A gift from a friend

I received my first Christmas present today! UPS delivered lots of boxes and I thought they were all gifts I had ordered for others. One return address didn't look familiar and I didn't remember ordering from this company. The reason was... a friend sent me a Christmas gift! This friend is a gift to me all year long! I will always think of her when I use this pretty mug.

Thank you Jenny....

I love my new mug!

 

Merry Christmas

 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them,  “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christa the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

                                                                                           Luke 2:8-14

 
 

 

Navitity

Made by Jim as a surprise for me years ago...

All these were made in Honduras...

Do you have some Nativities you look forward to setting out each year?

Night of Wonder

Our church works with a non-profit organization called 6 Stones My husband, Jim, also serves on the board. One of the things they do during the year is work with all 19 elementary schools in the area to have a Christmas Party for the children and their families. This party is called Night of Wonder and is held on each school campus in early December. At the party, each family will receive their gifts and a Christmas dinner to take home. They also have a very special gift created for the children to give to their parent(s) on Christmas morning. During this party a local pastor will tell the real reason for Christmas...Jesus! It is a very meaningful and fun evening.

I want to share Jim's story of one night when he went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things:

"I went to Walmart this past week. They had poinsettias on sale for $3.47. I picked up 3 of those. There was water right inside the store. Within 60 seconds, I was at the quick checkout. The lady said, "Oh, those are beautiful poinsettias. How much where they?" I said, "They're $3.47." She said, "Oh, I love poinsettias, but that's way outside my budget." She paused and a smile spread across her face as she continued, "Last year the strangest thing happened. My two girls were adopted by some organization and we went to this Christmas party they were having. They gave away these poinsettias as raffle prizes and we won 2 of them! We were so blessed last year.

I said, "Do you mind if I ask you, do you know who that was?"
"It was some group of people that call themselves 6 Stones."

We have adopted our family and bought our gifts.  We will be working at Night of Wonder next week. I want to share the love of Jesus and see smiles on the faces of those we are helping.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

It's cold outside, so look what I've been doing inside!

I found these Christmas ornaments in a box in the attic. 

They belonged to my mother-in-law.

I think my daughter, Stacy, bought them for her one year.

They look so pretty setting on my buffet with the other things I have.

(Card may be purchased at The Wheatfield by Katie Daisy . She has many other pretty cards and prints.  I love having it set on my buffet!)

This gingerbread house is one I purchased from Party Lite years ago and I love burning tea lights in it each year! I know little people that visit will be loving the candy canes! 

I even had time to make soup for our dinner!  It is simmering on the stove and smells so good!  Click this link for Company's Coming Soup

Fudge Nut Bars

I baked some cookies and bars today. It was fun being in the kitchen listening to Christmas music as I baked. While I was making the Fudge Nut Bars I began to think of the friend that gave me the recipe. I met Janet when we were stationed at Ft. Benning, GA in 1977.  We lived next door to each other and became fast friends. Janet loved to entertain and had a lot of good recipes.  I am glad she shared this one with me. Tomorrow I will share them with the ladies at our Christmas event.

Fudge Nut Bars

1 C. butter

2 C. brown sugar

2 eggs

2 1/2 C. flour

1 t. salt

1 t. soda

3 C. oatmeal

2 t. vanilla

Combine above ingredients.

Spread 3/4  of oatmeal mixture in bottom of 13"x9" pan.

Filling: 

Combine in double boiler

12 oz. package chocolate chips

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 t. butter

1/2 t. salt

Heat and stir until smooth. Add 1 C. nuts and 2 t. vanilla.

Cover oatmeal mixture with the filling.

Dot top with remaining oatmeal mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.  Don't overbake.

Freezes well!

Kitty, Merry- go-Round, cookie, and smiles....

Today Jim and I took Ashlynn to Build A Bear.  It was our Christmas gift to her.  She didn't know what she was going to do with us, only that Nana and Pa were taking her someplace.  It became clear to us she had no idea what Build A Bear is because when we told her what we were going to do...build a bear...she said, "is that a slide?"  As we entered the store and we were greeted by the person that would explain to Ashlynn what we were going to do.

Next she began making a choice of a bear, dog, bunny, or kitty.

The kitty won!

After choosing the kitty we picked out a heart for her.  Then went to the station where the kitty would be stuffed . In went the heart and then Ashlynn helped stuff the kitty.

After stuffing and sewing the back she went to the area where she brushed and fluffed up the kitty.

When the kitty was ready it was time to shop for clothes for her.

And dressing Kitty!

Then it was time to name Kitty.  I sat down with Ashlynn and asked her what she would like to name her new kitty.  Without hesitation she said, "spider".  I wasn't sure what to say.  I talked to her some about what other names she liked, called her mommy for some ideas, talked to her some more and she chose...

DORA for her kitty's name! 

Time to get the birth certificate for Dora!

Ready to take Dora home !!

We ended our day with a carousel ride, lunch, a cookie with red sprinkles and play time on an ice cream truck.

I hope Ashlynn had as much fun on her day with us as we had with her!  She is a delight!

Christmas crafts...

This morning Colette (4 1/2) and I went to Shawna's to do a Christmas craft with Ashlynn (2 1/2).They had such fun making Christmas tree ornaments with felt and beads. Colette also made a necklace for her and one for a friend.

Ashlynn's ornaments

Colette's ornaments

Christmas time with Hannah, Samuel & Ashlynn...

We are so thankful for each child that is a part of our lives.  We had a fun time Friday night giving gifts to Hannah and Samuel and they gave gifts to Ashlynn.  We loved watching the smiles on their faces and hearing their giggles.  We are blessed by each of them!