Merry Christmas To You!

Merry Christmas To You...we hope to hear from many of our friends during this season! Our home address is P.O. Box 964 Siloam Springs, AR 72761!
Personal e-mail: breckcastleman1@cox.net and robbie.castleman@gmail.com

December: Advent Anticipation & End of the Fall Semester

Well, the real question for December....will Tyler finally lose her front tooth that has been hanging by a thread for about four months? We've thought about having a family lottery to guess when it will FINALLY fall out! When we were at the alumni house, Scott told her the tooth fairy paid BIG when one is out of town, but she didn't bite. That's the problem. She doesn't bite on it at all. I'll keep you posted!

This Friday night is our Salon and we always have such good fellowship, food and conversation.

Since November was so full of family, December won't be. And it looks like only Chesterton will keep us company. Our precious beagle is 13 1/2 years old and he a sweet and thoroughly affectionate companion.

Advent season is always well-focused and really not overly "busy" at First Presbyterian, and it is a pleasure to serve (and be served) by our congregational community.

After the semester comes to an end and grades are posted, I'll do my prep for the Spring semester, finish three chapters for IVPress for my book on WORSHIP, and watch some movies!

We're not sure what we might do for Christmas Day--maybe take Chesterton on a little trip and see something nearby that would be fun for all of us. Or maybe just nap. Between now and the New Year, we hope all of you are blessed in this season of wonder and the coming of salvation. Because of the "First Coming", we look in faith and hope for the Second Coming while we remain content to be found IN HIS GLAD SERVICE.

THANKSGIVING IN JACKSON AT THE BELHAVEN ALUMNI HOUSE

Scott and Rebecca continue to guide Tyler (7), Eben (4) and Tate Fox (2) with great joy and love. Because of a visit to North Alabama just before Thanksgiving, we decided to meet in Jackson, MS at the Belhaven Alumni house next to campus and to have the whole family for Thanksgiving there! This helped them break up a long trip and it helped cut about 3 hours of driving time off our end, too!

The house is huge and with 5 Belhaven alums in the family (Breck '64, Scott and Dayton '98, Rebecca and Karen 'Y2K) we got the whole house and had a blast.
Robbie is the ONLY non-Belhave alum in the family...but since she organized it, got the groceries and did lots of cooking, they let her stay.

We also met with the kids in a "private meeting" and decided that the house would be the headquarters for CAMP NONA AND POP-POPS this coming summer!

This is a picture of our meeting after the unanimous vote! Tater boy will be house-broken in January, so camp is looking good. We called Anna and she's "thumbs-up" for the idea. She hosted us in Chicago last year and was our "tour guide", so Scott's three will host us in Jackson, New Orleans and the Gulf Coast this coming summer for "CAMP"!

The kids had a blast playing hide-n-seek through the house and it was just a fun place to be. We went fishing in the Belhaven pond across the street, and just played games, cooked and had lots of fun. Here's a little movie that Eben wanted me to take and "post it on the blog, Nona"!

And here we are with the kids at the Belhaven fountain. We really did have a great time. We're so grateful to have a really fun family. I guess if we lived actually close to each other we'd not get any work done!

Dayton & Anna visit JBU before Thanksgiving in Nov.

Earlier this year Dayton was asked to be a speaker for the JBU chapel series this semester on faith and the arts. He addressed the idea of theology and art and was very well recieved by students and faculty. He spoke in the honors center and taught a couple of classes, too.

Karen wasn't able to come due to her rehearsal schedule with Hubbard Street Dance Company (she was activated in early November!), but Anna got to come and we had a blast. Anna was such a delight. We went to the safari and took too little guys from church for Anna to have some friends while she was here and we went to the JBU basketball game (three years ago, Anna first ate popcorn at a JBU game). Here she is with the JBU Eagle!

We had such a lovely time with Dayton and Karen. So proud of our son and the way he thinks and teaches, his character and what a fine dad and husband he is!

Robbie got real sick right before Dayton and Anna returned to Chicago, had to cancel three days of classes, but all is well now.

Lots to be thankful during this season of our lives....children walking in love, serving the Lord, loving their children...a church community that is growing in grace and in numbers....work that we love. It continues to be a joy to continue IN HIS GLAD SERVICE.

Anna Dancing on the stage in the JBU Walker Center