Christmas Eve & Christmas

 Last week Dave was doing "box jumps" on the wall by the church.  He sliced open his knee.  It was pretty deep but for those of you who know him, you won't be surprised he decided against stitches and used a couple butterfly bandaids to hold it back together.  I was too queasy after looking at it to help him at all.  After a week of drainage and the annoyance of it getting on his pants he went to Urgent Care.  The Dr. wasn't super understanding and he got reprimanded.  She couldn't do stitches because of infection but did give him an antibiotic and bandaged it up well.  She told him to return in a couple of days to see if the infection had cleared and if she could still stitch it.  Not sure he'll go back though...I'll let you know if we have to amputate!  

On Christmas Eve we met up with a few missionaries in Harlem to pass out socks, gloves and share the Christmas message "A Savior is Born".  My uncle passed away in September.  One of his traditions was to take socks to the needy.  We were unable to gather with his family to help with this so we did it in his memory in NY.  I wish I had better pictures but here are a few.

Sis. Dunford is helping map out areas for each of us to go.

 Sis. Dunford and Savannah went together.  They have become very close and Savannah is going to miss her so much when she goes home this upcoming transfer.

 Lauren and I went with Sis. Alexander.  This is Wanda.  As we were walking by her I noticed she had no socks on and she was playing with her shoe.  I gave her some socks and we started a conversation.  She was smoking a cigarette and was not super friendly, but Sis. Alexander convinced her to take 2 min (which she said she didn't have) to watch the Savior is Born video.  It was amazing to me to stand back and watch the transformation that took place right before my eyes.  As she kept her eyes glued to the screen she slowly put her cigarette out behind her and her entire countenance softened.  At the end she commented "that was so nice, thank you.  That really was beautiful.  I needed that.  I love God".  I was reminded in that moment how each person has a portion of the light of Christ within them.  They are able to recognize sacred things and feel God's love for them.

This is "Brother Brian", "Pop", and "the man with no teeth".  At least that is how they introduced themselves to us.  They too were very receptive and love the Lord.  We invited them to church at the Harlem Chapel, which they commented how they had often wondered about "that building." 

 Gathering back at the Harlem Chapel after.

William returning with the Elders

We went to dinner at Serafina's after, yummy Italian food on 55th.

We have a Christmas Eve tradition of new PJ's.  This year William got sweats and a t-shirt instead.  It's pretty cool when there is a college with your name.  Not sure he'll wear them in public but they do make perfect pjs.

 A few of the missionaries joined us for Christmas dinner.  Here the Elders are playing Bounce-off, a new game William got from his cousin for Christmas.

I love when the missionaries play the piano in the mission home.  This is Elder Burton.

William is the hot chocolate connoisseur at our home lately.  He took orders from all the missionaries.  They could choose from a variety of options including, crushed peppermint, mini chocolate chips, peppermint marshmallows, whip cream, etc.

 We gathered in the living room for a few minutes at the end of the evening.  William fell fast asleep and didn't wake up until 7 am the next morning.  

Dave reading a Christmas Story for FHE earlier in the week.  He's finding he needs his glasses more and more.  I love him!

I let the kids get out of school early to attend the Westchester Zone P-day Christmas Party!  This is William opening his "white elephant" at the gift exchange.  They played basketball after.  William was in heaven!  He scored 16 points in his last game...maybe it's paying off playing ball with the missionaries.