Twas a while ’til Christmas, at Four Sisters Farm.
The
house was a wreck, but we’d meant it no harm.
There wasn’t a mantle to hang stockings upon.
Oh dear! What to do?
It all seemed so wrong!
The walls were all finished with sheet rock and mud.
They were primed, even
painted, we’d hidden the studs.
We’d worked long and hard but some things went amiss.
Pop’s shoulder was injured
and would require a fix.
But Pop is so tough; that the surgery would wait
while he worked through the
pain and made the walls straight.
He worked on the wiring, the framing, the floor;
he worked ‘til the doctor said,
“No way! No more!”
The year had been busy with our grown up offspring
buying houses, and moving,
and fixing their things.
They had helped us so much; gave the time they could spare.
“God bless them. We’re
grateful.” was often our prayer.
We had put down lush sod for our lawn in the spring
then summer was hot, and no
rain did it bring.
The garden, though watered, just would not produce
how long could the farm withstand
such abuse?
It wasn’t all bad. We did have some fun
like
a trip to Gettysburg, then down to Charleston.
The time at the beach was so pleasant and warm
and hiking at Yellowstone took
us out of our norm.
Pop’s shoulder’s still healing, the house still in progress;
we’ll keep moving
forward, ignoring the mess.
The days go so quickly, like reindeer they fly
so we do what we can as each day
goes by.
We decided against putting up Christmas lights.
“There’s no place to put up a
tree”, Grammy sighed.
So we hung up the stockings at DW’s
and Doc’s
and gathered up our family which
always rocks!
We’ve been working for years to simplify this season;
less gifts and less fuss
and more Jesus as the reason.
We got together early with a family mission
to share Christ at Christmas has
become a tradition.
We still dress in PJs as matching can be
from the smallest to tallest and
gather near the tree.
The children listen quietly while Pop reads the story
of Mary and Joseph and Jesus
in His glory.
The young ones play while their moms stuff the stockings
with candy and toys
and other small gift things.
They help roll out dough, then spread on some butter,
then sprinkle on sugar and
make quite the clutter!
The sweet smell of cinnamon rolls lingers in the air
while the stockings are
emptied and candy is shared.
We laugh, we love and retell some old tales
then we make some new memories
without fail.
We review the year past with a special edition
made by the Superheroes which is their tradition.
They will add a new baby to their precious brood
an awesome and wonderful little
super dude!
A baby girl is soon due to Romeo and Pretty Princess
They'll be the “Royal Family” then - that is our consensus!
The Farmhands, now city folk, due to
their move
are adding a sweet baby girl to their crew.
Next year, Lord willing, we will gather once more
with three babies coming, no
one will be bored.
Four Sisters Farm is where we hope we will be
with some lights, decorations,
and of course, a tree.
So we all send our love from our homes to you
as you celebrate Christmas with
your own loving crew.
May the coming New Year be cheery and bright.
Happy Christmas to all and to all
a good night!
I was pleased to give her the "nickel tour" of the house because she had only been here once not long after we bought the farm; then we settled into our basement (I mean "lower level") to gab and I felt like I was talking a hundred miles an hour to try to catch up. 
