Red Neck Christmas...

In all the planning and preparation coming to Haiti, we made a lot of choices as to what to take and what we needed. One left behind casualty was the majority of our Christmas decorations! I have always enjoyed decorating for Christmas, but knew it wasn't feasible to bring too many decorations to Haiti so limited myself to our pre-lit tree and one very small container (the size of a large shoe box) of ornaments. I did buy a few plastic, lime green stars in the Dominican, but for the most part our tree is simple and, in Bud's words, understated. We did bring our most prized Craig Hochstetler-original design nativity scene which we've had for many years (this will be one of the few things we will someday bring back home with us!) We also ordered a new treasured nativity handmade by 13-year old Becky Kitterman from our church. This too will return home with us one day. (If you haven't seen her work, you should check it out, they are lovely!) I had mentioned to Bud that our decorations were considerably less than at home, but still gave a nice festive ambiance.

We went to Port au Prince last week to get paperwork completed for our visas. While there, unknown to me, Bud conspired with Sarah Shaferly (John & Jill's sister-in-law) who runs the Villa, to acquire a few more decorations for me as a surprise.

Today, as we were wrapping up the weekend, he placed a large, black plastic garbage bag under the tree and told me it was an early Christmas surprise for me. I opened it to find some ornaments, some "pre-owned" Christmas garland in varying colors, and a string of seven vintage glass-painted Santa head lights. What a great hubby! While the lights are rather unique and not at all what either of us would have in Oregon, they are beautiful here! We wrapped the pre-used garland along the strand and scotch-taped them above our TV cabinet (yes, I know, we should have used duct tape to make it really red neck!) We have laughed about them all night! All I could think was, "Jeff Lewis would love these lights with his aluminum tree..." (Maybe I'll bring them home for Jeff!)

Hope you are enjoying the season and spending time focusing on the true meaning of it. As we are away from family and friends this year, we realize how blessed we've been to always have had those times together in the past.

Cherish those you love and the time you have together ---

Blessings,
Bud & Cindy

PS) Keep the cards, letters, emails, and blog comments coming...we LOVE them and look forward to them all.