November/ December Family Highlights

November was a busy month for the Boyers. Matt, Emily, and Carrie took a life changing trip to the land of Israel with a group from our church. Our pastor led the group and they all took their Bibles and studied about the places that they visited. It was indeed a trip they will never forget. It added much depth to their Bible reading times to actually be able to visualize the places where Jesus walked.

Grannie (Rick's Mom) visited us for 12 days in November. We had many fun times while she was here. She showed Kasey and Kelley how to work on plastic canvas and Kasey is working on Christmas presents for others now.

On Thanksgiving we all got together for our evening dinner. Rick read from Thanksgiving- A Time to Remember to help us all remember the sacrifice the Pilgrims made that first and second year. We cooked two turkeys, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, fruit salad, rolls and 11 eleven pies. We had 27 people for dinner.

The day after Thanksgiving we went to the tree field and cut down our white pine, brought it home and decorated it that night. We also began putting up our outside lights and indoor decorations (quite a procedure). It's lots of fun. By Saturday night most of the decorating was done. The ceramic manger scene is the highlight of all our decorations. We place it on the hearth in our living room. Marilyn painted it back in 1977 and it is still with us.

On December 5th the annual Holiday Carols production took place at our church. It is a ministry of our daughter-in-law Kari and daughter Emily to communicate the gospel message of Christmas to those in our community. Over 500 people attended and were blessed by the excellent presentation of Christmas music.

We're all busy shopping, wrapping gifts, making cookies for neighbors, and just enjoying this blessed time of year. The Boyers LOVE the Christmas season. We pray your season is a blessed family time, too.