Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
We have had a very Gorman holiday season this year. Almost all Gormans were present for Christmas and New Year's. We all missed Sean very much but were excited to have Bart, Judy, Bart #2, Donna, Seamus, Aidan, Kyra, Ainsley, Brian, myself, Julia and Thomas. Bart and Judy flew in from NY to Amman and the Amman Gormans brought them over the border to Jerusalem a week before Christmas. All 12 of us went and toured Bethlehem and Shepherd's field. We occupied the last few rows of a bus from the consulate and had an awesome tour with Habib. All 6 kids behaved pretty well. We waited in line to get to the birth place of Christ in the Church of the Nativity. There were a lot of people but with some patience, we all got to see and touch the supposed spot. Julia was with me and I told her the importance but I'm sure she didn't really understand the significance. For me, the significance of the locations doesn't always sink in unless I really think about it. I love having a picture of what we think happened. For example, Christ wasn't born in a stable like we picture but probably a cave. I also had the impression that the shepherds had to travel a ways but Shepherd's Field where the shepherds supposedly saw the star is only about a half mile from the Church of the Nativity. I pictured them following the star for a while but apparently they didn't. We also went to the Milk Grotto where Mary nursed Jesus and some of her milk spilled. Apparently, if you drink something made from powder from the grotto, you may conceive if you have had trouble with fertility. I thought Donna - after having 4 kids - should probably not even enter the grotto. You never know what could happen if some of the powder rubbed on her.
The whole Gorman clan went to church for the 4th Sunday of Advent at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in the Old City on Sunday. Julia was excited to introduce Pastor Fred and Gloria to Nana and Pop. She also had a chance to light one of the 4 advent candles that morning which was so exciting. The Amman Gormans went back to Amman and Nana and Pop stayed with us for the week. It was great - more updates are coming!
We have had a very Gorman holiday season this year. Almost all Gormans were present for Christmas and New Year's. We all missed Sean very much but were excited to have Bart, Judy, Bart #2, Donna, Seamus, Aidan, Kyra, Ainsley, Brian, myself, Julia and Thomas. Bart and Judy flew in from NY to Amman and the Amman Gormans brought them over the border to Jerusalem a week before Christmas. All 12 of us went and toured Bethlehem and Shepherd's field. We occupied the last few rows of a bus from the consulate and had an awesome tour with Habib. All 6 kids behaved pretty well. We waited in line to get to the birth place of Christ in the Church of the Nativity. There were a lot of people but with some patience, we all got to see and touch the supposed spot. Julia was with me and I told her the importance but I'm sure she didn't really understand the significance. For me, the significance of the locations doesn't always sink in unless I really think about it. I love having a picture of what we think happened. For example, Christ wasn't born in a stable like we picture but probably a cave. I also had the impression that the shepherds had to travel a ways but Shepherd's Field where the shepherds supposedly saw the star is only about a half mile from the Church of the Nativity. I pictured them following the star for a while but apparently they didn't. We also went to the Milk Grotto where Mary nursed Jesus and some of her milk spilled. Apparently, if you drink something made from powder from the grotto, you may conceive if you have had trouble with fertility. I thought Donna - after having 4 kids - should probably not even enter the grotto. You never know what could happen if some of the powder rubbed on her.
The whole Gorman clan went to church for the 4th Sunday of Advent at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in the Old City on Sunday. Julia was excited to introduce Pastor Fred and Gloria to Nana and Pop. She also had a chance to light one of the 4 advent candles that morning which was so exciting. The Amman Gormans went back to Amman and Nana and Pop stayed with us for the week. It was great - more updates are coming!
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