Northern Lights

"Northern Lights" went off without a hitch today, a great start to a brand new series.  Here's Madison on stage, one of the perks of being a "pk."  She kept her jacket on because of all the snow on stage.  It wasn't snowing this morning though - it was pouring rain.  Still, a lot of people came today because it was the first service of the new year, and start of our annual church fast.

Here is Mommy's display case, complete with the papercraft we built on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.  There's the Stave Church there, a wagon, a small barn, and a Viking ship as well.  On the top shelf are some Viking paper dolls that Mommy found in a special book just filled with them.  Interesting characters, these Vikings!  Each one of these Viking dolls is a representation of an actual Viking in history, as the booklet goes on to explain.  Each one has a pretty fascinating tale to tell, stories we'll be researching in the days to come no doubt.  Also in the middle is Thor's hammer, the mighty mjölnir!  The scripture above is from Jeremiah:  "My message is like fire," announces the Lord.  "It is like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces."

We invested so much into setting up this service that this afternoon was a bit of down time for everyone.  There was a limited amount of cleaning up of Christmas toys and decorations, but there was also a significant nap for Mommy and Daddy.  Meanwhile, Madison played Disney Infinity 2.0 on the couch, right between a snoring Mommy and Daddy.  She was Merida, shooting for her own hand.  At Frost Giants.  

Tonight we did get around to "The Princess Diaries 2," and we did get around to putting a few logs on the fire as well.  And popcorn.  We can eat popcorn on this fast, which doesn't seem fair.  But there it is.  The important thing is the "God time" you have, which of course we had plenty of today.  Madison was in two services as usual.  And we read the story of Esther tonight, a condensed version.  Tomorrow, we will start with a new beginner's Bible, right with Genesis and going from covereth to covereth.  Madison is quite insistent that we read the Bible each night, and Daddy will not argue with that in the slightest!