Oak Tree in an Acorn: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The Banister Family - Christmas Eve 2008

Well, I'm a bit late with this post but our Christmas and New Year's holiday were filled with family illness. We made it through, though, and here are some photos of the highlights. We hope you all had a peaceful, enjoyable Christmas and wish you many blessings for the new year.

Genevieve helping to make Jesus' birthday cake (Angel Food cake , of course!)

Olivia making Snowball cookies for Santa's treat!

Our Christmas Eve dinner. We followed my Grandma's tradition of placing special momentos of loved ones and special treasures around the table. We placed on the table a pair of my Grandpa Fred's glasses and harmonica, my Grandma Sylvia's scarf, a birthday card from my Grandmother Ferrell, my mother's rosary, a picture of my dad, dried flowers from our wedding, the girls' ID birth bracelets, etc.

Genevieve sprinkling Reindeer Snacks (oatmeal with glitter) on the sidewalk.

Treats for Santa! Olivia made a thank you card for him and wrote "Hand made by Olivia and Eve" on the cover.

Olivia and Eve opened a couple of gifts on Christmas Eve before heading to bed.

We were getting Eve ready for bed, and I notice Olivia talking to herself over by the Christmas tree. She was pretending to be the Three Kings and was offering baby Jesus the Bakugan balls she just opened that evening. It was so sweet that I had to take a picture before she noticed me there.

The Banister gals on Christmas morning 2008.

The Ferrells invited us over for Christmas brunch. It was fun and relaxing and Aunt Megan's pancakes were delicious. Little did we know that we were leaving them a "gift" of Strep Throat!

The weekend following Christmas we got together with my older brother Geff, his girlfriend Tina, and my niece and nephew Lexie and Kurt.

The girls and I went for a one day, one night visit to my Dad and Glenna's house during Christmas break. With my dad still recovering from his infection and craniotomy, we didn't want to tax them too much.

The day we got back from my Dad's, my mother was admitted to the hospital for Strep, pneumonia, and blood clots in her lungs. She is home now and already back to work after spending a whole week in the hospital. We are so glad she is feeling better and pray that she continues to recover well.

We had a rough holiday, with both my parents recovering from serious illnesses as well as each of us getting a couple of colds and Strep over two weeks, but we managed to have some wonderful moments together, and enjoyed celebrating the gift of Jesus' birth.

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Why the title, "Oak Tree in an Acorn"?

Well, really it's all about perspective when raising the girls. It helps me to think about the grand scheme of parenting and remember that what we do now affects how our little acorns will grow. Like an oak tree, we want them to be strong in their words and deeds, be able to withstand life's storms, set and reach their goals, and be people that others can lean on and trust.

We have an oak tree planted in our yard that came from an acorn my dad planted in a pot. This acorn came from a huge oak tree that was planted in the backyard of my dad's childhood home. My dad's father also planted this tree from an acorn he found on his hunting lease in the early 1960's. Our tree is thus a family heirloom, a "family tree".

It was the year of Olivia's birth when we planted our little sapling. It looked so very sad that winter with no leaves; it was, basically, like a stick rooted in the ground. Five years later, though, it stands 9 feet tall, and we continue to nurture it and watch it grow. We hope one year it will produce acorns of its own, and we can continue to pass on this family heirloom. We hope to remember it's example of how each acorn has the potential to be an oak tree, and how our acorns, Olivia and Genevieve, will one day, with help from God, become mighty oak trees themselves.