Home for the Holidays

We just got back from our Christmas visit to Atlanta. This year we decided to spend Christmas with the Eyres and New Year's with the Laws. It was a lovely time of spending time with the family. This is Christmas Eve dinner with the immediate Eyres, including PapaJohn and MumIvy; Ian's brother Roy and his wife Becky and sons Aidan and Cotter; Elisabeth and her husband Charles. The only ones missing in this picture are me, the photographer, and baby Kaitlyn, Roy and Becky's latest.Here's Grandma Eyre and her latest grandchild, Kaitlyn Hannah Eyre, born November 3.We had a wonderful time enjoying the family and resting. We even got Becky started on her first game of Settlers of Catan. Let the obsession spread to Orlando!!

But probably the happiest event was hearing the news that Rich, Ian's best friend, and his wife Michelle are expecting their first child. We've been praying for them for a year, so this was indeed glad tidings. Juancho will have a little friend to play with in Atlanta, in addition to his cousins.

New Christmas Traditions

This is our first Christmas as a married couple. We thought it would be a time for establishing our own Law-Eyre blended family traditions, but it's actually turned out to be an odd transitional year.

Two years ago, it was business as usual. We were just two single people with mild crushes on each other - not enough to disrupt normal family traditions. So Ian went off to Atlanta for his usual two-week visit, saw a million of his college buddies, engaged in such traditions as midnight Christmas service at the local Baptist church followed by a grease-fest at the Waffle House, his annual burning (a la Viking funeral) of the previous year's Christmas wreath, and the New Year's Eve firing of the potato cannon. And I retired to my parents' home for a week and a half of rest, reading, sleeping, lots of digital cable TV, delicious concoctions of leftovers that my mom brilliantly whips up. And one huge extended-clan Christmas gathering involving 30-40 relatives (yielding the leftovers we eat for the rest of the week).

Last year was a slight modification of the norm. Ian and I were engaged, it was my brother's first married Christmas, and my parents moved to Norco, or what my brother calls Nor-tucky (so named for the abundance of Hay and Seed storefronts on the road leading to the Law homestead). So the occupancy in the Law home was different for Christmas and the environment was different, but we got lots of rest, reading, sleeping, digital cable TV, and another huge extended-clan Christmas gathering, but missed out on the leftovers because we then went to Atlanta. Although we spent much of our time in Atlanta addressing invitations to our wedding, we still indulged in a grease-fest at the Waffle House (followed by a 1 AM session of bowling), the annual burning of the previous year's Christmas wreath, and the New Year's Eve firing of the potato cannon (which I'm realizing might actually be slightly illegal).

But this year feels different. We haven't gone to nearly as many Christmas parties as we used to. We didn't get to participate in the usual roommate traditions, although I did go back to the 5th annual tree-decorating party that started when my former roommates and I first moved into the House on 6th. But we haven't done anything special in our own home, unless you count that fact that I've put all the Christmas cards we've received on display on our dining room table. We haven't even sent out any Christmas cards. It just didn't feel right, considering we haven't finished the thank you notes from our wedding 10 months ago.

And going "home" will be different for both of us. We'll have less time at each family's home. And the parents are making preparations that make it seem like we're guests instead of family members. My parents bought a new queen-sized bed (it's a pillow-top!) and Ian's parents are talking about giving up their master bedroom for us to stay in.

But there is one thing that makes this Christmas particularly poignant, indicating the beginning of new Christmas traditions in 2006 for the Ian Eyre family. I've got this little life growing in me, who kicks and stomps his frustration at the cramped quarters I offer him in my abdominal cavity...this little one who occupies my thoughts and inspires dreams of the ways he might be able to impact his generation positively. And I think of how the Creator of the Universe allowed Himself to be entrapped in someone else's teeny womb for 9 months to emerge in humble circumstances to bring hope and life for generations of people. I feel a sense of awe that I probably couldn't ever grasp before. So I'm not going to worry about not having traditions to start this first year of marriage. Next year will be different. With Juancho's presence, many of the traditions we could indulge in as single people will have to go (no more post-midnight activities - at least not without a baby sitter). But I hope this sense of anticipation, awe, and hope will continue to pervade future Christmases, establishing meaningful new family traditions for us.

Clarice

All I Want for Christmas...

A few weeks ago, one of my former roommates blogged about gift giving. She was pondering her lack of real need compared to the great needs of people around the world. She basically asked people who would normally give her gifts for Christmas not to give her gifts, but instead to channel the funds into causes that would serve the needs of others. She also asked to be released of gift giving from people she would normally give to so she could give more generously to worthy causes. I'm a bit late to the game with only 6 more shopping days until Christmas, but I think I'm with her. I really don't need anything. I mean, there are plenty of things I could want, but that's not the same. The only thing I really urgently desire this year, as I ponder the turbulent events of 2005, is for people to experience the life-transforming presence of Jesus Christ. For that really is the reason for the season, isn't it?

Clarice

Wells Fargo, GLAAD, and Dobson

WARNING: pensive post alert!

I heard something on the Frank Pastore Show Thursday night that I can't quite shake. I think I have to do something about what I heard, but am not quite sure if it's exactly the right move.

In July, Focus on the Family had heard that their bank, Wells Fargo Bank, had established a matching grant to GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation). Here's the text from GLAAD's website:

“Incredible news: Wells Fargo has offered to help support GLAAD’s fight for equality against the Anti-Gay industry by matching your tax-deductible contribution dollar for dollar.”

I guess Focus on the Family may have taken issue at being labeled as an anti-gay group, being that their primary focus is on the family. News sources indicate that Wells Fargo has never donated to FOTF, despite the fact that they had over $100 million in their accounts. When FOTF went to the bank to ask about the donation, one of their VPs responded:

"We simply made a grant to one of many non-profits Wells Fargo supports in the San Francisco Bay Area," and "Wells Fargo contributes to multiple charities including non-profit agencies Focus on the Family believes in." The bank says "we direct our giving to areas that we believe are important to the future of our nation's vitality and success: community development, education and human services."

Stating that the response was not satisfactory, FOTF decided to pull their accounts from Wells Fargo. In their press release they said:

We at Focus on the Family respect the worth and dignity of every human being. We are not attacking the gay individual, nor are we singling out Wells Fargo employees for censure. We had the opportunity to work with many Wells Fargo staff while in relationship with the bank, and we know firsthand the good job they do. However, we feel that the aggressive agenda of the homosexual movement and its activists is harmful to families, and we believe it is time to stand up and fight that. Our decision is not personal, but principled, and we trust our constituents and others will respect it.

To which GLAAD responded on their website:

"Thankfully, corporate America knows that discriminating against a group of people based on who they love is not only bad for business, it's just plain wrong. More than 80% of Fortune 500 companies have sexual orientation non-discrimination policies. Let's just call this what it is — another attempt by an anti-gay group to try and intimidate companies into not supporting or doing business with gays and lesbians."

So here's my quandry. I've been banking at Wells Fargo for about 8 years. No particular reason for choosing them expect for the fact that the ATM is halfway between my office and the cafeteria, which I frequent about twice a week. Simply put...I'm lazy. Last month, I had been thinking about switching banks. Ian banks at Bank of America and we've been talking about combining accounts somehow. Plus, I had been getting annoyed with my monthly fees. There's the fee I pay to have an interest-bearing savings account. I pay $3 a month to earn roughly 42 cents in interest. And there's the $6.95 monthly fee to pay bills on line to avoid the nine 37 cent stamps I would otherwise have to buy. But now this.

I'm not really big into boycotts. And it doesn't seem as if FOTF has called for one, altough Frank Pastore did. Most boycotts by Christian groups in the past seemed rather juvenile to me. Or they weren't that big of a deal. You know. The Southern Baptist boycott of Disney. How many times a year do you go? Or the boycott of Target because of the Salvation Army thing. OK, I don't go that often anyway. But I pay a lot of useless fees to Wells Fargo. Is this the time to pull my account? What do you think?

Clarice

Peanut-sized? ...Or like Olivia?

This is a picture of my "nephew" and "niece." They're my brother and sister-in-law's pet chihuahuas.


On the left is Peanut (the fat one), who is 13 years old. He's quite a character. He loves to eat. Although he's been taught that he can't eat until the two-legged people have finished, he consistently cries when he's left out of the dinner-time festivities. His tail wags most vigorously when he's eating.

That's Olivia on the right (otherwise known as Deer Dog). She is about 3 years old, originally purchased as a child-bride for Peanut. They now have a more sibling-like relationship. She loves to play. She can spend hours playing catch. She has a favorite purple squeeze toy, but can be satisfied with a tennis ball... or a moth...or a small child.

They were a part of our Thanksgiving celebration with the family. I don't remember why, but their weights came up as a topic of discussion. It turns out that Olivia is 6.5 pounds and Peanut is about 9.5 pounds. It dawned on me that 6.5 to 9.5 pounds is about the weight range of a newborn. The reality of birthing something roughly the size of a chihuahua is rather daunting. I sure hope this little one is closer in weight to Olivia rather than Peanut.

Although, if I really think about it, perhaps the dog head shape would be easier to deliver than an infant head shape. On our last ultrasound, it appeared as if Junior Eyre was starting to take after his father in terms of head shape. That's rather frightening. I mean...look at the size and shape of that dome!!


Clarice

Honeys and Hubbies

We're part of a small group for married couples. We love being a part of this exciting group!! Everyone's been married between 8 months and 5 years so we have a lot to share and a lot to learn from each others. An interesting assemblage of people with an age span of 15 years from youngest to oldest, ethnically diverse, and vocationally diverse - with people working in law, education, public administration, film & television, non-profit... Who would think we could get along? I guess it helps that we all want to build marriages that mirror what God intended for us.

This is our official group picture (we're missing quite a few people, though)
And a shot doing what only happens in married couples groups...