in Iraq, Cristina and Stephen, the second couple from the left are in Quito, Ecuador awaiting the birth of their second son. We of course are in Guatemala, Philip and Chrissy and Nick and Anita being in Gainesville, Florida.
How we enjoyed each other as we sat around the table that Christmas Eve. What a blessing to see our family growing! Every member a special unique person and very precious to us!Christmas 2008 was a quieter Christmas for us, but we basked in the memory of last Christmas when we were together. We found it to be a peaceful Christmas nevertheless. We put the faces of all the family far away on the Christmas tree and found a lot comfort in that.
Little Luke in the way we know him now is on the top left star (its his first ultrasound picture) and his Daddy Stephen is on the right. Jared is on the bottom row and his Mommy Cristina is on the right. We thank God for Stephen as a part of our family. He has been a good husband and Daddy as a very special part of our family. Cristina has always been the creative part of our family with an eye for beauty and a unique precious way of expressing it.
In this next picture is our daughter in law, Chrissy, who has been a wonderful part of the family being the wife of Philip whose face is on the star by her. Philip has always been the unchangeable son who has always been there when we needed him. We thank God for him.
Here we have our son in law Nick. We couldn't have asked for a better husband for Anita than what he is. Of course Anita is the one below him. She has always added a lot of joy to our lives!
Last but not least is our Tim. It has been a challenge to our faith to say goodbye to him and see him go to Iraq. We are so thankful for God's care over his life as he is there serving in the Army! Our life without this our youngest child who will be 25 next year would not have been the same. He is a unique individual and we expect to see wonderful things in his life in the future!
Christmas as you can see has and always will be a delightful time where we are thankful that Jesus became flesh and lived with us. I can understand how the John could say many years later, We have seen his glory as the one and only who came from the Father full of grace and truth." Its because of Him that we can experience His joy in this season!
