We have had another up and down week. My father was extubated last week, and was improving all week long so that by Saturday, it looked like he might be able to go back into a normal hospital ward the next day, but they had to reintubate him today and will be putting in a trach tube tomorrow. This time, it is related to his extended stay in the ICU, so it is a cruel twist that he has to stay in the ICU longer because of it. We are all sad, especially after the good news we had last week, and poor Rich and the kids are suffering with me, worried about my father, and also trying not to think about losing their last grandfather, our last father.

However, we wait with hope, with peace, with joy, and with love. This is a good week, and we believe in a God who raises the dead, so we know he can heal my father, one way or another. Even if it is in body and spirit to take him into His kingdom, where all are made whole. We are praying for that, too, though we really want to be able to see him again in this world. Rich has been praying for him during our church services, and we will keep him in our prayers during this week of miracles.

Our Christmas menu is set, we have already made and frozen some cookies and treats, and we await the Incarnation which gives us the only hope in this world and beyond it.

• Sunday - Fourth Sunday of Advent
  Breakfast: Sausage and Cheese Croissant Sandwiches, Fruit, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Split Pea Soup, Bread, Fruit Plate
• Monday
  Breakfast: Steel Cut Oats with Brown Sugar, Milk and Tea
  Dinner: North African Vegetable Cous Cous, Laban bi Chiyar, Harissa
• Tuesday
  Breakfast: Bagels and Cream Cheese with Spanish Olives, Sliced Apples, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Chickpea Salad with Fried Eggplant, Turkish Flatbread
• Wednesday
  Breakfast: Ful, Olives, Sliced Cucumbers, Spearmint Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Honduran Red Beans and Rice, Oranges
• Thursday - Christmas Eve
  Breakfast: Peanut Butter Toast with Honey, Fruit, Tea and Honey
  Dinner: Creamy Tomato Basil Pasta, Fruit Plate
• Friday - Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord
  Breakfast: Christmas Bread and Butter, Poached Eggs and Hollandaise Sauce, Sausage Patties, Butter Cookies, Fruit, Coffee and Hot Chocolate
  Dinner: Rib Roast, Wine Sauce, Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Boursin Stuffed Potatoes, Braided Egg Bread* and Butter, Brown Sugar Shortbread, Orange Cranberry Cookies*, Chocolate Cranberry Walnut Cookies*, Lemon Crinkles, Chocolate Cheesecake with Candy Cane Ice Cream
• Saturday
  Breakfast: Cranberry Walnut Bread, Hard Boiled Eggs, Fruit Plate, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Leftovers, Pistachio and Cardamom Crescents*, Pomegranate Poppyseed Cookies*, Gingerbread Men, Chocolate Sugar Cookies, Eggnog

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday. Linking to Menu Plan Monday

Labels: Advent, Christmas, Church Year, Faith and Morality, Family, Fasting as a Family, Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Homemaking, Keeping the Feast, Menu Plans, Nativity, Tales from the Kitchen

// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 9:53 PM