We had another fun service today at KidPak, and it's crazy to think this, but today was actually the last KidPak service of 2024! That being said, it was somewhat of a traditional service, with Christmas music and a Christmas game too - teams of kids were trying to unwrap a present as quickly as possible in a race against each other, with inflatable mascots cheering everyone on. You can see me as a snowman up there. After all the excitement was done, it was time for the Christmas story, where Pastor Lance sits and reads the account from Luke 2 and Matthew 2, after which everyone gets a battery-powered candle to hold up for a special KidPak candlelight service. It was a pleasant morning - Maddie had her candle, and so did Mom and I. Maddie also had her camera, which she used to take pictures for this one last service of 2024:
As you can imagine, we had gift exchanges all around here or there, giving out presents and getting presents. And there was a lot of Christmas caroling in the lobby too. It was a nice morning at church. We'll all see each other at the Christmas Eve service, but today was a little less busy than all that will be - there's a lot of folks there for those Christmas Eve services, quite packed. Today was a little different down at KidPak, and it was nice too.
So there are only a few more days until Christmas, and we're actually a bit more prepared than usual. Perhaps it was the lack of any large scaled Christmas production this year. Regardless, after church, Maddie and I sat down to wrap a lot of Mom's presents, and Maddie was super helpful with that - we got about 95% done! We did that while watching "Home Alone 3," which was actually a fun movie. Nothing like the previous two, of course, and that disclaimer always has to be made. As a stand-alone movie though, it's great. We watched "Home Alone 4" this year, and that one was not good. Nope.
Oh, I'm sure you were wondering what Jingle Bell was up to. Maddie and her class were watching "Forrest Gump" at school recently, and Maddie was talking about that movie again. Apparently, Jingle Bell was listening in on that conversation too:
Jingle Bell and Snowflake had a box of chocolates and a Dr. Pepper there, plus some license plates and our Christmas shrimp that we've had with us for many, many Christmases. We got that from Bubba Gump some time ago, somewhat of a souvenir after our honeymoon in Maui when we ate at that Bubba Bump location in Lahaina.
Anyway, not many visits from Jingle Bell left. Almost time for Santa to get here! We checked on the Gävle Goat, and it seems to be doing just fine - no fires or birds this year. Not yet, anyway. And all the other traditions have been checked off, one by one. We're almost there at Christmas!
The weather was cold outside today. We've been hacking away at the ice in the bird bath, pouring a big kettle of freshly boiled water on it to melt the layers of ice there for the birds. We keep the feeders well stocked, and we're getting more and more visitors on the back deck.
Tonight we watched a new Christmas movie - to us, at least. It was called "8-Bit Christmas," and the three of us really enjoyed it. It had a elements of "A Christmas Story" or even "The Princess Bride" in it, and a huge amount of jokes that only 80's kids would get. That being said, I was laughing out loud more than once!
Before bed tonight, I started reading another book out loud, this one to Mom and Maddie. For Christmas this year, Mom got me a copy of "A Christmas Carol," a copy of the original cover and artwork inside. It's a replica of the original book, and so I started to read that to the girls tonight. We got a good ways in - I believe Jacob Marley is about to pay a visit. The fun thing about reading this is that you already know so many of the words and phrases by heart.
We continued with "Hogfather" after this, and then it was time for prayers, and a good night's rest. No wake-up time tomorrow! Everyone sleeps in, and that'll be just fine with Maddie!
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