It was a good year. Nate's uncle Steve requested some sort of "year in summary" from each family at the Bosscher Christmas gathering this year. Nate did a great job putting ours together on the 2.5 hour drive Friday evening. Lots of the photos and videos will probably look familiar to you faithful readers, but hopefully you'll enjoying seeing them again set to some special music. Ray Lamontagne's Hey Mama is special for two reasons: it was Nate's first public banjo performance and also the song Lou first recognized and sang along to (only saying/singing the "Mama" part)...
Happy New Year. May our paths cross often in 2013!
Love,
Nate, Alicia, Louisa and Ries
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Friday, December 28, 2012
Merry Christmas!
It's been a lovely, white Christmas in Wisconsin. We arrived on Saturday night after two uneventful flights with a happy but squirmy 20-month old on our laps. A plastic candy cane full of Reese's Pieces and other treasures packed in her zebra backpack brought happiness to Louisa during our day of travel.
The other baby is growing well and enjoying the sweets that Christmas has to offer. Cousins Baby Bosscher (26 weeks) and Baby Ooms (31 weeks) did lots of leaping for joy in each others' presence. Ugh! Writing that just made me realize that we never took a belly-specific picture! Sad because we won't see each other again before the babies are born. Sad.
With our families living only 1-hour apart, we've been able to spend a few days with each and even brought them all together for a nice Christmas-Eve dinner. Ries has even enjoyed the vacation, visiting with Kip in Madison and Caesar and Cleo in Oconomowoc. She absolutely prefers to sleep with my parents in Oconomowoc and with Marcia in Madison. Fine with me! :)
Tonight we'll head to Chicago for Nate's extended family's gathering and New Year's Eve should be a relaxing evening with friends in Madison.
Peace and love to you this week and always!
The other baby is growing well and enjoying the sweets that Christmas has to offer. Cousins Baby Bosscher (26 weeks) and Baby Ooms (31 weeks) did lots of leaping for joy in each others' presence. Ugh! Writing that just made me realize that we never took a belly-specific picture! Sad because we won't see each other again before the babies are born. Sad.
With our families living only 1-hour apart, we've been able to spend a few days with each and even brought them all together for a nice Christmas-Eve dinner. Ries has even enjoyed the vacation, visiting with Kip in Madison and Caesar and Cleo in Oconomowoc. She absolutely prefers to sleep with my parents in Oconomowoc and with Marcia in Madison. Fine with me! :)
Tonight we'll head to Chicago for Nate's extended family's gathering and New Year's Eve should be a relaxing evening with friends in Madison.
Peace and love to you this week and always!
Friday, December 21, 2012
Thursday, December 13, 2012
The Rebel Jesus
I've been loving an album lately: From the Realm of Glory by Bebo Norman. This song is my favorite, even though it makes my heart sink and guilt creep in. I think the message is that this "heathen and pagan," Jackson Brown, thinks of Christians as hypocrites. It wouldn't matter so much what he thought of me, unless, as a Christian, I felt the truth of his lyrics in my heart and life. The line that I'm still trying to understand is in bold below. Maybe it means that those Christians who might be daring enough to care about the poor, as Jesus did, get scorned and mocked, as Jesus did? So we don't, which makes us hypocrites? Thoughts? It's been a hard, ongoing Advent reflection for me the last week or so.
The streets are filled with laughter and light
And the music of the season
And the merchants' windows are all bright
With the faces of the children
And the families hurrying to their homes
As the sky darkens and freezes
Will be gathering around the hearths and tables
Giving thanks for all God's graces
And the birth of the rebel Jesus
They call him by the "Prince of Peace"
And they call him by "The Saviour"
And they pray to him upon the sea
And in every bold endeavor
As they fill his churches with their pride and gold
And their faith in him increases
But they've turned the nature that I worshipped in
From a temple to a robber's den
In the words of the rebel Jesus
We guard our world with locks and guns
And we guard our fine possessions
And once a year when Christmas comes
We give to our relations
And perhaps we give a little to the poor
If the generosity should seize us
But if any one of us should interfere
In the business of why there are poor
They get the same as the rebel Jesus
But pardon me if I have seemed
To take the tone of judgement
For I've no wish to come between
This day and your enjoyment
In this life of hardship and of earthly toil
There's a need for anything that frees us
So I bid you pleasure and I bid you cheer
From a heathen and a pagan
On the side of the rebel Jesus
And the music of the season
And the merchants' windows are all bright
With the faces of the children
And the families hurrying to their homes
As the sky darkens and freezes
Will be gathering around the hearths and tables
Giving thanks for all God's graces
And the birth of the rebel Jesus
They call him by the "Prince of Peace"
And they call him by "The Saviour"
And they pray to him upon the sea
And in every bold endeavor
As they fill his churches with their pride and gold
And their faith in him increases
But they've turned the nature that I worshipped in
From a temple to a robber's den
In the words of the rebel Jesus
We guard our world with locks and guns
And we guard our fine possessions
And once a year when Christmas comes
We give to our relations
And perhaps we give a little to the poor
If the generosity should seize us
But if any one of us should interfere
In the business of why there are poor
They get the same as the rebel Jesus
But pardon me if I have seemed
To take the tone of judgement
For I've no wish to come between
This day and your enjoyment
In this life of hardship and of earthly toil
There's a need for anything that frees us
So I bid you pleasure and I bid you cheer
From a heathen and a pagan
On the side of the rebel Jesus
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Free Subscriptions!
Free today! Free tomorrow! I finally added a way for you to "subscribe" to our blog. That means that if you choose to do so, you can have our posts sent directly to your inbox. I will not be offended if you don't want to clutter your box with my silly prose and pictures, but some have asked, so here it is.
I subscribed to A lot of Bright - Anne's brilliant blog, and honestly, it's so helpful because I always know when she's posted something new. My other blogging friends...I want to do the same for you, but I think you need to add a gadget! Please?
So this is what you do. Scroll down below our last post and you'll see a empty field that says "GET OUR POSTS SENT TO YOUR INBOX." Type your email address in there and click submit. It's that easy! When you get an email with a post, you can read it directly, or click on the post title to be taken directly to the actual blog, where you can view any pictures in the post.
Happy subscribing (or not) :)
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Christmas is Coming...
We're so in the spirit already! Tree is up, stockings are hung and the Christmas card is being printed. While I definitely have time to stitch each card again this year, I'd rather make little flannel pants for my nephews :)
p.s. I'm posting a sneak-preview of our card because I get a $10 off coupon if I do. If you planned to use Shutterfly, let me know and I'll give you the coupon, assuming it's transferable!
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| Without the final touch...an elastic waistband |
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| Nate cut it down all by himself :) |
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| I wish I was better at making fires |
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| Buckeyes: my favorite Christmas "cookie" |
p.s. I'm posting a sneak-preview of our card because I get a $10 off coupon if I do. If you planned to use Shutterfly, let me know and I'll give you the coupon, assuming it's transferable!
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