Christmas 1999

Merry Christmas! (Hey, this page is even put together in a timely fashion!) Here are some photos of our first Christmas together.

First, some background - we had contemplated going home (Denver or Huntsville) for Christmas, but with vacations cancelled at Jim's work place (in preparations for the Y2K problems management anticipates there), and with either place a long drive from Cary, NC and only a three day weekend, we decided to stay here and enjoy our first Christmas together.

Jim and Plume Elizabeth worked Christmas Eve at the YMCA - from 8 to 3. Jim spent the day recovering from not enough sleep, doing other business, and some anniversary gift shopping. In the evening, we played a game of Rummikub (Jim's first) and one of Othello (Elizabeth's first). Elizabeth won both games.
After the games, we posed for pictures with Plume.
Elizabeth and Plume

We talked most of the evening, sharing thoughts on all kinds of matters. As we cleaned the kitchen, Elizabeth found her Denver church's newsletter - which reported the passing of a friend from church who attended our wedding. The news provided a difficult reminder of how fragile our lives are. Elizabeth thought of the surviving family through the night.
We pondered Jesus's life, too, discussing accountings of miracles and plausible explanations. On Christmas day, we plan to read Edgar Cayce's Christmas story.

Jim coloring his name in merigolds We needed stockings, too - Granny Janny will make some for us for next year, and we didn't have our others from home, so we decided to make and decorate our own - from paper and magic markers! Jim decorating his stocking

Elizabeth's stocking shows her name along its length with a large green and gold Christmas ornament near the heel. The stocking's white background is dotted with yellow stars, and there's one big yellow star at the toe. Stockings Jim's stocking shows a rocket launching to a bright star in the sky. Jim's name is written in merigolds in a garden in front of the Christmas palm trees.

Santa came right on schedule to fill the stockings. He left Elizabeth's in the den and Jim's in the living room.
We went to bed, but both of us were excited, and Jim had particular trouble sleeping - anxious not only to find out what Elizabeth had in store for him, but anxious to see her reaction to his gift.
We got up like children at about 9:00 (well, maybe it wasn't so much like children), and raced downstairs to see what Santa had brought. We opened all the gifts thoughtful people had brought or sent us, and we opened our gifts to each other.
Elizabeth & Stockings

Elizabeth and her gift Jim unwrapped a Mark Twain video tape from Elizabeth, "Stories!" he exclaimed. Elizabeth opened her gift from Jim next - a musical jewelry chest that plays "Always" - filled with KitKats, a gold and diamond heart necklace and a gold chain for her fleur de lis pendant from her grandfather. "It's beautiful! I love it," Elizabeth says. Jim then opened his pictured gift - a holder for all the 50 states' quarters as they're issued. You can tell by his cheshire cat grin that he was pleased. Jim and one of his gifts

For the rest of Christmas day? We plan to visit with relatives by phone and create a scrapbook of our first year together. It looks like we're pretty well done with the Christmas '99 part of the scrapbook!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!g

	Elizabeth worked Christmas Eve at the YMCA - from 8 to 3. Jim spent the day recovering from not enough sleep, doing other business, and some anniversary gift shopping. In the evening, we played a game of Rummikub (Jim's first) and one of Othello (Elizabeth's first). Elizabeth won both games. After the games, we posed for pictures with Plume.
We talked most of the evening, sharing thoughts on all kinds of matters. As we cleaned the kitchen, Elizabeth found her Denver church's newsletter - which reported the passing of a friend from church who attended our wedding. The news provided a difficult reminder of how fragile our lives are. Elizabeth thought of the surviving family through the night. We pondered Jesus's life, too, discussing accountings of miracles and plausible explanations. On Christmas day, we plan to read Edgar Cayce's Christmas story.
	We needed stockings, too - Granny Janny will make some for us for next year, and we didn't have our others from home, so we decided to make and decorate our own - from paper and magic markers!
Elizabeth's stocking shows her name along its length with a large green and gold Christmas ornament near the heel. The stocking's white background is dotted with yellow stars, and there's one big yellow star at the toe.		Jim's stocking shows a rocket launching to a bright star in the sky. Jim's name is written in merigolds in a garden in front of the Christmas palm trees.
Santa came right on schedule to fill the stockings. He left Elizabeth's in the den and Jim's in the living room. We went to bed, but both of us were excited, and Jim had particular trouble sleeping - anxious not only to find out what Elizabeth had in store for him, but anxious to see her reaction to his gift. We got up like children at about 9:00 (well, maybe it wasn't so much like children), and raced downstairs to see what Santa had brought. We opened all the gifts thoughtful people had brought or sent us, and we opened our gifts to each other.
	Jim unwrapped a Mark Twain video tape from Elizabeth, "Stories!" he exclaimed. Elizabeth opened her gift from Jim next - a musical jewelry chest that plays "Always" - filled with KitKats, a gold and diamond heart necklace and a gold chain for her fleur de lis pendant from her grandfather. "It's beautiful! I love it," Elizabeth says. Jim then opened his pictured gift - a holder for all the 50 states' quarters as they're issued. You can tell by his cheshire cat grin that he was pleased.
For the rest of Christmas day? We plan to visit with relatives by phone and create a scrapbook of our first year together. It looks like we're pretty well done with the Christmas '99 part of the scrapbook! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!g