Good Morning!  It is quiet in my house now.  I sit here reflecting back over the
last two weeks, and thought I would share just a few of the highlights of that time
with you, my blogging friends.  Simple, yet meaningful highlights from my small
corner of the world.

Above, the delightful surprise that we discovered, when we drove through the
old, wooden covered bridge recently.  Someone, had lovingly hung stars from
it's ceiling, as an act of kindness for all who drove through.  At night, each star
was lit.  So pretty and memorable!  Thank you to whomever took the time to
do that for everyone!

Remember the friend who made the trees on my mantel, a few Christmases ago?  She did
it again.  She dropped by with this, yet another beautiful, unique, and artistic set of
trees that she made for me.  She is quite gifted, and I was most blessed.  I will show
you what I did with these trees in a later post.

The best part of this special season, is that I got to spend time with all of my
immediate family.   A rare happening indeed, and I treasure every memory of
it all.  This is our youngest daughter and her family, with another little guy
expected to make his entrance to this world in May.  They spent a week with
us, visiting from the Midwest.

Our oldest daughter and her family, including our oldest grandson and his
new wife, celebrating with us for the first time.

Our middle daughter and her family, who spent a week with us, visiting from
the south.

We celebrated on December 26th, starting out with a 9:00 breakfast.  Here is
the children's table.

And the adult table, including the two youngest ones.

After breakfast, we began the time with our oldest daughter reading one of our
favorite Christmas stories, "The Story of the Three Trees", followed by
our youngest granddaughter sharing verses that she memorized from Luke 2. 
What a special time it was!

Next was the gift exchange.  Soft, warm, and fluffy robes for these three. 

After our gift exchange, our middle daughter provided a time of games for everyone.
Fun games!  Games that all ages wanted to participate in.  We loved watching
a room full of our family, so intent on playing every game.

 

Only gifted game leaders can provide games that all ages want to play.

 And, all ages did, including...

 

 

...this "old" grandma.  The game...blow up balloons, stuff them into a pair of
panty hose, and place on the head.  Paw Pa's team and Maw Ma's team.  Guess
whose team one?  I still laugh when I remember it all:).

The next day, we spent the evening at a local amusement park's "winter wonderland".
What a lovely way to spend a cold holiday evening.  You can see how happy this
dad was to be surrounded by "his girls".

And of course, rides always bring smiles.

 I tried to eat more of this type of food, (thanks Hope, for an outstandingly fresh, flavorful,
and scrumptious salad!)...

...and less of this type of amazingly delicious, decadent food(thanks Jul).  Like I said,
I tried, but it is so difficult during the holidays. 

At the end of our days together, it was time to clean up the floor, and fortunately for
me, I had the cutest little helper ever to assist me!

Thank you for the privilege of sharing my celebrations with you.  Thank you for stopping
by, and for sharing your family times too.  What a blessing to have friends to share in
this journey of life.

Tomorrow a new year begins, and like we all know, we have no idea as to what all is
ahead. 

 

New Year Wishes to each and everyone of you!

 

It is early in the morning, as I sit here with my hot cup of coffee.  The

Christmas carols are playing softly on the radio.  There are only a few

days left until the 25th.  Only a few hours yet, until my family starts

rolling in from different parts of the country, to spend time together.

It will be the first time that we are all together since last Thanksgiving,

so you can understand the joy and anticipation I have within me, as I

sit here savoring my last sips of coffee, and reflecting on it all.

 

In the last weeks, I had fun tasting some of the yummy homemade cookies that have
been dropped off at my home by loving neighbors.

I've sat through several memorable, and totally enjoyable Christmas concerts,
and relished the privilege of watching each one of our precious grandchildren
participating in them.

I've spent time visiting with in our daughter and son-in-law's home, and seeing their
lovely Christmas decorations.

I've experienced fun moments with some of our grandchildren, sensing a real
excitement in their hearts for the upcoming Christmas visit.

The Christmas decorations are completed, with this being one of my favorite.

The homemade potpourri that arrived in the mail from a good friend, fills my kitchen
with the best aroma, and looks so pretty sitting in my Mother's glass dish.

The old fashion Christmas candy is in it's dish.  Always, it's colors and swirls take me back
to my grandma's festive and colorful dining room table.

Some years I share ornaments with our grandchildren.  This year, I found these adorable
animals from Jaclyn Smith's collection at our local K Mart Store.  Hopefully, in years
to come they will think of me when they hang them on their trees.

Don't you think this kitten is cute?

So, most of my check list is done.  A few more food items to make today, and a
some last minute errands to run.  But, even though all the physical things are taken
care of, I can't help but think back over something I read recently from Chuck
Swindoll on "Attitudes".  With a house full of family, it does take a lot of
give and take from everyone, but I think the hostess(me) has a way of setting the
tone of the day, would you agree?  Hence, the reason why this well written piece
on "Attitudes", is on my mind.

This holiday season, I ask God to give me a caring, patient, and kind attitude as I
walk through each day, interacting with so varying personalities of the nineteen
people in our home.   We are so thankful that we can all be together this
Christmas.

As for each one of you who stop by this blog from time to time, "thank you so much"!
It is a blessing to have you step into my world for a brief time.  I know many of you are
facing difficult and testing situations in your lives, and that this Christmas might
not hold the "Merry" for you.  With that in mind, I do wish you moments of "Joy
to the World", and in your "Silent Nights", huge doses of faith to keep on going.
I am grateful for you!  Here is a little something for you!

Christmas Blessings!

Hopefully the Moravian Star, the tiny lights, and the red door say "Welcome"
to all.  This being said, the people who enter and leave this door are far more
important than the decorations and the lights.

Speaking of our loved ones, remember this adorable little guy?  He had lots of pictures
shared on this blog over the years.  He has grown up quite a bit since this picture
was taken.

 

 

Here he is now.  With our recent move, we now have a wood burning fireplace. 

Along with that, we needed wood to burn, and help with it all.  Our grandson was a

huge help!  He and his grandfather unloaded the wood and stacked it on the

tarp in our screened in porch.

 

It was a time consuming, and he faithfully stuck with it until the job was completed. 

It blessed my heart in a special way, as I watched the two of them working together.

 

 So thankful for the carefully stacked wood.

  

  

 And, last night we burned the wood for the first time.  I grew up with

a wood burning fireplace, and it is one of my favorite aspects of the house

we now live in.

 

Just a little something for you on this cold, wintery December day.

Thank you for stopping by.

 

Take one glittery, silver high heel tree ornament from Walmart...

And one new, quart size paint can from the Sherwin Williams store, plus half a
sheet of pretty foil paper from the Dollar Tree...

Fill with these delicious, homemade, colorful little macaroons, made by Tara, a gifted
baker, and you have some fun gifts for a group of friends, in your Bible Study. 

If you wish, you can purchase some new, empty paint cans, some foil paper, and fill
them with cookies, tiny muffins, or some homemade granola.

The tags on these small gifts stated that "No one can fill your shoes!"  The options are
endless for the shiny cans.  And as always, the tags always complete the gift:), and
convey your heart thoughts.

This happy snowman hangs at my kitchen window, and it reminds me every time I
see it, of my dear Mother.  She liked to purchase "Christopher Radko" ornaments
for her children at Christmas.  It has been a year now since she went to Heaven,
and I treasure things like this, that serve as a reminder of the very special Mother
that she was.

Today I wish you some moments of joy, especially as you face the busyness of
the coming holiday!