The Christmas Duck Hunt

Christmas Present

Chip and I are enjoying a snowy, windy Christmas Day. This is our first Christmas spent alone. In the ten years of our marriage, we have picked Mom, Dad and Chip’s mom up and taken them to my brother’s family and celebrated with them. With my parents passing away in 2005 & 2006 and with Chip’s mom passing away this past April, we are not quite as willing to brave the wintry weather this year especially as the forecast is only for the weather to get worse.

One week of vacation is about over for me. We have managed to get all the hay into the hay yards, brought the sheep into the shelter belt and have fed the cows and calves. We truly are in a Winter Wonderland at the moment. That can all change with a Chinook wind, which is not in the immediate weather forecast.

We opened our Christmas presents from my sister on Christmas Eve. We had a great time opening John Deere Christmas Stockings full of candy, birdseed and dollar bills of which is translated to electric outlet covers in The New Shed. We saved as much of the birdseed as possible for our Hungarian Partridges.

Jake was so much fun to watch as I opened his present from Bandit and Chi Chi. He acted like he knew that was his gift. He was thrilled with his treat. I gave him another one this morning. He threw it in the air a couple of times and then ate it. He watched intently as I opened my gifts.

The phone has been ringing with Christmas cheer. We are thankful for family, and friends. We are also thankful for S.E. Electric for keeping our power going even when the weather has been very cold and poles have gone down. We also lost phone service for a while, but Range Telephone was quick to get it fixed.

Chip and I opened our gifts this morning. Chip decided that if I was going to put up a tree, he was going to put presents under it. One of these gifts is an indoor/outdoor flying duck hunt game. Sounds like my husband! We will have to try it later today.

My big gift to Chip this year is an all expense paid bear hunt to Minnesota provided he does draw a tag. My nephew Tim will be Chip’s guide this coming year. I am not sure what I am going to do with the bear after Chip shoots it, but guess we’ll have to put an addition on the house.

Just like our Christmas Past, our Christmas Present is truly enjoyed because of our family and friends and knowing that Jesus’ birth, led to His death and resurrection, which provides the way of Salvation. Knowing that He has been and is in control of all that is happening in our lives today makes for a peaceful Christmas.
　
　

Christmas Past

When I was a child, we celebrated the best Christmases in the whole wide world. No, we weren’t rich and in fact we were considered poor. I didn’t know it, then and am not sure that I really believe it now. Regardless of being rich or poor, all of our Christmases were wonderful.

We lived in a very small "town" called Terraville. Terraville had gravel roads above all the underground gold. The town isn’t there anymore because the gold was mined. It is now a big hole in the ground and will be until all of the gold is taken out of it.

I remember the times that I went with my brothers to cut down our Christmas tree. I am sure that isn’t permitted anymore, but considering the fact that they were all cut down to mine for gold, I don’t think that anyone will mind. We always had a great time decorating the tree with blue lights. One year we made cookies, frosted them and hung them on the tree for decorations. That was cool because we got to eat the cookies. Now that I think about it, they did get a little crunchy toward the end of the season.

I remember one year that the only thing I wanted for Christmas was a blue ski jacket. My older brother had one and I was envious. I was willing to have a hand me down just to own a ski jacket. We always drew names for Christmas and that year the ski jacket brother had my name. His jacket disappeared one day and there was a present under the tree for me. I couldn’t wait! Christmas morning (really early morning) came and I had to wait forever before I could open my present. The moment finally came and I tore off the wrapping paper and opened the box only to find another wrapped box. This went on until; I finally opened a very small box with a note in it. Then the scavenger hunt began. Yes, I did finally get a very nice ski jacket. I did wear it so much that I wore it out.

I also remember the Christmas when I was in 7th grade. That was the year that I got my Black Hills Gold ring. I also wore that a lot and the gold is now smoothed down, but the ring is still very special to me.

My older brothers are twins. They are not identical in any way except that they are Petersons. My dad had the rule that we could not open our presents until Christmas morning. One Christmas (I was too young to remember) my parents heard a noise out under the Christmas tree. It wasn’t Santa; it was the younger (by 20 minutes) of the twins. He was looking at all of the Christmas presents. That began a tradition that last for years. We would always get up sometime after midnight and open our presents.

There did come a year when the job of awakening everyone was delegated to me. The younger twin decided that he was too old to do it. I really had a big responsibility now. I remember lying in bed watching the clock. I remember seeing 11:50 and then I was asleep. It was several hours before I woke up, jumped out of bed and awoke the family. The older twin said something like, "The younger twin was throwing verbal pillow at you from our bedroom trying to wake you."

What is Christmas? Christmas does not need to be a time of spending a lot of money, but it is a time of getting together with family or friends. It is a time to remember the good times we have had. Most of all this Holiday Season is a time to remember the birth of Jesus Christ and that without Jesus’ birth; there would be no crucifixion, no resurrection and no salvation from our sins. So although many have chosen to say Happy Holiday opposed to Merry Christmas, let us remember without the birth of Christ there would be no Christmas, thus we wouldn’t be having a holiday from work.

Merry Christmas and please keep Christ in Christmas.

Christmas

We are experiencing a winter wonderland today. The ground is white and the thermometer is at a cold, cold ZERO. At the moment we are sitting in a warm house, listening to Dr. Jeremiah, petting Jake and enjoying Dan's company.

I am not looking forward to the trip back to Lame Deer but the roads shouldn't be too bad, I hope.

Dr. Jeremiah is speaking on "Why There Must Be Christmas." http://www.davidjeremiah.org/site/television.aspx

My Christmas tree is up. A few years ago, I bought all blue lights, ornaments and matching tinsel. The tree looks nice and brings back memories of childhood trees. The fiber optic angel is a little heavy for the top of the tree, but it goes well with the rest of the tree. Jake enjoys sleeping under the tree.

On Friday, I was walking back to school after lunch. My right foot tripped on a stone, my left foot got locked in with my right foot and I started heading face down on the ground. Thankfully, my hands were free after throwing my water bottle. My hands hit the ground and slid forward. I pulled rocks out of my hand and doctored the holes. Almost 48 hours later, my hands are still very sore and my body feels like it hit solid ground. Not quite as bad as was hitting a truck! I still remember how that feels.

As I looked at my hands last night, Chip and I talked about how much pain Jesus had when the nails were put in his hands. Putting Him on the cross happened after he was beaten beyond recognition. To think that Jesus suffered for me so that my sins could be forgiven.

Chip has been busy working cows and shipping what needs to go to the salebarn.

The weather shows that winter is here. Not sure that I am ready for it, but we will make it through.