Happy New year

May we all have a very blessed 2013. It is a chance for a new beginning, a fresh start...and who doesn't sometimes need a fresh start. Jesus can give us that fresh start no matter what time of year it is. His love is very real and powerful. Get to know Him this year. Make 2013 a year of following Jesus and make him Lord of your life.

White Christmas

We got something for Christmas we don't usually get.......a white Christmas and as warm as it has been up until now, I didn't really think it would stick. But stick it did. I love snow, so beautiful and peaceful.

Merry Christmas

Can you believe it is almost Christmas Day? Where did the time go this year!!!! So far we have had a wonderful season with The Polar Express train ride, the Christmas parties, decorating gingerbread houses and so much more. Of course most of it involved the grandsons. Such fun but I don't want to forget the real reason for the season and that is the birth of my Lord, Jesus Christ. None of this would be possible without Him. Oh my goodness at the blessings He has given me and my family. I couldn't even begin to count them all. He is such a loving, faithful, mighty God who is with us through everything. My mother had a favorite poem that one part of it says that when you only see one set of footprints in the sand, that is when He was carrying you. What a comfort to know that when we can no longer walk, he carries us. Thank you Jesus, for coming to earth only to have to die on that cross to save us from our sins and take us to heaven with You. Merry Christmas and may God richly bless you.

Gingerbread house time

Last night was gingerbread house decorating time. We love doing this every year and started decorating gingerbread houses even before the boys were born. This is the first year that both boys actually could do the decorating and Noah even did his mainly by himself. I also saw a tip on decorating the houses the other day about the actual building of the house. We always have trouble with that part.......keeping them together with just the royal icing. Well, this mother "glued" her houses together BEFORE the kids started decorating them and not with just the icing but with hot glue. So the night before, I did just that. What a difference that made. The decorating was so much easier. The houses actually stayed together while we decorated them. Fun times and lots of memories were made again last night.
These are gingerbread houses pre-Noah and Jonah made by adults.

The gingerbread houses the boys made.

 

No words

I have no words.....just prayers and tears for those families in Connecticut.

Christmas decor

I have noticed in the blogging world that everyone is showing off their Christmas mantels and I thought I might as well show off mine too. So here it is. If you look closely, you can see a little bit of the beach in my decorating. With all of the shells we collected this summer, I have shells in most every part of my decor; Christmas or not.

This is right next to my mantel and is where I hang the grandkids stockings. There are three up there now but one without a name because we don't know just yet if it is a boy or girl. Noah asked me if that stocking was for his friend Alyssa. I said no, then he asked if it was for the baby. I said yes. He is so smart. (it's really not hanging crooked, it's the way I took the picture.)

Christmas Parade

Christmas has officially begun. We went to the Christmas parade last night, haven't been in years. We used to go all the time because one of the kids was usually in it, especially Josh marching with the high school band. This year we went because Noah and Jessica were riding in a float. It was a long parade and of course they were in the back. Oh well. I think Jonah really enjoyed watching it.