Ah, Christmastime. A time to reflect on God's love for humankind and his faithfulness through the ages. A time to spread joy and cheer in the form of cookies. A time to clean out the various drainage trenches in our yard, since the rains have arrived on schedule.The past couple months have been mind-bogglingly busy and intensely rewarding. Let's rewind to November 12-15: The annual Spiritual Emphasis Retreat. After school on Thursday, we packed the whole junior high and high school into vehicles and paraded out to camp El Shalom, a beautiful, bucolic setting surrounded by rainforest. Nate Johnson, director of a NICS school in Caracas, Venezuela, was our guest speaker. He did an excellent job. It was great to have some extended time outside the classroom with the students. We had a memorable weekend of social and spiritual refreshment. 
November 20: Fun Night. A time-honored tradition at AVA. The gym is transformed into a Chuck E. Cheese-style funhouse, complete with games, cakewalks, and a jail. The theme was The Future; therefore, many things were wrapped in tinf0il. Jill aided the high schoolers in organizing and preparing for the event, which was well-attended and, "Fun," said George.
November 25: Thanksgiving Chapel. Jill organized the high school into an elite army of pastry chefs. Each unit produced potent pans of cinnamon-enhanced heaven, and sold them to the unsuspecting public at the Thanksgiving chapel. Everyone is looking forward to the next chapel. I, Timothy, delivered a devotional; in short, it dealt with the 10 lepers, Sour Patch Kids, and the need for gratefulness.
Our already short staff became shorter. Dennis, our beloved Bible teacher, chaplain, lead HS teacher, etc., suffered a serious back injury in November. This lead to a month and a half of pain and necessitated a trip back to Seattle for surgery. He is now recovering and pain-free, thank the Lord! 
Megan, after a convoluted trip fraught with missed and cancelled flights, made it home after 60+ hours of travel. We miss her already.
December 24. Finals are graded, and Christmas break is here. We are relishing the recovery time, catching our breath, and enjoying our holiday traditions. Our hearts go out to all you cold folks in the North, as we amply apply our SPF 45 and head outside to clean up mangoes. 'Course, it doesn't seem right to sweat profusely while rolling out gingerbread. "The cookies seem saltier this year..."Have an excellent Christmas season.
"And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Everyone." 
5 comments:
Love, love, love all the pictures! Yes...the cookies DID seem saltier this year. :) But hey, we still ate them, right? :)
Hugs from down south. Thanks for sticking with it through this crazy, busy semester! You guys are awesome!
Dear Friends, I love seeing your internet newsletters! April says she can't believe how the boys are growing--I guess that's their job, though.
Ask your friend/co-worker who his surgeon was in Seattle--I do transcription for a group of Seattle surgeons!
It's been pretty cold here but we're actually relieved we haven't had much snow, yet. The large amount we got a week or so ago melted overnight.
I sent you some photos (via snail mail) of our trip to Disneyland--you'll love them.
We hope you had a Merry (and peaceful)Christmas! Thanks for keeping on touch.
The Thompsons
Tom, Lisa and Justin
(and April, though she doesn't live here anymore :)
Merry Christmas you guys! Ahhh Jill, seriously, I smile from ear to ear, EVERY TIME I see your blog & read your witty updates & look at your fun-BEAUTIFUL family! Ahh, how cool (or hot?! haha) to be living in Brazil and being a part of God's work there. Awesome, awesome! I love your sense of humor and the way you can laugh at life and simply enjoy all the blessings. You rock!! You all do! And your boys are sooooooo stinkin' adorable it's not even funny. Look at how tan they are too - they look like natives! ;) hahah. Much love to you & your sweet family - Merry Christmas!
Tim and I absolutely love reading your blog! You guys have such fun serving the Lord and we can both see how He has gifted you for it! I can relate to being done grading exams as I had a bunch this year and it is sooo good to be done... at least for a time!:-)
You are planting many seeds for God's kingdom. Glad we can partner with you in this! God bless the four of you in this New Year! You will be in our prayers!
Love to you-Nanne and Tim
ahh, great update, so good to read of the ongoing Stewart Times, Merry Christmas you guys Happy New Year!!!-much love from Nick in Fremont,WA (the center of The Universe, i guess :)
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