The Memories Made at Christmas

I hope that you had a chance to make memories on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  The winds that we had been warned about for more than a week did come, but they were not nearly as damaging as they had suggested. 

By the time our family members were leaving on Wednesday night, the roaring sound that the wind makes going through our woods was very audible, but it was more of a sense of awe than of fear.  A good thing being as though we've had our run-ins with trees since building our house here in 1987.

A wonderful kind of surprise is that Ella was doing so well on Wednesday that she got to come over.  She hadn't been running a fever for a couple of days already!!  Oh, thank you God for giving us the time together.  She was a very good girl; all the kids were good.  They opened their presents in order, patiently waiting for their turn.  It made the whole process so much more fun!!

We chose to have spaghetti and sausage, garlic bread, and salad for dinner.  The sausage is Sicilian and comes from a wonderful old market in North Hill, Akron, called Devitis.  The taste is just amazing, especially when cooked over a low fire in the sauce all day long.  What makes the sauce taste so good is the aged Parmesan cheese they sell at the store.  It isn't cheap -- somewhere around $20 a pound, but its flavor just does wonders to the mixture of tomato sauce, paste, and diced tomatoes.  We brown the sausage in onions and that's another element to the flavors.

My sister gave us a wonderful gift -- a set of soup bowls that have the thick handle on the one side.  We usually end up putting bowls on a dinner plate to keep from getting burned.  I can't wait to try them out.  I think maybe when we've done something with the leftover sauce and sausage, we'll christen them by making some potato/ham soup.  It will be wonderful going into New Year's Eve.

Years ago, we used to do something on New Year's Eve, but those days are over.  We love being at home.  Plus we'll watch the OSU game that evening and stay up as long as we possibly can, maybe for all of it if we get a little nap in there somewhere. 

I hope your holiday was very blessed and merry, and that you have memories that you can "treasure in your heart," like Mary did.  These memories are of love, care, forgiveness, acceptance, and joy.  And they might fade a little, but they last! 

Christmas morning Mass was beautiful.  When we were concerned that Christmas was going down the tubes due to the flu, I kept holding onto the fact that we would be attending Mass and that we would be spending time in our special church with people we've known for years.  There were a few babies there, but for the most part, it was adults. 

So now we are moving towards 2015 rapidly.  A new year that should be marked by something far more important than doing taxes and changing calendars.  I wish all of you a glorious 2015, and I pray that the United States find its way back to God.