Merry Christmas Again

We've been in Jackson the past couple of days visiting Rebecca's family. We opened presents the other day and did the stop motion again. The vantage point is a little higher on this one which I think worked out better. It was another fantastic time with everyone and a great reminder of how fortunate we are. I am so thankful for both of our families.

One funny thing to look for in the video is in the bottom right of the screen, Rebecca's granddad falls asleep and appears motionless for a good many frames. We also did some rearranging of seating positions that looked pretty neat.


Christmas 2011 - Stop Motion 3 from Brett Long on Vimeo.

Christmas

Merry Christmas!

A common topic during this time of year is Christmas traditions. We definitely have things we do every year, but lately our schedule is one thing that never seems to stay the same. Each year we have to rearrange how our families get together in order to maximize time together. This is getting more difficult as our families are expanding.

This year our schedule worked out to:

• Friday night: Rebecca and I open our gifts to each other
• Saturday morning: Rebecca and I with my parents
• Christmas afternoon: Rebecca and I with my parents, grandparents, and family from Minnesota
• Tomorrow evening: Rebecca and I with her parents in Jackson
• Tuesday evening: Rebecca and I with her extended family

It is a hectic schedule but I love every minute of it and look forward to it each year. I love seeing everyone, relaxing, exchanging gifts, eating, and so on. This year I decided to set up the camera and do a stop motion video of us opening presents. We've done two so far and I'm pretty happy with how they turned out, but we'll continue to tweak them. The Christmas afternoon one we played toward the camera a little more. 

Saturday Morning

Untitled from Brett Long on Vimeo.

Christmas Afternoon

Christmas 2011 - Stop Motion 2 from Brett Long on Vimeo.

Mom requested the song.

Belated Christmas/Birthday Gift

This is my first post from Rebecca's new iPhone. I must say I am quite jealous.

Anyways, Rebecca and I finally bought our Christmas/Birthday presents to one another yesterday evening. Rebecca had been wanting this since we got married, but I managed to convince her to hang onto the futon and re-covered couch from her parents for a year and a half. Her time finally came last night when we found one that met my comfort and her looks requirements. Hopefully they'll last us a long time.

Christmas in Georgia

Our Christmas travels began this past weekend. We made the trip to Griffin, GA to see my dad's side of the family. I had some free time so I made this little family tree instead of explaining who's who. The party takes place at my Aunt and Uncle's house. Everyone on the tree except Matt was able to make the trip. We always have a great time with family. Uncle Bob always has some project going on around the house so every visit there is something new to play with. This year was the new playground in the back yard for his grandkids. Fortunately he built it to withstand adult weight so I could play too. The next addition to the playground is a zip line.

Doug

Cori & Kate

Alexa

Rob & Alana

LONG FAMILY TREE

(Names in green are married into family)

                                                              W.C. - Ann (Both Deceased)

                                                                /                               \

                                                   Linda-Bob                            Joe-Delana

                                                  /           \                                    /         \

                                  Alana-Rob         Kris-Jacob         Rebecca-Brett     Matt

                                    /        \            /        /     \

                              Kaitlin   Doug   Corrine Alexa James(due any day)

My 1st cousins once removed are all under the age of 4. So when they are awake there is always plenty of activity. Each visit it takes them a little while to get use to me again. Fortunately it is taking less and less time. So by the end of breakfast we were friends again. Kaitlin and Cori are who Rebecca and I spent most of our time with since they can communicate back and don't wear diapers. We played with blocks, colored, built trains, and watched Toy Story 2. The action was non-stop most of the day. In our many conversations throughout the day the thing that continued to stand out was their imaginations. Everything about them, their toys, appetites, attention span, and bodies are all so small. The only thing not small aside from their loudness, is their imaginations. The simple games with the toys that didn't amount to much in my view, were intricate designs with endless possibilities. Listening to what was going through their heads was the most fascinating thing of the weekend. I know I often think of children having simple minds, but in a way it's not that simple. Jesus often referred to having 'faith like a child,' 'becoming like little children,' or 'the Kingdom belongs to children.' Does he want me to have a more simple mind? Or is he wanting me to not limit my view of him? We were made in God's image, including our minds. We come into this world closest to complete innocence that we'll ever be and the sin nature begins to immediately take over, and without the grace of God, our sinfulness would take us further and further from him. I'm thinking our mind does the same thing. We come into this world with no problem of comprehending God. Why are children so receptive of the gospel? Some would say they don't know any better and are just gullible. But after spending time with children and attesting to what's in the bible, I would say it's just the opposite. As children our minds are the least removed from its creator. So their acceptance of God is not ignorant faith, but a natural fitting piece to the puzzle in our minds. Why are the Narnia and Lord of the Rings movies so intriguing, even to adults? Perhaps they speak back to our childhood norm. As we grow without Christ, we try to fill that piece with everything else and forget how we were originally designed. So as we grow and become more 'learned' and less 'imaginative,' I think we are devolving from how our minds were originally formed.

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." - Matt. 19:14

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. - Matt. 18:1-5

At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. - Matt. 11:25

"Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked him. "Yes," replied Jesus, "have you never read, " 'From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise'?" - Matt. 21:16