Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Has Rocky found the Lord?



I was amazed when I heard Sylvester Stallone was planning to resurrect the Rocky Balboa character for a sixth round. Now, more cause for amazement: number one, that critics are saying good things about the movie, and that Sylvester Stallone seems to be reaching out to Christians with this film.

What's your favorite Christmas TV special?

I'll admit, I can't pass up A Charlie Brown Christmas, and It's A Wonderful Life is on my list of top 5 movies of all time.

But if you want a big selection, check out 101 Classic Christmas videos that you can watch online.

If you need a good laugh...

...go here and superimpose a pic of your face on this elf. I did it; it looked hilarious, and I was a much better dancer than I'll ever be in real life!

Way-Back Wednesday


And here's what I was blogging about a week ago today--December 20, 2005:


Are there any Christmases past that stand out in your memory as especially wonderful, for whatever reason?

I have a few.

On Christmas Eve or Christmas Day (I forget which!) of 1973, I was in my senior year of high school and my sister who lived in Utah at the time had just had a baby girl. My parents, my younger sister and younger brother and I were traveling up to Utah for Christmas, and we stopped for lunch at a ski resort in Monarch Pass, Colorado (pictured above.)

I will never forget the beauty of that Christmas lunch. We were seated near a fireplace, facing a window with a gorgeous view of people skiing down the slopes in the gently falling snow. Having lived most of my life in places where it didn't snow at Christmas, this was like walking into a live Christmas card. Beautiful! I was so filled with Christmas spirit, I was almost bursting.

One of the happiest Christmases I've spent in recent years was Christmas 2002. My oldest son was working in Ohio, and since he worked in a mall, he had Christmas Day off, but had to work both Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas. We decided to take Christmas to him.

He lived in a little Victorian house in Cedarville, Ohio, where he had attended college at Cedarville University and where my second son was a student. All Jonathan's house-mates had gone home for Christmas, so we moved in. We stayed up for hours watching DVD's of Sports Night. I made Christmas goodies and we finished up our shopping at the mall where Jonathan worked.

On Christmas Day, I cooked a turkey dinner with all the trimmings, and after dinner we drove around and looked at Christmas lights in the falling snow. It was wonderful...and it was the last Christmas we spent as just our immediate family, since Jonathan got married in January 2004.

Last Christmas, 2004, was also wonderful because I got to spend the holiday with my family in Texas. It was bittersweet because it was the first Christmas without my dad, who passed away in July 2004.

But it was also lovely, because I was surrounded by loved ones I normally don't get to be with at Christmas. One of the highlights was my mom taking all us "girls" to the see Ballet Austin and the Austin Symphony perform "The Nutcracker." That was truly a special occasion!


My niece Katie, my daughter Elizabeth, my beautiful mom, me, and my daughter-in-law Daylyn at "The Nutcracker"

I'm planning another trip to Texas this holiday season, and I can't wait to see my loved ones there.

What about you? Any special Christmas memories? I'd love to hear them...

No comments:

Related Posts with Thumbnails