Amanda heads the Board For Missions at church, and one of our biggest charities is the Maine Children's Home, which serves underprivileged, poverty stricken, and parentless kids in the central Maine region. On Tuesday afternoon, we all went over to the home to work on packing "Christmas gift boxes." It was a blast. We sorted through all the donations as each child receives a Christmas gift package containing: One large toy, one small toy, one board game, a coloring book with crayons/markers, one new outfit, one new set of pajamas, two books, and a set of winter hat/scarf/mittens. It is devastating to see how many children the Maine Children's Home has to serve...but it is wonderfully hopeful to see the outpouring of donations that come into the home each year. Callum and Maira got right into the spirit of the whole thing, picking out toys, games, and books for different kids on the lists. 

We were joined by some fantastic people from church, and afterwards we made our way over for a bite to eat at Mainely Brews. As a side note, this was a historic event in that it may have been the first time in our 15 year relationship that Amanda ordered an alcoholic drink and I did not...haha. As you can see, Maira continues to work her--shall we say-- 'charasmatic' expressions into every picture she's in....

Maira standing by some of the 'already packed' boxes that are waiting to be organized for kids during the Christmas season. I had some pictures of Callum, but for some reason they wouldnt upload to the blog. Callum acted as Brian Watson's assistant and consultant, deciding what the 'in' toys and books would be for 6 and 7 year old boys...haha

 A couple of sidenote pieces of info: Two nights ago was the first night that I stoked the wood stove before going to bed...and this morning was the first morning that I stoked the stove before leaving for school. Tonight's run was one of the first 'cold' runs of the year, and the first run this year for which I wore pants, not shorts. A beautiful, cold, clear, half mooned night; as I ran I reminisced about Callum and Maira and how obsessed they used to be with seeing the moon in the sky when they were little. Especially Callum: The kid always LOVED the moon...he used to point it out wherever we were....

PS: Callum's photo finally loaded: Here he is working with Brian on some boxes...