June 5, 2013

This morning, I hope we are taking time to tour the Bastogne Barracks, which is a guided tour with a military person.  These are the barracks of Gen. MacAuliffe during the war, restored to help keep the memory alive!

And then we are off to Bruge.  This is a place that Jo, in particular, wanted to visit - and to take photographs. 

Jo has made a reservation for us at a most phenomenal place...called the Medieval House in the Center of Bruges.  You may google that and see for yourself!  The house looks so grand, I may just want to stay home all day and wander from room to room, and pretend its where I live - like in a fairy tale!

We also have a very dear AFS friend who lives in Bruges with his wife.  Eric was a student in Marshall MO the year before we had our daughter, Ani - and we love him dearly.  Both Carl and we have visited his parents when they lived near Amsterdam on earlier trips of ours - and we adored his parents as well.  Eric & Veronique are struggling right now with her ailing mother - so we don't know what the future will hold and if we will actually get to see them or not - but we hope so.

Meanwhile, we will spend the nights of June 5 & 6 in Bruges, and as much of the day on the 7th as we want, before we head the Brussels and find overnight accommodations at the Brussels airport in preparation for our flight back to Dallas all day long on Saturday, June 7th.

Thanks for following us on our journey - we look forward to sharing our trip with you in person or via blogs after we return home!

June 4, 2013 (Tuesday)

Please meet Roby Clam, our guide for the day for our Battle of the Bulge tour.  You may google him and read about his work, if you wish.  Roby's goal is "keeping the memory alive", and we look forward to spending this day with him and having him share his wisdom and viewpoint with us.  We have been reading about BOTB, visiting with knowledgeable friends about it (thank you, Bill Stofft), and watching "Band of Brothers" (thank you, Jo & Scott), but nothing will compare with actually being there.  (Roby is also on Facebook!)

So the day is in his hands and we are excited about it.  We recall so vividly our day spent on the beaches of Normandy with a fabulous guide - and weather that matched the original day of invasion.  We can hope that won't happen this time - but it just made it even more memorable on Normandy.

June 3, 2013 (Monday)

After completing our explorations of Amsterdam and spending one last night in the Hotel Vondel, we will be picking up a rental car and driving to Bastogne, Belgium.

We are booked for 2 nights at the Le Merceny Motel in the heart of the city of Bastogne.  The city is about 150 miles northeast of Kaiserslautern, Germany, situated along Belgium's hilly border with Luxembourg.  An old Sherman tank is prominently placed downtown, around the corner from a stone monument to Gen. George S. Patton.  We will be going to the Mardasson memorial, a big star-shaped structure with 5 points.  The story of the battle is engraved on the monument's walls.  A steep, spiral staircase leads you to the top, where you an take in the hilly view and contemplate all the fighting that took pace during the siege of Bastogne.

There is a museum to the 101st Airborne we also hope to visit.

June 2, 2013 (Sunday)

Its time to bid farewell to Carla and Delvin, as they head for the airport and their flight back to the USA.  Prayers for safe travels for everyone!  Jo, Scott, Jerry and Mary will be spending another full day in Amsterdam, sightseeing and taking hundreds of photos to share with you when we return!

June 1, 2013 (Saturday)

After breakfast on board the Iris, our bike/barge tour comes to a close.  We will be transferred back to the Hotel Vondel and have the day free to do more sight-seeing in Amsterdam.

Carla is planning on a reunion with Stanley & Santi Tjahjadi in Amsterdam  They were classmates at the Presbyterian School of Christian Education (PSCE).  Stanley & Santi are from Indonesia, now serving a church in The Netherlands.

May 31, 2013 (Friday)

During breakfast this morning, the barge cruises to Huizen.  Here we cycle along bike paths through the forest to fortified Naarden Vesting and to the fairytale castle of Muiderslot.  Enjoy a guided visit of the castle and lunch in Muiden.  After, we may either shuttle back to Amsterdam OR continue cycling via the town of Weesp, along lovely rivers and impressive brand-new city islands to our barge's home mooring in the center of Amsterdam.  Dinner will be on board this evening.

May 30, 2013 (Thursday)

After breakfast, we ride from Hardeerwijk through the lovely open countryside.  The final segment of our ride follows a bike path to the pumping station at Hertog Reijnout.  This was built in 1882 and is the only remaining working pumping station in Western Europe that uses external water wheels.  From here, continue along the river banks until we reach Spakenburg, where we meet up with our barge for lunch on board.

After lunch, we may visit the small local folklore museum and see the ancient shipyard where wooden boats are still crafted.

Our afternoon cycling option takes us on a loop through the open countryside around the twin villages of Bunschoten and Spakenburg.

June 1, 2013 (Saturday)

After breakfast on board the Iris, our bike/barge tour comes to a close.  We will be transferred back to the Hotel Vondel and have the day free to do more sight-seeing in Amsterdam.

Carla is planning on a reunion with Stanley & Santi Tjahjadi in Amsterdam  They were classmates at the Presbyterian School of Christian Education (PSCE).  Stanley & Santi are from Indonesia, now serving a church in The Netherlands.

May 28, 2013 (Tuesday)

During breakfast, we cruise to Wijhe before cycling to the tiny Hanze village of Hattem, crossing the river by a local pedestrian ferry.  Our trail takes us through open countryside and through a small forest park before following a small canal to the old lockkeeper's cottage and home of VBT friends who've invited us for a home-hosted picnic.  After lunch, we can either join the barge at Spooldersluis or continue cycling to Kampen.  This evening, in preparation for tomorrow's visit to the "new lands", our trip leaders will describe the continual process of land drainage in the Netherlands.  Dinner will be on board, followed by a walk through the historic Hanze city of Kampen and learn about its old religious academy and many churches.

May 27, 2013 (Monday)

This morning, our barge sails into the Ijssel River to the town of Doesburg.  From here, we cycle through the pretty farming community of Bronkhorst and visit its lovely windmill before continuing to Zutphen.  We will meet the barge for lunch onboard.  In the afternoon, we can choose to remain on board and cruise to Deventer OR cyce there along the river.  In the evening, we will meet a local guide for a walking tour through this Hanze city.

May 26, 2013

Breakfast is served during our cruise along the Nederrijn.  Our trip leaders teach us useful phrases during a brief language class before we arrive in Wageningen, where our ride begins.  Bike through the Veluwe Forest to Otterlo and then enter the Hoge Veluwe National Park.  Cycle the beautiful biking trails through the park, with an optional visit to the Kroller-Muller Museum, famous for its Van Gogh collection.

Most days we have the option of a shorter bike ride, being then shuttled to the barge, or a longer riding option.  Today that longer ride will continue through the park to the southern exit at Schaarsbergen, and on to meet the barge in Arnhem.

After dinner, our trip leaders will walk with us to see the "Bridge Too Far: over the Lower Rhine and explain its importance to WWII history.  We are moored tonight in Arnhem.

Saturday, May 25, 2013

After breakfast, we will have a guided walking tour of Amsterdam, boarding our barge for a 1 p.m. departure.  We will cruise out of Amsterdam on the IJ waterway, catching glimpses of houseboats and floating houses.  The barge stops at Nigtevecht for a warm-up bike ride, following the river Vecht. In the evening, we will have a welcome dinner onboard while sailing to Wijk bij Duurstede.  Once moored, we can enjoy an evening stroll into town.

Friday, May 24, 2013

After breakfast, we will be saying good-by to our AFS daughter and husband, meeting our VBT rep in the hotel lobby, and transferring to the Paris Gare du Nord train station, where we will board a train for a 3-hour ride to Amsterdam.  En route, we will pass through the lovely countryside of northern France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

In Amsterdam, we will be transported to our Hotel Vondel, and the day is ours to tour Amsterdam and meet our fellow travelers who will be arriving throughout the day.  The link is:  http://hotelvondel.amsterdamhotels.it/

There will be an orientation meeting for a welcome meeting.  In addition to this day in Amsterdam, we will return at the close of our bike/barge trip and have another full day as well as one additional day for the Peters & us.

Thursday, May 23 - our 50th wedding anniversary

Its The Day!  How can it be 50 years?  That seems like a long time, and yet these particular 50 years have flown by.  I chose our wedding day of May 23rd because it was my grandparents' 57th wedding anniversary.  Grandma and Grandpa Wells lived in Long Beach, California, and came to Oklahoma City to celebrate our wedding, as well as the reception my parents held for them following our wedding reception.  I do remember that my Mom was really taken aback by this wedding date - after all, it was a  THURSDAY afternoon - and who gets married on a Thursday?  We did! And have been so richly blessed in our life together, blessed with two lovely daughters and our AFS daughter, Ani (in Indonesia) plus 3 sons-in-law. 

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Paris!  Landing was scheduled for 6:10 a.m., where we meet a VBT representative for transfer to our Paris hotel.  Our destination will be the Millennium Hotel Paris Opera.  The website is: http://www.millenniumhotels.com/millenniumparis/  It looks absolutely gorgeous!

Our plane arrives about 6:10 a.m., and our AFS daughter, Ani, and her husband, Ervan, land in Paris from Jakarta about an hour later.  Carla and Delvin will be coming by train from London, where they have just spent a long weekend, and by late morning it should be a GRAND family reunion!  Its been 15 years since we have been with Ani, and we have never met our Indonesian son-in-law!

We will make our way to the hotel to deposit our belongings and what comes next will be determined by how we feel.  We may need breakfast, a look around our neighborhood, or a nap! The plans for later that day will include a walk to Ile Saint Louis, Notre Dame and Saint Chapelle (we are told that the stained glass windows there are gorgeous).  We will then walk the Left Bank towards the Eiffel Tower and see where that takes us.  

Gil had it right in "Midnight in Paris"

Adriana: I can never decide whether Paris is more beautiful by day or by night.

Gil: No, you can't, you couldn't pick one. I mean I can give you a checkmate argument for each side. You know, I sometimes think, how is anyone ever gonna come up with a book, or a painting, or a symphony, or a sculpture that can compete with a great city. You can't. Because you look around and every street, every boulevard, is its own special art form and when you think that in the cold, violent, meaningless universe that Paris exists, these lights, I mean come on, there's nothing happening on Jupiter or Neptune, but from way out in space you can see these lights, the cafés, people drinking and singing. For all we know, Paris is the hottest spot in the universe.

We will soak in Paris... enjoying every moment of walking in the City of Light.  

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 - the long flying day

Jo, Scott, Jerry and I will be flying out of Dallas this morning, via Delta.  We will have a couple of hours in the Atlanta airport, departing Atlanta at 3:10 p.m. for Paris.  Our body time says its just after 3, and our flight is to be 9 hours in duration - that means that by our body time, we are landing in Paris about midnight, but by Paris time, it will be 6 a.m.!  Let the adventure begin!

Proof of the Deed!

Over Easter weekend, we were sharing dinner with our surrogate granddaughter, Meredith (Price) Ehlers and her husband, Ben Ehlers, in their new home in San Antonio along with Mer's parents, Mike & Karen Price.  Some of our camping trips together came in to the discussion, and Meredith recalls hearing her parents tell her about one particular trip when she was very young - just before her baby brother, Spencer, was born.   And she claims that Jerry tried to dunk her in the river!  That may be true - but it was not without provocation.  Today I ran across the photograph that is the proof of Meredith's mischievousness, even as young as she was.  Here is Mer doing her very best to stuff ice down Jerry's backside at our campsite.

What wonderful memories we share!

Let the adventure begin!

Today Carla and Delvin leave on their first leg of our most wonderful adventure!  Today they are flying to London to spend several days.  We are so happy for Carla that she is going to be able to introduce her husband to one of her favorite cities ever!  As a college student, Carla spent a semester studying in London, and has returned several times since then.  So you can imagine her delight to share this with Delvin.  They will be taking the Big Bus Tour to get an overall view of the city, seeing "Singin' in the Rain" on the stage, riding the London Eye, and walking, walking walking--and having a fabulous time.  And on Tuesday, they will ride the Eurostar to join us in Paris. 

Grateful!

“A good marriage is where both people feel like they're getting the better end of the deal.” 
― Anne Lamott

Chaos - will it become order?

This room is utter chaos!  Stacks of clothes - his and hers...piles of underwear, sox - his and hers...passports..umbrellas...shirts hanging from anything...scarves draped here and there...vests, rain jackets, sweatshirts, a turtleneck or two (think layers!)...shoes...and the littlest suitcases you ever saw, into which ALL of this is going to go?  I hardly think so - but maybe tomorrow I will have a better idea when I try and put the puzzle pieces together.  Wish us luck!  The big trip is just around the corner and its time to get serious about this packing business!

Happy Birthday, first-born!

48 years ago today, our first child came into this world - In those days, we called her Carolyn, and she revolutionized our lives, and is still doing so today, now being called Jo.  We love you, Carolyn Jo Hilton - happy birthday!

Birthdays are Happiness!

I just happened to take a serious glance at these two caricatures that presently hang in our kitchen - and noted that they were done 40 (thats right, FORTY)  years ago - and didn't the artist just really "hit the nail on the head" with these?  We had moved to Marshall MO the year before, and Jerry was pastoring at Covenant Presbyterian Church.  In April, birthday month for both of us, some very special and dear friends threw a birthday party for us - and the treat of the evening was the presence of a local artist named Thelma Hansen, who was to create these for us during the evening.  We have treasured them for many years and they still brighten our lives, as well as the memories of that fun evening with Marshall friends!  Thank you, one and all!

We are Family!

Back in 1981, a new daughter came in to our family.  Destriani Dusyanto was an AFS exchange student from Jakarta, Indonesia, who came to live with our family for her senior year of high school in Marshall MO.  She quickly became a full-fledged daughter, sister, grandchild, and friend to everyone in our life.  It was a grand year - and putting her on the plane to leave us at the end of her term was a heart-wrenching experience for all of us.  Snail-mail helped us to keep in touch, but the use of computers brought us back into closer contact.  She has been back to the USA at least twice...in the meantime, she was married to Ervan Nugroho, and they are the parents of 3 children (now young adults.)  Fast forward to 1998 - we are celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary on May 23, 1998, and Ani arrives for a visit with us in Midland TX--getting to see my Dad (her Grandpa) once again, and journeying to Ft. Davis and San Antonio.

Another fast forward - on May 23, 2013, we will celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary.  We leave two weeks from tomorrow from Wimberley for Dallas, then fly to Paris, France.  Ani and Ervan will fly in from Jakarta, and we will share 48 hours with all 3 of our daughters and 3 sons-in-law in that beautiful city.  Praise the Lord!  Ani has not yet met Delvin, and we have not yet met Ervan, but we ARE FAMILY!!

Adventuring in Memories!

What a truly wonderful adventure it is to relive and share memories with friends from over the years! I'm sure there will be more of these, but here is one for a starter:

Last week, while we were in Enid OK, Jerry had lunch with  a group of men that called themselves the "Covenant Group" and met weekly. (Our years there were 1985-1992).  One of group, Bob Dense, brought up this classic memory:  our church offered audio-cassettes of Jerry's sermons every Sunday.  Bob had several of them in his jeep.  One day, his jeep was stolen.  When the police recovered the jeep, it had been stripped - except for the audio-cassettes, which were still there!

The Adventure of Friends of long-standing (not OLD)

One of the greatest joys of my life, next to my family, is friends.  And now I want to share a few stories.




Pictured above is our visit this week with Bill Stofft and his wife, Pat Gates Stofft.  We all became friends in South Dakota when we went to church camp together in the Black Hills.  Pat, who was from Custer SD, came to Pierre when her dad served in the SD House of Representatives.  We served as pages in the legislature.  Our mothers both attended Carleton College in MN which we discovered in an early conversation.  We graduated in 1955 and both attended the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, where we were sorority sisters as well.  Pat and Bill give me the credit for their long-running marriage, since I originally introduced them.  (I'm happy to take credit for that!)  The Stoffts winter in the Black Hills where we have visited them, and winter in the Phoenix area, where we have seen them several times.  Bill is currently helping us prepare for a trip next June when we plan to visit the Battle of the Bulge area, staying in Bastogne,  Bill served as the Chief of Military History on the General Staff - and is quite a resource for us as we plan this brief trip, as you can imagine.  What an adventure it is to keep crossing paths with such dear friends who have been so critical in my own life since I was a highschooler.

 Now a story about these dear friends....Pastor Bill Clinkenbeard and Jerry and I were classmates at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago.  After we graduated, Bill went to Edinburgh for further studies and became a pastor in the Church of Scotland, marrying a delightful pediatrician, Janette.  Our friend from Nebraska developed a rich and thick Scottish accent, much to our delight. We have seen them in Scotland on several occasions, one time worshiping at his church, Carrick Knowe, visiting in their home one time, or simply meeting at a pub in Edinburgh during one trip. We were delighted when they purchased a second home in Fountain Hills AZ and told us about McDowell Regional Park, where we are presently camping...we have been here several times now, and able to see the Clinkenbeards each time.  Its such a joy to have this friendship of many many years, and we can just pick up conversations like it was just yesterday.

 

One last story of an adventure of friendship.  This is my brother, Jim, who lives in Phoenix. His friend is Nancy Howard, who lives in Scottsdale.  BUT Nancy grew up in Aurora MO (where Jerry served his second pastorate) and her grandparents were from Crane MO (Jerry's hometown, of course.) Jim and Nancy both served in the Air National Guard in AZ.  One day Jim went in to the medical facility for some kind of a check-up, and Nancy was the nurse.  In the casual chatting you do in that situation, Jim asked Nancy where she was from - and her stock answer (same as Jerry gives) was "a little town in the Ozarks of MO."  (Because who has ever heard of Aurora, right?) My brother pressed some more, asking her what town.  "southwest of Springfield", to which Jim pressed some more:  "whats the name of the town."  Nancy finally said "Aurora MO."  Jim's next question really threw Nancy - he asked "What church did you go to?"  Nancy's guard is now up, for she is sure this Air National Guard person was about to try and convert her to something!  So she said "Oh, I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Presbyterian."  Jim said "Did you know Jerry Hilton?"  Nancy was amazed and told him "of course, and how do you know him?"  When Jim told her that Jerry was his brother-in-law, they were both stunned.  Ever since then, when we come to AZ for a visit, we get to see Nancy as well, and last week Jim joined us for brunch with Nancy and Otto.

Friends are truly a great gift from God, and we treasure each one!

 

The adventure that is Quartzsite

If you do much RVing, sooner or later someone mentions Quartzsite to you, and after a few times, you begin to question - just what is Quartzsite?  "They" tell you that its just one big gathering of hundreds of RVers of all shapes and sizes out in the middle of nowhere...and they would be absolutely correct!  But I believe it is something you need to experience for yourself.  We had planned to attend in 2011 and in 2012, but both years Jerry found himself serving a church in Kansas and we didn't make it.  This was the  year! There were 3 rigs that set out from El Paso...Pat Mundy in her living-quarters horse trailer, cousins Bill Hilton & Wayne Tallant in their Minnie Winnie and the Hiltons.  For several miles before you come to Quartzsite (which, by the way, is normally a wide place on Interstate 10 on your way to California) you begin to see all sizes and shapes of RVs  on the landscape wherever you look.  At the check-in point, you find that you pay the Bureau of Land Management $40 for the privilege of camping as long as you want up to 4 weeks anywhere on their 40,000 acres.  So we head for our reunion with Pat's friends, Dan & Jackie, who have been at Quartzsite with Pat the two previous years.  We "circle the wagons" as best we can, build a fire-pit in the center with a few rocks, and we are ready to go!

The focus of the ten days is in the tents--drive across the range, park a vehicle somewhere as close as you can get, and start walking....there is the main tent which is enormous and houses vendor after vendor--they might be selling items you didn't know you needed for your RV lifestyle, or offering medicines or massages, or showing you how to cook with their products, or offering you discounts for their RV parks (including a nudist RV park!), or selling memberships to their RV organization--even items to make your dog's RV experience a better one!  When you finish the Big Tent, there are rows and rows of other tents set up all around the perimeter...and some in the "town" as well...PLUS there are all kinds of RV Sales--they have driven in hundreds of new and used RVs for your perusal and purchase.

When we finished with our browsing each day, we return to our homemade campground, build a campfire, prepare our dinners together (we all take turns providing the evening meal)  Now we can say we have "been there, done that" - and while we don't plan to return next year, who knows what might happen the year after that!  It was quite an adventure, I must say!

The adventure of family

 A preacher that I know and love says often "Friends are God's apology for family."  We have been so blessed with good close friends over the years who have become family to us, and we are most grateful for that experience.  I have never lived close to family - growing up my grandparents and all my cousins were a half-a-continent apart, and a once a year visit was the best we could manage.  My brother moved to Phoenix in 1972 and has stayed there, while we have been in Mo and Tex, so we never lived close.  But God fills in the gaps for us, doesn't he?  Today I am thinking especially of these "brothers" and "sisters":

Above is Wayne Tallant, Bill Hilton and Jerry Hilton.  Bill and Jerry have been friends since birth, growing up across the street from one another...Their parents were good friends..Bill was Best Man at our wedding 50 years ago.  (They are related some way, but even tho they share the same last name, it is not on that side of the family that they are related!  Don't ask--they are both from Crane MO!) Wayne and Bill have been together for 41 years, so he has been in our family that long.  None of them had blood brothers...but now they have one another and are probably closer than many brothers.

Here are the sisters - Judy McGuirk, Pat Mundy and Mary Hilton.  Pat and I have been friends since 1985, when we moved to Enid OK.  We started traveling together in our RVs a number of years ago, and now, since Pat has retired, we make most of our travels together.  (One day we will make a Texan out of her!)  Judy entered our lives as a close friend of Bill & Wayne's in El Paso...and since none of us has a blood sister, we readily adopted one another.

Family reunions are great with the six of us.  We have just been in El Paso together, now Judy will be joining us in Mesa AZ while we celebrate Bill's birthday...and as we return through El Paso in mid-February, we will celebrate sister Judy's birthday.

Thank you, God, for brothers and sisters you have put in our lives!

The New Year

It does seem like a good idea, doesn't it, when a New Year rolls around...a new beginning...new opportunities..clean slate..and all that.  I am no different-I see the possibilities in the upcoming year, and I think "YES, I CAN" take on some new challenges.  This year, its a continuation of an online class called "One Little Word" - where I select a word and focus on it all through the year--and so I will.  (I know I can do better than I did last year--when I would grade myself with an "F", so perhaps this year is a do-over!) You'll learn more about my word through my blogs this year.

 In addition I have a wonderful new book entitled "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin, which has caught my imagination.  I'm not unhappy.  I am basically a happy person, and surrounded by  a husband and daughters who are also happy people..so maybe its in our genes!  But I don't ever want to forget how fortunate I have been in my walk, and I always want to appreciate it. So why not join Gretchen as we work our way through the year focusing on the Happiness Project.

For January the challenge will be energy - and this involves lots of things - making sure I get enough sleep every night and developing new habits that will contribute to that; exercising better and more consistently (and I am so looking forward to heading towards AZ tomorrow where the walking is really great!).  Creating more energy for myself means getting myself better organized as well - working harder at simplifying my life and our life (living in a 24' RV is definitely simplifying--I'll concern myself with the house when I get back home!)

And the 365 Project - a picture a day beginning tomorrow (I know, I'm already two weeks late, but I didn't learn about this until this past week, so that makes it OK!)  These will be posted on FB  -- surely I can manage one pic a day!  Some days it will be the challenge to select WHICH of the pics best speaks of the day.

  These are my three challenges for the rest of January - there's a fourth one being added in February, but I'll get to that in a February blog.  Meanwhile, it will be enough to concentrate on these 3.  I think they all fit together rather well - and I am excited by the challenge of pursuing them.

Stay tuned!

Epiphany-2013

Epiphany is here...the visit of the Wise Men to the babe...and in our family, that means its time to put away the Christmas decorations for another year.  There are some treasures in our home--ones that carry a lot of sentimental value, and I love to think about them as I unpack and pack them away.  Now I want to share the story of this Holy Family set.  This is white porcelain created by Goebel in West Germany.  It belonged to Jerry's parents, and when his Mom died in 1981, we inherited it for our Christmas decorations--but we only had Mary and Joseph--no babe in a manger.  However, we faithfully set out Mary & Joseph each year, hoping some day the babe would reappear!  Jerry's Dad died in 1996, and we returned to Crane MO to clear out the family home and have an estate auction.  I told the auctioneer and his wife about the missing baby Jesus, what it looked like and asked them to keep an eye out for it during the sale, but I wasn't very optimistic because there was a LOT of stuff on those tables.  When we returned at the end of the sale, the auctioneer's wife said "I have something for you" and handed me the babe in the manger!  Oh joy!  Jerry's Mom was a china painter with her own kiln, and for some reason, the Babe was in the file drawer with other pieces of china and greenware his Mom had accumulated. We rejoice that the Holy Family is together again!  May you have a blessed Epiphany!