Here’s a conversation Ellie had with herself. She was playing blocks at the time, and I think trying to find just the right one for her creation.
Ellie: That’s IT!!
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No, no…THAAT’S it!
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OHHhhh…Thaaat’s it!
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(runs out of her room to find me) Mommy come see!
Oil is a hydrocarbon. Plasic is a hydrocarbon. So do I REALLY need to wash out the oil bottle before recycling it?
And being found in appearance as a man,
He humbled himself
and became obedient to death–
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place
and gave Him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:8-11
This is the sixth Christmas since Jason and I were married, the fourth one we’ve spent in Taiwan, and the second since Ellie was born. We still don’t have any really solid family Christmas traditions, but I wanted to share some of the things we are enjoying this season.
1. Our tree. 
I suppose this could fall under traditions. We’ve had a tree every year, although one year it was made of paper. (Our first year in Taiwan, when we still couldn’t speak Chinese and didn’t know where anything was.)
Since then we’ve discovered that the flower markets sell little potted cedar trees. I have a collection of tiny ornaments and we buy one of these and decorate it.
We weren’t sure this year where to go to get our little potted tree in Taipei. I was afraid we would end up without one and was thisclose to getting an artificial table top tree.
This plan positively broke Jason’s Vermont heart. He found a news article about how artificial trees emit toxic fumes into your home and then stay in landfills for hundreds of years.
So that idea was nixed, and joy of joys! about 10 days before Christmas I happened to pass by a flower shop selling little cedar trees.
Christmas was saved! And Ellie was thrilled. She even helped decorate it.
2. Merry Christmas Charlie Brown!
The man who has charmed generations of people is at it again. Ellie has a new love, and his name is Charlie Brown. Or possibly Snoopy. One day we let her watch some clips of the Charlie Brown Christmas Special on YouTube and now we watch it every day, several times a day. The most often heard phrase in our house is, “Ellie watch Christmas tree!” We finally had to make some rules, like: No Charlie Brown before 7am.
She won’t watch the entire thing. Her favorite parts are the opening scene where all the Peanuts are ice skating, the scene where the Peanuts dance to the Linus and Lucy theme song, and the last scene where Charlie Brown’s tree gets decorated and turns out to be beautiful. The girl loves Christmas trees.
3. My “Advent Bouquet”.
One Saturday my neighbor offered to watch Ellie while I went to the market. If that wasn’t enough of a treat, Jason decided to come with me instead. And if that wasn’t enough of a treat, when we passed a lady selling lotus flowers, he bought some for me. I called it my “advent bouquet” because they were all different colors: pink, purple, white, yellow and rose, and reminded me of the advent candles in church. Positively beautiful!
4. Oranges! Oranges! Oranges!
In Taiwan, Christmas season = orange season. And these aren’t just any oranges, they are juicy and sweet and easy to peel. Think Clementines, only twice as big. Orange season is second only to mango season, and one of the happiest things about winter in Taiwan. I decided to buy an entire crate of them, for only about $6, so we’re going to eat oranges until we TURN orange. But they make me happy, happy, happy! I think I’ll go eat one now.
And so, Happy Christmas to everyone! We sure do miss you all at this time of year. We pray that you are indeed repeating the sounding joy as your hearts make room for the Savior who forsook all to come to us as a tiny babe and bring Light to this dark world.
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