Continuing computer issues

We are in the states and have the new hard drive for our laptop; however, we don't have anyone to repair it here.  So until we get back to El Salvador at the end of the year, I'm borrowing a laptop to do essential tasks and using my phone for everything else.

I sent out a simple email update in lieu of our regular newsletter.  If you didn't see it, you can find it on the blog homepage.

We finished two weeks in Kansas City and then flew to California on December 2.  We've enjoyed a piano recital, Christmas caroling, Sunday church and several other outings with Daniel and his family.  There's still plenty to look forward to as we prepare to celebrate our Lord's birth.  

I promise to catch up (or maybe just start over) in January when my laptop is up and running.

Merry Christmas and goodbye until 2016

Thursday night was our last worship service at Vida Nueva until 2016.  The church was beautifully decorated for Christmas and we sang some Christmas carols,  By the way, "Joy to the World" really sounds different in Spanish; in fact, the word "joy" isn't even in the song.  It's called "Al Mundo Paz," which is translated peace to the world.  It probably has to do with the fact that in English the words "joy" and "world" are one syllable words, while in Spanish the words for "joy" (gozo) and the word for "world" (mundo) both have two syllables, therefore, they aren't a perfect substitute in the song.  Hence, "peace" to the world, instead of "joy" to the world.    

The pictures make it look like no one was there.  Really, there was a pretty big crowd, they were all sitting behind me.

We were able to say "adios" to almost everyone on Thursday night:  Pastor Steve and Pam, Pastor Julio and Patty, David and Maritza, Guillermo and many more. 

We fly to California this afternoon and should be getting grandkid hugs before they go to bed.  

Christmas Cooking and Sewing

Living in El Salvador has drastically cut down the amount of Christmas cooking I do--after all, Christmas cookies just aren't very portable.  Before we took the trip to Panama, I made cranberry pear butter (like apple butter, but not apple) to share with friends.  Tuesday, I made saltine toffee (recipe) and strawberry cookies (recipe) and today I'm taking a tray full of both to the church office.  Hopefully, everyone likes things that are sweet, because the toffee is the definition of sweet.

I started my Christmas sewing about a month ago, but it's still going to come down to the last minute.  I made 30+ miniature fabric trays (pictured below) using Christmas fabric I ordered in August.  I've given almost thirty of them away to my Bible study ladies, our IDEM group ladies and more.  

I also finished the sewing gift for my three grandkids.  (Not going to put a picture because their parents may read this and I want it to be a surprise.) 

I'm making two quilted table runners.  One of the tops is done and the other is still in pieces.  The fabric for the border, backing and binding is on it's way to California, so I'll have to find time to finish them when I get there.  If not, they'll be after Christmas gifts and will be ready to decorate the house for Christmas 2016.  That's just the way it goes when I don't have access to everything I need.

Two more days to get everything done before we fly to California--my "to do" list has never been longer.

Christmas Day in Bend

We spent a relaxing Christmas day at the house in Bend, with an emphasis on family time, not gifts.  The O'Neil siblings drew names at Thanksgiving and so they exchanged gifts.  Michael (Shannon's older brother) and his wife, Emilee, who were in Atlanta with Emilee's parents, are expecting a baby in May.  We all participated in their gender reveal over Skype.  The box was wrapped in both pink and blue paper and inside was a giant stuffed kangaroo.  Inside the pouch was a little baby kangaroo wrapped in a BLUE diaper.  They were so excited with the news of the first O'Neil boy, who could be Michael Charles O'Neil IV.  

Of course, there were a couple of small gifts for the kids, but, not surprisingly, they had the most fun with the boxes!

VW popup tent camper for Josiah

Lego set for Maleia--just like her Daddy

Lunch was an amazing turkey dinner with all the trimmings.  Quite a feat when you're all just visiting!  Thanks to Shannon's mom, Patty, for bringing most of the food with her.  Surprise, surprise, my contribution was two pumpkin pies.

The cranberries were Aviah's favorite dish

In the afternoon, Aunt Katherine helped the kids add (eat) candies to the gingerbread house.  

We finished off the evening watching "It's a Wonderful Life," and then playing games.  

Merry Christmas 2014 from the Parris and O'Neil family.  

Christmas in February

We celebrated our California Christmas on Thursday, February 6, without a tree and most of the other trappings, but it really didn't matter.  There was still paper ripping, happy screams, picture taking and more.  

McKinney Kind of Christmas

We went to  my sister's house for lunch on Christmas day and what a lunch it was:  various dips/appetizers, ham, cheesy potatoes, mixed veggie casserole, cherry fruit salad and hot rolls. All of this plus a couple of trays of cookies and a pecan pie for later.

Gift exchange time is always fun with the bulk of the packages going to Dad, the girls (our nieces) and Jon.  Dad's treats tend to be of the edible variety and most are very sweet.  He unwrapped three different kinds of chocolate covered cherries.  Note that I say "unwrapped," not opened because there's never an expectation that he will share the bounty.  

The best part of the day is the after dinner/gift game time.  As usual, Dad, Stephen, Bruce and Jon went straight to the round table for their traditional game of Hearts.  We know better than to bother them during this time.  The rest of us play the less competitive group board games.  This year it was In a Pickle, followed by MadGab.  

It was a great Christmas!

Handel's Messiah

Just spent an amazing night listening to the Spire Chamber Ensemble and Baroque Orchestra perform Handel's Messiah at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.  Unbelievably talented instrumentalists playing Handel's musical score and beautiful voices singing scripture!  The sound was absolutely perfect.

Although most people are familiar with the Hallelujah Chorus, it's not the final song.  In fact, I think this masterpiece should be required listening for all believers.  The final chorus:

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain and hath redeemed us to God by His blood to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.  Blessing and honor, glory and power be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.  Amen.

Do you know about the baby in the manger?  More importantly, do you know Him as the King of King and Lord of Lords?  He is the reason for the season.  Christmas (and everything else) is all about Jesus.

 

Traditional Cookies

I made two kinds of sugar cookie dough yesterday morning--used 4 sticks of butter.  Yikes!  The dough needed time to chill before our late afternoon cookie making event at my sister's house.  Jon and I packed up cookie dough, cookie cutters and sprinkles and headed to Kristi's house about 2:00 p.m.  

First up were the Snickerdoodles--it just isn't Christmas without these cookies.  I've been eating these cookies my whole life and not just at Christmas.  I always found it difficult to turn down a snickerdoodle cookie, but not a single one ever tasted as good as my mom's recipe.  Rolling them is therapeutic!  Laken and Jon handled the cinnamon/sugar layer.  Even after everyone sampled the wares, we had more than six dozen left.

Second, we made Sand Tarts--don't know where my mom found the recipe or where the recipe got it's name.  She starting making these when I was in high school (maybe), but even so, that makes the recipe at least 40 years old.  Kristi and I have really struggled to get them right--we're so much better at them than when we first started making them by ourselves.  The trick is to roll them as thinly as possible.  If done correctly, they are the ultimate in crispiness.  No frosting for these, just an egg wash and sprinkles to decorate.  Some family members prefer one shape over another (angel vs. reindeer or mitten vs. light bulb), but I think they're all equally tasty.

By the time I rolled out the last batch, the freezing rain was coming down like crazy, so Jon and I left before the final pan came out of the oven.  We will be enjoying the fruit of our labors on Christmas day!

Candy, Cookies and Best Friends

There's nothing like time spent with your best girl friend!  Stephen is in West Plains visiting his parents, so I've been staying with the Guenthers to get in some extra girl friend time.  Terisa went to work early so she could come home early and we could get started on Christmas treats.  
Last night's cooled strawberry cake was the foundation for cake balls!  Love those little sweet morsels of goodness.  

Also on the agenda was "never-fail" microwave peanut brittle.  The recipe sounded too good to be true since my memory of making peanut brittle is of stirring the mixture forever while using the candy thermometer to be sure it gets to the correct "hard-ball" stage (about 305 degrees.)   In fact, the first batch proved the recipe title wrong!  Guess the old saying that the power of microwave ovens varies is true because the 4-, 4-, 2-minute recipe resulted in over cooked peanut brittle which just tasted burned.  We had enough stuff for a second batch, but the dilemma--how long to cook it?  We found some other recipes which suggested a 4-, 3-, 2-minute cooking time so we opted for that.  Success!  It really tasted amazing and is very easy.  Here's the link--same recipe works for all kinds of nuts, including cashews, almond, pecan, macadamia, etc.  Just be sure to adjust the time for your microwave!

The sugar cookie dough chilled while we made these treats and ate dinner, which was a delicious homemade chicken pot pie!  We tried the sour cream sugar cookie recipe that's been all over Facebook for the last month.  It is supposed to render very soft, not crispy sugar cookies.  Ethan and Chloe helped us cut them out (Michael took pictures, but I don't have them.)  Chloe loved adding the sprinkles after they were frosted.  They turned out cute, the dough was easy to work with, the frosting is simple, but I'm not convinced they are the best tasting sugar cookies.  

However, baking was just the medium to spend time together and that was a rousing success.  Love how God has knitted our lives together so that even though we've been apart for 5+ months, we can pick up right where we left off.  

Baby, it's cold outside

This is our fourth morning in the states (already.)  Stephen left about 7:30 this morning (yes, I was still in bed) to (a) run or (b) go to Starbucks.  Neither of the two choices are of particular interest to me; of course, if I had to choose between the two, B would would win.

I'm sitting by the fireplace with gas logs burning trying to get warm.  The adjustment to the cold weather is continuing.  I think that a life of constant flip flop weather has left both of us with "thinner" blood.  At least, that's what I thought before my research on the issue revealed this:

Thinner blood, however, "is absolutely a myth," said Dr. Bruce Lenes, medical director of Community Blood Centers of South Florida, noting that blood thickness isn't influenced by temperature. He said people simply adjust — mentally and physically — to a new climate.

Read more: http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/how-does-south-florida's-warm-climate-affect-your-health%3F#ixzz2nSctKTui

I guess we just need to change our attitude and wear more clothes.  Which, of course, is another problem, as our supply of winter clothes is very low and everything is quite old and out of style.  Not to mention, we're not very motivated to spend money on clothes we only need for a couple of weeks a year.  

Case in point on how our coldness manifests itself to others--last night we picked up Steve and Terisa to go to dinner.  It wasn't until we got to the restaurant and ran into to some people we all knew, that Steve and Terisa admitted that were roasting in the back seat of the car.  We had the heat cranked and the fan on max!

The past three days have been busy with lots of errands--grocery shopping to restock the pantry of the mission house where we are staying, picking up and going through five months of mail, doctor's appointments, etc.  Today I'm hoping to get started on several Christmas projects, before it gets too late.

Tomorrow morning we will be at Abundant Life Baptist to worship with our church family and then have dinner with some dear friends.  Even if we're not physically as warm as we'd like, we've received a warm welcome and are so blessed to be able to be with family and friends for the holidays.