CONTEMPLATIONS-Part 2- of the Future

Thank you for all the positive feed-back so many have given concerning our family's blog. I love writing about the wonderful things God continues to do in our lives. I consider it my "gratitude journal" as I contemplate the week of adventuring with God. This week was no exception. Our greatest blessing was a visit from Benjy and Carolyn Brednich, their three precious boys, and Benjy's brother, Burk. The week-end was a whirlwind of activity and conversation. The house was WAY too quiet after they left. God continues to bless this family in Mexico City as they touch many lives in the name of Jesus. Logan is already asking when we can visit them.
Another blessing of the week was the opportunity for "La Comunidad de Cristo" to tour a prospective building for the use of our work as we touch the lives of those in Lazaro Cardenas. We have outgrown our present building!!!! What a wonderful problem to face! It was quite overwhelming to witness about 2o of us gather in the building originally named "Santa Sed" (Holy Thirst) and lift our prayers to God for guidance and wisdom as we consider our future.

CONTEMPLATIONS OF THE FUTURE (part 2) It seems that not only is the baby church in Lazaro Cardenas considering its future, but the Krogsgaards have done their share of contemplating and praying about their future, as well. Last week we wrote about our journey that led us to this place at this time in our lives. This week we would like to share our dreams and vision for our future in Mexico.
One of the reasons we were drawn to the team in Lazaro Cardenas was the visionary spirit of Malcolm Pointon. He cast his vision of equipping planters and establishing churches along the Mexican coast, and we wanted to be a part of that exciting work. Our present ministry is to walk along side the baby Christians, helping them to individually and communally live out an ever-growing relationship with God among the people of Lazaro Cardenas.
The other team families are supported by their Mexican real estate/construction businesses. Bernard and I have chosen to be fully supported by churches and individuals so that we are able to minister full-time with La Comunidad de Cristo.
We have been encouraged with the desire of so many to help support us here in Mexico. Saskatoon Church of Christ, Mountain View in Dauphin, Manitoba, Moose Mountain at Kenosee Lake, and many individuals have generously added us to their 2009 monthly budgets. Swift Current and many other individuals have gifted us with donations so that we have support until June 2009!!! We are extremely grateful for the trust many have placed in us to represent Jesus as His ambassadors here in Michoacan, Mexico. Thank you.
Now that we are completely committed to the team and the work of La Comunidad de Cristo, we are in search of a supporting/sponsoring church. Our desire is to partner with a congregation that will adopt us as their missionary family. We were richly blessed with the Martinez church family in California that served as our sponsoring congregation during our Mexico City work (1987-1992). Our work became their work; we were mutually blessed. We are praying that a church is looking for a missionary family, just as we are looking for a supporting church. Our desire in a supporting church is to take on the responsibility for our salary, but even more, to become involved in our work--praying for us, sending youth for cross-culture experiences, sending Let's Start Talking teams, providing workers for various service projects (like January's medical mission). We hope to bless our supporting congregation by involving that body in our work, reporting on the workings of God, making personal visits to share in the work of the congregation in its corner of the world. We desire a supporting congregation that would participate in our excitement and vision for the Pacific Coast of Mexico!
The Saskatoon church family has been wonderful in helping us get started once again in Mexico. They have been the channel by which our funds have reached us. However, Saskatoon is heavily committed to the Sass family in Salvador, Brazil, as well as the McMillan family in India. It is our hope to partner with another congregation by June 2009 so that Saskatoon can put its full effort toward its previous foreign mission commitments.
Perhaps you are a member of a congregation that is ready to adopt a missionary family. Or, perhaps as you read about our desire to partner with a church, you can't help but think of a "perfect match" for us.
We may be contacted by e-mail or by phone. Bernard has our family resume and budget on file that can be easily sent to an interested church.
We have been praying for this partnership for several months. It is an exciting adventure to see with whom God will partner us. He has blessed us immeasurably with our support thus far.
We look forward to hearing from you with suggestions about such a partnership. Blessings to all who take the time to read about our work. Thank you to those who support us monetarily and with prayers for our growth, effectiveness and protection. We are indeed grateful to be "put in a our position for such a time as this" (Esther 4:14b)
Until next week...
Bernard, Alicia and Logan Krogsgaard

bkkrogsgaard@yahoo.com
mexsonshine@gmail.com
Vonage phone (via Texas) 1-806-853-9935

CONTEMPLATIONS-Part 1--of the Past

One of this week's memory verses for "Project M" in Saskatoon is Matthew 28:18-20.
"All authority on heaven and on earth has been given to me; therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all things I have commanded you. I will be with you always til the end of the age."
It's one of those passages that we've grown up with and can spout off without much thought. Yet, this week, I've seen these words with new eyes:
We live in a world of many authorities. The basic authority of most people is self. We make our own way. We make our own decisions based on our own knowledge and thinking. But, Jesus reminds us that HE has all authority. Whether we yield to His authority or not, does not determine the existence and truth of His authority. As a believer in Jesus' authority, He has asked me to be his representative--not in far away lands, or even in Latin American lands. He doesn't dictate where. He simply asks me to purposefully/intentionally BE his representative. As His ambassador, I don't keep Jesus tucked away in a box for Sundays. He is in my actions in whatever I do. He is in my words in whatever I say. In my relationships at work and play, it is my desire that others will want to know the One I call my Authority. Should others be interested in learning of Him, I am always ready to introduce them to my Master. Some people are interested, others are not--it's only my place to BE...not to force. Those who are interested are made into disciples by falling in love with Jesus as they come to know Him through the Word of God. They come to understand the extent of God's love in His plan to restore our relationship to Him through the sacrifice of His Son. As people become convicted of their need for a Saviour--when they come face to face with such love in action, they grasp hold of the gift offered to them--the gift of coming under a new Authority--the gift of renewed relationship with God. There is nothing I love better than witnessing a new believer die to himself (his own authority), and be raised a new creation under a new Authority in the waters of baptism!!!! But that's not the end of the story. Baby Christians must be further immersed into God's Word to learn more about faithfulness and purposefulness in Christian living. It's so very different from the living that is propagated by the "world". It's not easy "going against the stream" of the world, but we don't do it alone. God has promised to be with us--all the way to the end of this Christian age when Jesus shows Himself to the whole world in His return. Until that time, He asks us to continue being His representatives.

Bernard and I have adopted Matthew 28:18-20 as our mission statement. Wherever we have lived we have tried to be God's representatives. Both of us have been given the gift of evangelism. We have a deep desire to make Jesus known to others. We have lived out our mission statement in various contexts--in secular work, in church work, and in a Christian educational setting. We have come to believe that we are most effective, as well as happiest, when we are living in a full-time supported ministry. We don't want to administrate a mega church. We don't want to maintain an established church. We don't want to create and manage programs of a church. We just want to live among people to give them the opportunity to ask about our Authority. (Of course, they don't ask in those specific words!!) Then it thrills us to introduce them to our Master, making disciples of them, baptizing them into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, then teaching them all that Jesus has commanded us.

Bernard and I started out our married lives living among the people of Mexico, and we are now living out our later years among the people of Mexico. We have never been more fulfilled in our work!! We have joined a great team of two like-minded couples. We love being able to devote our whole lives to living among the people and teaching those who are interested in tasting the goodness of our Master. We love doing it; and we do it well, not by our own abilities, but through God's power and the talents and weaknesses with which God has gifted us. Talents to converse and teach, weaknesses to bring us back to dependence upon God when we wander away. We are so very grateful for all the events that God has orchestrated to bring us to this point in our lives.

While we were retooling with Gailyn and Becky VanRheenen in the Mission Alive program out of Ft. Worth, Texas, Bernard and I continued to pray that God would lead us to join a passionate team. We didn't care where we would live and minister, as much as we cared about with whom. We walked through the doors of gathering a team to church plant on the prairies of Canada. We investigated opportunities to join para-church organizations. We considered returning to Mexico after being gone seventeen years. The Saskatoon Church, with which we were working, supported us fully in pursuing the work that God was establishing for our hands (See last week's blog.). They lifted us up in prayer and provided our retooling opportunities. Finally the call came as a result of our visit to Mexico in December 2007. Malcolm and Glenn Pointon and their families asked us to consider joining their church-planting team in Lazaro Caradenas, Michoacan, Mexico. How could we join them??? We didn't even know them!!! That would be foreign mission suicide!! Yet in the months to follow, Bernard and I both kept coming back to the offer of joining the work in Lazaro. With a decision needing to be made, we lived one month in the reality of joining the Lazaro team. During that time, there were no burning bushes, no whispers of wind, nor did God speak to us from heaven--but it just seemed "right" to join the Lazaro work. We announced our decision in late February, then began making arrangements to relocate to Mexico. Saskatoon agreed to accept support on our behalf. We began getting the word out for our need for financial assistance. We have been overwhelmed with the confidence so many have placed in us by providing our monthly salary, thus far. We are grateful to our MountainView family in Dauphin, Manitoba and Moose Mountain at Kenosee Lake, SK. The rest of our support, until June comes from the Swift Current family and many, many individual supporters. Before coming to Mexico, we began putting "feelers" out for a supporting congregation. However, we were also being tugged with the need to be with our team for a while to assure we were a "good fit" together. Now after four months, we have no doubt that we correctly heard the call of God for the work He has established for us here in Mexico. Our team doesn't just have a vision for making Jesus known to the people of Lazaro Cardenas, but to those all along the Pacific Coast!! We have a BIG vision because we serve a BIG God!

Our commitment to this team and work brings us to the point of preparing for our future years here in Mexico. Next week's blog will continue the theme of "Contemplations" as we voice our visions and dreams for the future work God has established for our hands here in Mexico. Until then, blessings as you contemplate the many events that God has orchestrated to bring you to the work He has established for your hands.

....ESTABLISH THE WORK OF OUR HANDS...

We welcome Mike and Michelle Parker and boys to the Saskatoon congregation. They bring a wealth of experience and a barrel of creative ideas!!! The Saskatoon church has launched "Project M" to help the family commit God's Word to memory this year. As one of their missionary families, we too, have taken on the challenge. This week's verse has made a significant impact on me: Psalm 90:17 May the favour of the Lord our God rest upon us, establish the work of our hands for us, yes, establish the work of our hands.



Our drama, The Hands of God

One of the things we love about full-time ministry outside of our own culture is the dependence we have on God that He will put in our path people whose lives we may impact for our Master. Unmistakably God orchestrates these meetings in a "same-culture context". The difference is not God's workings, but our busyness that often blinds us to His opportunities. Here in Mexico we are not yet so crowded with commitments, responsibilities, and "busyness" of living. We wait in expectation each morning of who and what the Lord will bring to us each day. Our weekly planners are not so full of extras, therefore, we are able to engage more people in conversation. We live a fairly simple life of taking Logan to school, buying a few tomatoes and chilies in the centre, greeting new people, and deepening the relationships we have already been privileged to develop. We never know who God will bring into our path each day. But, this we do know: People will be in our path!!! It's fun and exciting to see what work our God will establish for us each day...work that we wouldn't plan on our own.

On New Year's Eve we were invited to Roxana's house for tamales. On our way we ran into Jesus (No, not the One from Nazareth--it's a common Spanish name for males.), the bike shop owner. We pass by his shop many days on our way to and from Logan's school. We stop; we chat about getting Logan a bike when he can speak Spanish well; we invite Jesus to practice his English with Bernard using the LST materials. On this night, with no planning on our part, Jesus stops us and comments that he has been watching us. He wants to know "what makes us tick". He sees something in us that is inviting. He wants to know more about us. We hope to introduce him to Jesus (Yes, the One from Nazareth.). He asks when he can come for his first English session!!! Thank you, God, for establishing the work of our hands!!

Last week at the market we were whizzing through to buy for a few things for our Sunday drama. Interrupting our brisk pace, a needy mother showed me her sick child. For a moment I felt like the Jewish priest who encountered the wounded Samaritan. I was in a hurry, I really didn't have time to listen to her story--after all, I had important things to buy for Sunday's celebration! It would be easier to slip her few pesos and speak blessings that God be with her. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit intercedes when the flesh takes over. I stopped, listened, and told her I would be back. Taking me at my word, she waited for us. She told how she was in the city alone. Her baby needed a doctor. Ashley held the baby, giving him a quick check over and gave her diagnose: He was definitely malnourished. I translated for Ashley as she asked the mother about the baby's diet. We realized the baby had no formula. The mother had gotten sick, and she no longer had breast milk. Formula has been very expensive for her. She undoubtedly, dilutes it beyond its nutritional value. By now, we are all attached to this precious little guy. We found a store and stocked her with a huge can of formula and Ashley bought her a package of diapers. With tears in her eyes, the mom said what luck to have found us. I took her hand and lovingly explained that it had nothing to do with luck, but it was the orchestration of our God who loves her and her baby very much. We may never see that Mom and her baby again, but our God established work for our hands. And knowing our God, I wouldn't be surprised if we do see Mom and baby again.

Lena, our friend from one of the enramadas, has become very dear to us. She wanted to treat Ashley to a shrimp cocktail. Unfortunately our plans fell through, so I popped by to let her know we had to change our date. I explained that we were leading a Bible class in Lazaro. She thought that sounded exciting and 'joked' that she wanted to go too. I told her, better yet, we could have our own Bible study together. We don't yet have solid plans, but she's keen on getting together with me. Thank you, God for establishing the work of our hands!!!

We've been praying for opportunities to begin a study in our home here in Playa Azul. One of the couples in the church asked us if we could continue the study that Billy and Belinda had started with them. When they arrived Monday night, not only did we get to spend time with Ishmael and Gris, but they also brought two other family members!!! We had a great first Bible study here in Playa. Thank you, God, for establishing the work of our hands.

Thank you to all those who have made it possible for us to be here in Mexico. We are so very grateful for our families at MountainView in Dauphin, Manitoba; Moose Mountain in Kenosee, Saskatchewan; and the congregation in Saskatoon. Many other individuals are giving to us so that we may minister here in Mexico. It's a very humbling position. We are very grateful for the many sacrifices/gifts from so many. We have had inquiries concerning our future support/plans. We will dedicate our next blog to this subject.

Until next week...we would love to hear how God has been establishing the work of your hands in your corner of the world!!!
Bernard, Alicia and Logan Krogsgaard

PS. I'm gaining the reputation of being the "drama queen" within our church family, so this week I incorporated two others into a drama, The Hands Of God. Rosy and Jeny narrated the truths of how sin separates us from God because we no longer are pure; then how God sent Jesus as our substitution to clean us so that we can again have relationship with God. As they made each point, I acted it out with white gloved hands in front of a black background. It was a great feeling to hear the audience clap as the old stained glove was removed and the new clean glove "danced" with joy after "becoming a new creation". It's just another example of God establishing the work of our hands.

Medical Mission

We had a full and wonderful week of medical ministry in the little town of Los Llanos, an hour out of Lazaro Cardenas. Southern Hills Church in Abilene sent one doctor, one nurse and five helpers to join our nurse, Tammy Pointon, in ministering to 284 patients. Ashley was thrilled to use her paramedic skills in taking each patient's blood pressure, pulse, and temperature, as well as measuring and weighing the children. Bernard and I were able to mingle with the patients while they waited to see the doctor. We had opportunity to explain who we are, and privileged to pray with many. Bernard also became Logan's primary teacher for the four days. Several other "gringos" from the area helped us. Colleen, who lives in the town, has been instrumental in bringing in the first two medical missions. Others hosted the team in their homes. Our family is especially grateful to Phyllis who had us stay in her lovely Miramar home. We ended our four-day mission with a supper celebration on the adjoining beach of La Saladita. It was a time for the baby church in Lazaro, along with the medical team and hosts to celebrate the success of the week. We thank Malcolm Pointon and Jack Walker for organizing all the logistics of hosting the medical team. There is talk of hosting another team in July. Many people were in need of an optometrist (most needing glasses), and some for a dentist. Perhaps we can expand our services in the future. As we serve the people in this area, we pray that they will see Jesus in our hands and hearts. We continue to pray toward the vision to plant churches along the Pacific coast, just like in the little community of Los Llanos. We are grateful for the generosity of Southern Hills Church and the workers that were sent to labour with us.
I've included a slide show so that you can get a flavour of our week. To see the pictures one by one, and with the captions, click "view all images". Until next blog,
Bernard, Alicia, Logan and Ashley Krogsgaard

HAPPY 2009!!!!

This is the easiest blog yet... Here's the highlight of our week:

Ashley flew in on January 1. It was a great way to begin our new year. Ash's three weeks here will fly by, so we want to enjoy every minute of every day. She was quite tired when she arrived because she had to spend the night in the Minneapolis airport, but she was a trooper as we dragged her to Miramar and enjoyed a BBQ with Malcolm and Tammy. The rest of the team joined us later, and we enjoyed another night of fireworks, much to Logan's delight.
What better way to introduce folks into the Mexican culture than to take them to a fiesta. Our neighbours invited us to Pedro's 78th birthday party, so Ashley got a good dose of Mexican song and dance. We had a great time!!! We felt so honoured to be a part of our new friends' special day. The music was loud, the food was hot and the breeze was cool under the enramada. Welcome to Mexico, Ash!
Saturday, Ashley joined us for our home study at Hector and Rosy's. She got a good dose of two hours of Spanish. I saw her nod off a few times. She claimed it was jet-lag. We had to explain that the time zone is the same for both Playa Azul, Mexico and Regina, Saskatchewan; so there is no jet-lag when traveling within the same time zone. When that excuse was crushed, she decided it was the heat that made her so sleepy. We chuckled to remember how much we slept when we first arrived in Playa, back in October. It does take time to adjust to the 30+ degree temps when one has just come from -30 degree temps. I think she's really enjoying the warmth!!!
Sunday was a special day as we celebrated with the children of our little church family. The big holiday for Mexican children is Jan. 7- Three Kings' Day. Games, gifts, and a pinata were planned for the children. The hot dogs were a big hit, too. We also welcomed several folks from Abilene and San Antonio who have come to participate in the annual medical mission that our team hosts. Our family will be gone all week helping these good folks as they see patients who do not have access to doctors and nurses on a regular basis. We're hoping that Ashley will be able to put into practice some of the skills she has learned from her paramedic courses earlier this Fall.
Thank you to all who took a minute to let us hear from you during these holidays. We love all the ways our little computer friend allows us to keep in touch with all our human friends. Thank you for your comments and encouragements concerning our blogs. Facebook is also a great tool for keeping in touch. We will not have computer access this week; so until next week...
Bernard, Alicia, Logan and Ashley Krogsgaard

Christmas 2008

We had a wonderful Christmas here in Mexico. It took a while to get into the Christmas spirit because we're used to cold and snow, but once Logan and I began making our Christmas ornaments and gifts, it soon felt like Christmas, even in the heat!! The best thing about this Christmas was its simplicity. I didn't miss hopping from mall to mall in search of the perfect gift for everyone. Logan and I decided a "home-made" Christmas is much more fun!!!

Here in Mexico, the big celebrations happen on "Noche Buena"-Christmas Eve. We were privileged to be asked to attend the family gathering of Logan's coach. The dinner was to be at 10 pm. By 11:30 we were feasting on delicious BBQ beef and beans. At midnight, we all stopped the celebration and hugged everyone with a Merry Christmas (Feliz Navidad) greeting. Later the brave few serenaded us with their karaoke renditions of what seemed to be classic Mexican songs. We felt very honoured to be asked to be a part of the family celebration. Logan enjoyed the evening by putting off lots and LOTS of fireworks with his friends. Laughter and fireworks could be heard all over our little town. We finally said our good-byes at 1:30 am.
Christmas Day didn't come too early for us "night owls". In fact, I finally awoke Logan at 9:30. He enjoyed opening his three gifts, and declared them "perfect"!
We walked the town giving out our hand-made ornaments and photos frames with pictures of sweet memories in them. It was fun to see our new friends' faces light up when they were presented with their gifts. THIS is Christmas!!!
We loaded our sweet potato casserole, beans and pound cake with strawberries into the car, and off we went to Tammy and Malcolm's house for Christmas dinner. What a feast we enjoyed!!!! (I remember that 20 years ago, we couldn't find a turkey for our feasts.)
Finally, the best part of the day arrived. Oni had decided that he wanted to be baptized on his birthday, Dec. 25!!! So, off we went to the land (Miramar) in search of one of the pools. First, however, Bern, Logan and I stopped by Feliciano to visit our three families. We presented the children with photos frames with their pictures in them. What a treat that was!!! They were so very pleased with their little faces smiling back at them. It was precious!! We arrived at the land to find many people surrounding Oni. We circled him with our love and witnessed him taking on the salvation from His new Lord and Master. What a great moment it was!!! We celebrated with the angels until dusk turned into dark. The boys popped each other with firecrackers and bangers. It was especially exciting when one of the firecrackers landed in the BOX of fireworks. Several of us gals were scurrying away from the explosion fearing that the quad was sure to blow!! It was QUITE the show. Logan said it was the best Christmas EVER!!!
We missed our twins and other family, but we have only five more days until Ashley comes for a visit.
We hope that you, too, enjoyed your Christmas holdiays in your corner of the world. Best wishes as we head into the first days of 2009. We hope you enjoy the slide show we have added to this post.
Until next year,
Bernard, Alicia an Logan Krogsgaard

SEASON'S GREETINGS FROM MEXICO

Christmas has sure slipped up on me this year. It takes some adjustment to get into the Christmas spirit when it's 25+ degrees! However, we're all beginning to feel that it's a bit like Christmas, now that our tree has been transformed from a "Charlie Brown" tree decorated with rubber bands, balloons and writing pens (the candy canes) to a beautiful work of art with the decorations Logan and I made from yarn, balloons, glue and a bit of shimmering gold ribbon. The Pointons have invited us over Christmas Day for ham and turkey. The time for Ashley to visit gets closer. For us, THAT will be Christmas!!

Playa Azul has been a bee hive of activity the last week. A crew of about eight "swept" through our street with hand brooms, getting rid of every grain of sand, then painting the curb. With a huge cloud of dust following them, it was hot work. ( After helping to make a pitcher of lemonade, Logan went to all the workers offering them a cool drink. They were extremely grateful that this little "guerro" was serving them.) Every enramada has spruced up its walls with paint and Christmas decorations, as only the Mexicans can do! The crowds are coming!!! This little town is sustained by the two weeks of Christmas and Easter week turists. Everyone wants to be ready. Even the road between here and Lazaro has been patched-quite an improvement.

Logan has gotten a taste of the festive spirit when his school hosted a party on the last day of school. All the children wore their best party clothes (Of course, Logan had on his shorts and tee shirt--guess we'll know better for next year. ha ha) The festive spirit was evident as all the children ran around screaming and having fun. It was noticeable that the teachers were nowhere to be seen. Bern and I decided to stick around for a while. It wasn't long before firecrackers began to go off in all corners of the court yard. We were about ready to take Logan home as loud firecrackers were being thrown from the balcony into the crowd of children. Thankfully the director finally intervened and announced that there were to be no more firecrackers. With some trepidation we left to return in an hour and a half. The clock didn't seem to move very quickly, but the time finally came to collect Logan from school. What a surprise when we arrived...there was Logan hip hop dancing amongst a group of sweet little girls in their party dresses. The rest of the school children were behind the class bars watching him with their ohhhs and ahhhs. What a HAM!!!! We didn't even know he had such moves. The teacher was his greatest encourager. Wish Kresten had been there to see his uninhibited brother!!!! What a danc'n dawg!!

We had an extra special treat in learning new seafood recipes. I had spoken to our friend, Lena, about teaching me how to make shrimp cocktail and fried shrimp. Rather than meeting at our house, she invited me to her enramada. I felt privileged, indeed. ( I also realize it's a huge step of faith when we eat what others have prepared!! A cleaning cloth couldn't be found anywhere. I cleaned shrimp in the same place where the final fruit was cut for the platters. Perhaps my food prep has been too hygiene conscious???!!!! ) All that aside, we had a wonderful afternoon together. Bernard and Logan joined us later when we all enjoyed a lovely meal together. After our yummy eats, we sat around the table and chatted with Lena and several of her friends and family.

We continue to get out into our community to meet more people. As people come to know us, we enjoy more in-depth conversations. It feels good to become part of the community, little by little. We feel honoured to be invited to Logan's coach's family gathering on Christmas Eve. The party begins at 10:00--that's PM!!! Guess we'll REALLY see how Mexico can party! (We've also been invited to the fight-till-death cock fights. We're not yet sure if we will take in that activity.)

Bernard continues to help Logan's soccer team. Seems he spends more time with the boys than does the coach. The boys come in groups to our house to "hang out" with Bernard. They sit on the outside porch and chat or get a game of American football going. They think Logan's dad is pretty cool!

Our week ended with an adult Christmas party hosted by Tammy and Malcolm. Twenty-seven friends, neighbours, and church family gathered for a festive time together. We played the "ever so fun" white elephant gift exchange. The hot items were the fireworks, soccer ball, and two Christmas stuffed bears. Bern and I came home with chocolates. Crystal Peterson will be glad to know that I got my Ferrero Rocher fix!!

We wish a joyous season for each of you. May the peace of the Christ-child be with you as the world remembers the birth of the One we call Master. Merry Christmas to all.
Bernard, Alicia and Logan Krogsgaard