Thanks to my fab whanau, Emily scored an Elmo on Christmas day – he does all sorts of cool stuff!
Going to the Sounds tomorrow – so will be offline for a few days… I will make sure that I keep shooting and will bulk post the results in a few weeks! 
Have fun!
Today was a fantastic day and SOOOO Kiwi Christmas!!! We had a great feed of Mum’s LEGENDARY Ham and some turkey with all the trimmings of course… and then went for a little walk down at the beach. It was such a lovely day today (and we AREN’T talking about the weather unfortunately). Mum outdid herself and we all feel the effects of a good feed. To our credit, there wasn’t much in the way of over-indulgence!
Merry Christmas – today is special – It’s about Jesus! In our songs, in our REASON why we give presents (even if we don’t remember) and in the warmth generated by those we love and care for! I hope you have had a fab day and God Bless!
I am there – finally in to the Christmas Spirit – it must have been the smell of mum’s ham cooking, or the fact that in all reality, when I went shopping this afternoon, there wasn’t much activity all around town… But the tip of the iceberg for me was the lovely effort these people put in to their light display… it was honest and sweet… real people, celebrating in a REAL way!
HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!! May this season of celebration be filled with many fun memories and that you enjoy the company of those that love you!
Catch ya later Tomorrow!
I must admit, I am warming to Christmas a little bit… arriving at Mum’s place in Nelson and there is a beautiful tree with a nice feed to warm the cockles of your heart… I might just be all good to go come Thursday… I went to a fantastic church walk-through all about the real meaning of Christmas and it was very cool… the light displays were outstanding and the free lolly when I left was awesome!
We are going to Carols at the Church Steps in Nelson tomorrow and that will be sweet too… Maybe I am a late-bloomer with Christmas this year!?
This could possibly make me sound like a hypocrite after my earlier rant about commercialism at Christmas… but I have a good reason for it… We had our family Christmas with the Auckland Crew the other night and Christine’s Brother gave us this awesome fishtank kit! It has the pump and all those bits and pieces… pretty much everything except the fish! I LOVE IT… and I am going to tell you why… it is a gift that will be used and appreciated every day and something that will knit itself into the fabric of our family. Emily will learn the responsibility of caring for something, and also about life and death if we don’t get the mix right… so GOOD ON YA UNCLE JAMES!!!
I called this picture “tanked” for more than just the obvious fact that this is a picture of a fish tank… at this time of year we are heading into a holiday season here in NZ – many of us may feel empty after a year of working hard… saving hard… partying hard… sacrificing hard… living hard… whatever you are into… we can all feel like we are running low at this time of year. Many people will be worrying about the year ahead being more of the same… financial pressures, work pressures, all of those things that tend to weigh us down rather than keep us afloat… My plan for this year is to not spend all my time paddling to stay afloat, but to connect more and more with the world around me, with my creator and with my community in order to be part of something that is moving in exciting ways… I don’t intend to be a victim of the daily grind – but someone that makes things happen. This year won’t be about my tank running dry or anything like that – it will be about trying my best to be someone that fills other people’s tanks! Matthew 11:28 says – Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Let’s be people that know where the source of the life-giving water for our tank is!!!
I leave you with the words of Paul Colman in Fill my Cup:
Come on you lately come on and rescue me
‘Been at you lately but I’ve been more at me
Love is a lesson I never learned at school
Sick in bed that day and so I play your fool
Sick of this sea-saw of going up and down
Promised consistency to you in my wedding vow
Call me up whisper in my ear
Fell like a calendar from another year
Fill my cup to the top with running water
Call me out and show me how
Talk to me without manipulation
Shoot from the hip you’ll shock the congregation
Wake me up whenever supper’s ready
Break bread and wine but still I’m feeling empty
You gotta show me how show me how
I feel light I could float up to you weights and all
I feel like a bridge on the water connecting your shore
Start me up and let me fly with you
This barren ground these bones are dry and empty
I don’t know if you ever got lost somewhere… but I know I have – today I got lost in a delightful garden with a camera in hand which was a recipe for some stunning shots – this one caught my eye for some unknown reason…
I hope you aren’t feeling lost… there is no better time of the year for getting found than Christmas – check out your local church at Christmas and see what you find there…
Our tree is staying in it’s box this year… We are hanging with ma and merv… so we aren’t fussing to much over the tree this year…
RANDOM ANTI-CHRISTMAS QUESTION: Do you think we should change the name of this holiday to Moneymas… Merry Moneymas has a nice ring to it don’t you think?
I love the opportunity to spend time with my family and also to celebrate the birth of Jesus… If I never got another present on the 25th of December again, I would actually be ok with that! Let’s take back our celebration and stick it to the retailers…
They say that the eyes are the window to the soul – if you have the pleasure of looking into these gorgeous eyes every day as I do… then you might just see a little piece of heaven on earth! I was playing with Emily and noticed the beautiful backlighting and HAD to snap this gorgeous little face!!!
It is coming up to Christmas and I am feeling as Bah-Humbug about the commercialism as ever… I always get tempted to write a song about Santa stealing my christmas… but by the time the 25th rolls around I am ok again… I will be VERY interested in seeing how my attitude to Christmas changes as Emily gets old enough to understand it a bit better… I know one thing though, her Christmas will be filled with stories of mangers, shepherds, babies and salvation freely given to all who would receive it!!!
I hope I don’t sound like a grinch!
Not much to say today… Had a blast with some mates at the Aviation Country Club… Golf was the winner on the day, but I certainly wasn’t… Make sure you get out and about… I am in need of a new back if anyone is offering! Will write more soon…
Every now and then, the relative silence of the Ronberg household is broken by LOUD, UPRORIOUS and FULL-BODY laughing… Emily decides sometimes that she is going to be ticklish… any little movement towards her, or touch just sets her off something chronic… it is VERY INFECTIOUS! I love a good laugh… I like to laugh with people, and I like to be laughed at by people… preferably without being harmed in the process of making people laugh!
I remember at church when I was in my teens, that we used to sit up the back and sometimes get into laughing fits for no reason whatsoever… there may have been a bodily function involved at times… but mostly we just got the giggles for some very minor reason… I must apologise to whichever pastor it was at the time – Geoff, Ian or somebody else I imagine…
I hope that wherever you are in the world today, and in the face of a gloomy economic climate – that you still find the time and indeed, the space, to have a good belly-laugh! It will warm you from the inside out and I am sure that you will be the better for it… and if that doesn’t go so well – then the french recommend a glass of red!
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