Merry Christmas!

The rest of the story - Mary, Jesus, and the baby

So, here it is. What do you think?


Honestly, what are the chances that Joseph was bald?

Is this really all that JA$2500 will buy?

What is with the baby Jesus looking like he is 4 years old?

What do you think the age difference was between Joseph and Mary?


Here it is adorning our end table. The question now is, can we even find redemption in this story of Jesus. I think so. We hope this does not turn into a family heirloom in which our great-grandchildren are wondering what was wrong with great G-Pa and G-ma Plattner. Instead, I think we can make a few trades and make this work. I am guessing that the current Joseph could pass for a wise man. So, maybe sometime in the future we will order a younger looking Joseph, and demote the current Joseph to the position of shepherd or wiseman. About the Jesus figure, ummm, we will keep thinking about that.

The week in review - G-pa and G-ma Plattner

We enjoyed a wonderful week with Grandpa and Grandma Plattner. We were blessed by their fellowship and time with us. The kids loved having them visit. We spent 2 nights at a hotel and the rest of the time we spent at our home in Knockpatrick. We did a little Christmas with the kids. The kids loved making Christmas cookies, working outside, getting pulled in the wagon, getting too much candy, and all the little things that only Grandparents can do. It was a blessing for us in the midst of our homesickness during the holidays. Here are some PICTURES of the week.

Mary, Jesus, and the baby?

Not long after arriving in Jamaica, we began to be introduced, not by choice, to a guy who sells crafts at the local shopping center where we get groceries. Most times, while getting our groceries, we would try to put off his pleas to buy one of his carved turtles, birds, or monkeys or to give him a little money to get home in a taxi. Realizing that this would be an ongoing problem, we decided to change our approach. While we are owners of a not so finely carved turtle with eyes that are out of place, we thought that buying a herd of turtles or goofy animals may not be productive. So, we decided to see if he could carve us what we want him to carve. Last year, we asked him to carve a nativity set for us. Jamaica is a very "Christian" country and we were shocked to realize that he did not know the story of Jesus. We tried our best to share with him the story, but we were not so sure that we got through. After printing him off a picture of the nativity, squabbling over a fair price, and giving him a few weeks, we got an interestingly carved nativity that we gave to some friends for Christmas. At mothers day, he carved us an interesting mother with 2 boys at her side for Keri's gift. And, just the other day he wanted us to place another order. We thought maybe we could start putting together a nativity for ourselves and ordered Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. Tony, the carver, replied, "No Problem, I will do Mary, Jesus, and the baby." Wow, we have a long ways to go, even after trying to straighten him out again, he repeated that he will carve Mary, Jesus, and the baby. Unfortunately, Tony cant read, but hopefully as he is carving Mary, her spouse who is not named Jesus, and Jesus, that his interest will be perked to pursue who this Jesus is and seek the answer to the real meaning of Christmas.

P.S. - We will try to post a picture of "Mary, Jesus, and the baby" when we pick it up next week.

Grandpa and Grandma Plattner

Lord willing, Kirk's parents will be flying in on Monday for a week. What a blessing! With Keri's parents hoping to come after the new year, we feel blessed with so much support. We are hoping to spend a couple of days at a hotel and then the rest of the week at Knockpatrick. Our parents have really invested in our time here and have shown such strong support even through the pain of the separation by miles. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and we are continuously growing in our understanding of the power of Godly parents. It raises the bar for us and takes us to our knees seeking His grace in raising our kids. I am sure we will check back later in the week with some pictures of our week.

The Christmas Program pics are HERE. Sunday, we had the church Christmas program and the kids sang and signed "Away in a manger." We did not get a video, but we did put up some pics.

The star of the show!

Ok, we may be a bit biased, but you will have to admit that he does look adorable. We appreciated the school's focus of keeping Jesus the star of the show. Drew was so proud to be in the Christmas program. He talked about it all week and Friday morning he asked us about 10 times before he left if he was late for the program. For him, it was a badge of maturity to stand in front of his parents and be a part of the show. What a guy!

P.S. - We have many more pictures, we will put them up and let you know.

Its Grandma's Fault

Last week we put up Christmas lights in our living room. Since then, Truitt has been instructed and fairly warned many times about not plugging in the lights without permission. In reality, he has received many spankings for his plugging in of the lights without permission. This morning, out of the corner of my eye I saw Truitt leaning over to pick up the cord to plug in the lights. I said, "Truitt, who told you that you can plug in the lights?" He said, "Grandma told me to plug in the lights." It was then that I noticed that he was in the middle of an imaginary conversation with Grandma on his play phone. How convenient that an authority figure was asking him to do the very desire of his heart. Who teaches them these kinds of things?