Christmas in Coshocton! 12-25-2017

Merry Christmas everyone! Christmas in Coshocton has been wonderful!

We had been invited and had made all preparations to visit our daughter Laurel and her family in Connecticut this Christmas, but our Pathfinder once again had some bigtime trouble, and we didn’t dare drive 1500 miles in an undependable car in snow in the winter.  We were supposed to leave right after church on Sunday, but instead just came home and adjusted /made new plans.

Christmas Eve day, we went to church and had a very nice service!  Many members of our branch gave us missionaries sweet and thoughtful gifts.  They are so wonderful!

In the evening we had a delightful Christmas Eve hangout with all of our kids and most of our grandkids. We absolutely love our mission, but we have to admit it was a little hard at first to see families gathered for the holiday but we recovered quickly and enjoyed visiting with everyone!  How grateful we are for technology! We watched kids open their jammies, and be wild and crazy, it was so much fun! Last week was also fun when we got to skype with Katie and Elisabeth and watch them have their Christmas in North Carolina with Ryan and Lea!

So, after our plans changed, we were invited to enjoy a yummy Christmas Eve dinner with President and Becky Jacobs and Sisters Hall and Humpherys! We had a great time! We then returned home to our cozy warm apartment with snow falling!

Christmas morning, we found a true white Christmas- the first real snow since we arrived in Ohio! We opened our stockings and then had a fun little breakfast! We received some very fun presents from our kids: a calendar with photos of Ryan, Lea and girls,  a blanket with all of the grandkids with us from the Wihongis and a calendar with all of the family pictures in it for the remainder of our mission from the Gregg Blanchards! Last Christmas the kids gave us a calendar for the first part of our mission, and this is the final half! Great gifts!! 
My sister and brother sent fun packages too!  
We received a very special framed picture of the saying on the wall in Dustin and Amanda’s home – a real treasure!

Paul went out and shoveled all of the walks and driveways for all of the widows in our cul-de-sac!  What a great service from a great guy!   

We then used the day to just catch up on everything that we had let go the last while. Staying in jammies most of the day – a real treat– yea!

We went car shopping in the evening, because after this last car problem, we decided it is time to say goodbye to the Pathfinder, trade it in and get something we can rely on! We will be off to Columbus tomorrow to get the job done!

We then returned home for our traditional oyster stew and fixins’ dinner.  A great holiday! Not what we had planned, but it was a wonderful day!!

We are so blessed with so many spiritual gifts!  The chance to serve this mission together, our family, and the Gospel are at the top of our treasured gifts this Christmas!