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The Christmas Story

At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) All returned to their own towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendent of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was obviously pregnant by this time.

And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the village inn.

That night some shepherds were in the fields outside the village, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terribly frightened, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news of great joy for everyone! The Savior-yes, the Messiah, the Lord-has been born tonight in Bethlehem, the city of David! And this is how you will recognize him: You will find a baby lying in a manger, wrapped snugly in strips of cloth!”

Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others-the armies of heaven-praising God: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to all whom God favors.”

When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Come on, let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this wonderful thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

They ran to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. Then the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary quietly treasured these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their fields and flocks, glorifying and praising God for what the angels had told them, and because they had seen the child, just as the angel had said.

After walking to the petroglyphs and back, we made our way back up the volcano. The drive back up was about 30-40 minutes, and it was only when we got back to the top that we realized we had left the stroller down at the bottom! So, an extremely angry James left to go retrieve it. He got back to the bottom, and it was gone! We later found out that a ranger had picked it up and we were able to get it back. But, not before James wasted over an hour of his day going back down and searching for it!

So, what did we do while he was gone? We went and explored the “lava tube”. It was a neat sight, but Aaron was disappointed. He thought there would be lava flowing through it!

God’s amazing creation!

Tired, tired little man! (I mean Rylan, not my Dad!)

Petroglyphs

I am convinced that the Ironman was taking place on Hawaii long before the 1970s! Look closely at this photo and tell me if it does not look like people biking and running!

Awww…the petroglyphs! Seeing the petroglyphs was quite an adventure! When we arrived at the park entrance, we were at a high elevation and it was chilly. We changed Rylan into footy pajamas with long sleeves. By the time we reached the petroglyphs, we were almost back down to sea level and the barren lava fields were hot! The sign said they were .7 miles out. Well, I’ll tell you, that was the longest .7 miles of my life! We could not take the stroller (which we did not realize we had left at the sea arch, anyway!), so we took turns carrying him.

Rylan and his “Paw Paw Mark” in the lava fields!