CHRISTmas Time's A-Coming!

Whew.... how the days fly! I cannot believe it is almost December! How quickly the trees go from this;

To this;

I have always loved winter... 

Hot cocoa

Cozy sweaters...

Wood fires~ 

Outdoor sports

And most importantly, the birth of our Dear Savior, Jesus Christ!

He is the reason for this Season... what a wonderful reason to celebrate! 

“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel”—which means, “God with us.” Matthew 1:23

Praise the Lord for his unending love.

Christmas time has many other special memories as well.

Over the years, my family has picked up many Christmas traditions... one of the most special being Christmas stories. Almost every evening, we read a story from the Christmas In My Heart books, by Joe L. Wheeler. Some of the books we have had through fires, and floods; some are burned and pages are falling out. But we cannot bring ourselves to get new books; because after we read each story, we write a little about the going-on-s of the day. For example: We read the story, "The Real Christmas Spirit" while we were in Ohio. We wrote; Theo's (a resturaunt) with a friend; Donuts for dinner. Very cold. 

These books hold very special memories... memories that should be shared.

We have about 20 of them, and over all the years have picked MANY favorites that we read each year. I am thinking about doing some posts with some of our favorites. What do y'all think? Maybe 2-3 a week until Christmas. If y'all are interested, please leave a comment. ;) 

Have a blessed day, y'all!

In Christ,

Nature~

Aren't God's creations just beautiful?! While in Ohio, my family and I had the opportunity to take many, many nature walks. Here are a few more pictures of God's beautiful flowers, and creatures. 

The same barn as the first picture... just on the way back from the walk. ;)


Hope you enjoyed the pictures. 
Have a blessed night, y'all!


In Christ,

Thanksgiving Weekend

This weekend has been very enjoyable... on Thanksgiving at noon we went to the family-in-laws house, and had dinner with them. :) It was a wonderful time of fun, food and thanksgiving! But sadly, I forgot my camera! :( It was very enjoyable though, but let me tell you! when 7:00 came we were ready for some relaxation. 

Yesterday, (Friday) my brother in law, sister and niece and 3 nephews came over to spend a few days. :) In the evening, we made CANDY APPLES! :)

The products... Bottom left, and up and around: marshmallows, toffee crunch, coconut, chocolate chips, peanut butter bits, (otherwise called Reese's Pieces) and chopped nuts. :)

My nephew Jude "inspecting". 

My oldest nephew, Silas. :)

My niece Mireya. (Her birthday was the 23rd. :)) 

Mireya loved throwing chocolate chips in the air, and catching them in her mouth! :) Of course she liked eating them too... she was quite good at it! 

My oldest sister, Angie, demonstrating.  

"Cade Bug" (my youngest nephew)

 Silas *sorry it is blurry.. :(*

 My overloaded delicious apple

All the finished products!

They sure were delicious! :)

Last evening I also had a special time playing with Cade... such a sweetie. 

His favorite toy... for the moment. ;)

Isn't he CUTE?!

(Jude wanted his picture taken.. :D)

Tired boy... (Or so I thought at the time... 2 hours later I knew I was wrong. :D)

Today we had "our" Thanksgiving dinner with the family. It was such a blessing.

Cade Bug loves Liberty. :) 

 Sweet 'taters'. ;)

 Homemade cranberry sauce. :)

Carving the turkey

We also had a delicious 7 layer salad, but I didn't get a picture. :(

The table

We have so much to be thankful for... I hope y'all's Thanksgiving was as blessed as mine was. :) I have enjoyed reading your posts about your 'days'. 

Have a blessed night, and a wonderful Sabbath tomorrow!

In Christ,

Thanksgiving~

When most of us hear that word, we think of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, rolls, and if you are in our family, Mom's special 'harvest mix' which is squash, zucchini, corn, onions, sweet and regular potatoes. Thanksgiving dinner is a time to enjoy fellowship, food, and laughter. 

But why did the pilgrims have a day of thanksgiving? 

First of all, to celebrate their safe arrival (which was sadly dampened by many deaths that first cold, hard winter.) But once Spring came, and the Indians became friendly, they learned many new ways to prepare and plant foods. 

Here is a list of some food Piligrims had:

Fish

Wild turkey

Goose

Duck

Indian corn

Wheat flour

Different berries - cranberries, raspberries, blueberries.

Squash

Pumpkin

Beans

Yam or sweet potato

Nuts

Secondly, and most importantly (!) their religious freedom! To pray to and serve the God that had brought them through so many hardships, and good times. I have posted about this before, but I know that I do not fully appreciate the religious, financial and academic freedom that I now experience today, in America. 

How blessed we truly are! We have so many things to be grateful for... and I find myself saying to God, "Lord, why can't you do this?" or "Lord, I really wish you would do that." But I look around at all the people suffering in this world.. those persecuted for their faith, while we daily experience the blessings of living in this Nation.  

May we learn to be thankful for all the blessings God has bestowed on us.

Have a blessed THANKSGIVING, and while your at it, please remember to give thanks to the One who provides for all your needs... not just the food you enjoy on Thanksgiving.
Be blessed,

  

By the way, {here} is a neat article about the first Thanksgiving in the USA.