Tis the Season

What a wonderful day today was. Justin and I ventured out to stay with family and friends last night. Altho the roads weren't the best, we made it safely and I'm so glad we did.
This morning we woke to big fluffy snowflakes, falling to the ground. It was beautiful. The boys all bundled up to go play in the snow. The girls decided to stay in where it was warm and cook up lots of Christmas goodies.
I had the best time in the kitchen with my baby sister Joy and my sister-in-law Summer. We started out making cinnamon rolls, just like Mom did every year. Joy would remind me of all the little things Mom would say while teaching her girls the secret of good baking. After cinnamon rolls, we made divinity...a family favorite. To our surprise, Summer had never had divinity. So Joy and I went to work melting the sugar and karo syrup while telling her the secrets. When you're stirring candy, stir in the same direction the whole time. Don't scrape the sides, candy is not to be scraped. Stir continually until it starts to boil and the top turns white. After the white has disappeared and the mixture is clear, start with the egg whites and for flavor and color, add a package of jello mix. Summer was so excited to learn something she could make for my twin brother. She had been asking Jon for recipes that Mom use to make that she could make for him. Joy and I were so excited to share them with her.
While dropping spoonfuls of divinity onto the wax paper, the feeling of Mom filled the room. The conversation stopped for a moment, Joy and I looked at each other and both of us had tears in our eyes. We started reminiscing about the silly things Mom would do when we wouldn't obey. Like the time Joy and I didn't clean our room. Mom threatened to move us out to Girty's apartment, also known as the pig pen. Of course Joy and I didn't believe her so we ran off playing. That afternoon, Mom came to check on our room. Of course it hadn't changed. So Mom started gathering up our things and putting them in big black garbage bags. Joy and I grabbed our most valuables and clung to them on our beds while sobbing and begging Mom to please not make us sleep outside in the pig poop and cold. Needless to say, we learned our lesson.
We don't know how Mom raised 7 kids and 13 pigs and 3 calves and 2 billy goats. She did it with ease. There was a time when all 13 pigs got out of their pen and were scattered down the road. Us kids began to panic. Not Mom. She simply took a big paper bag full of apples, walked a little ways down the road and started dropping apples on the ground as she walked home. The pigs followed her. When she got to their pen, she emptied the rest of the apples inside. The pigs obediently went into their pen and they were locked in securely. We had a good laugh over that one.
After the boys came in all frozen and there had been numerous batches of divinity made in many colors and flavors, it was time for a nice warm lunch. Justin and I decided to head home. Justin had a plan.
On the way home, he was asking about a girl at my work who's son is chronically ill and seems to always have pneumonia. Justin has given Makai his new Vans shoes and many clothes since the family is struggling financially. Justin always loves taking things to Makai and seeing how happy he is. Justin asked if they were going to have Christmas. I told them I didn't know. Justin wants to take gifts to them on Christmas day and make sure they have presents to open.
Justin also asked if they had a tree. I didn't know. He said he wanted to take the money from his piggy bank and buy them a tree. So we came home, emptied his bank into a baggy and set off to find a tree. We had a hard time finding a place that even sells fresh Christmas trees. So I decided to start calling people and asking if they knew where to find fresh trees. One family said they had an extra one that they weren't going to use. I told them about our special family and they offered to deliver it to their home.
Shortly after that phone call, our special family called me. The mother was in tears. She thanked me for thinking of them and told me of how the father's paycheck wasn't as big as they had expected and they had decided not to get a tree this year since money was so tight. I told her how it was Justin's idea to make sure they had a tree. She was so happy and couldn't thank us enough. I had her tell Justin thank you and Justin's face had the biggest grin. You could tell it made him feel so good inside to know he helped someone. I was so proud of him. He seems to be in tune with others' needs and is always wanting to help. What a blessing he is to me.
We came home and made homemade bread. One of our adventures is Christmas caroling to a list of people. When we go, we want to have goodies too. So we started out with 10 loaves of bread. We wrapped them up tight and put them in a safe place until we make the rest of them.
What a great Christmas season this has been so far...and it's just begun it seems.
I hope everyone is able to feel of the spirit this time of year and find ways to serve others. What a great peaceful feeling that comes with it.
I love you Justin Jeppen Allen. Thank you for being my rock!