Christmas Days of 2018

We were so thankful in a change with some family jobs this past year so that we could have several days with both kids home.  Mostly it was God’s placements in giving us more family time and to Him we are thankful!!

JP arrived about 2 on Saturday after leaving his apt at 4:30 a.m.   K arrived about 6, being able to get home a bit earlier with a boss that values family time.  (so thankful!)

We had Sunday church together and then Christmas Eve service together.   Can’t say I didn’t shed a tear (or 2…) to have them both with us.

Sunday afternoon we had a few hours with the in-laws as that was Gpa’s 87th birthday.

Gma had collected drawings and writings from Miss K over a large piece of her childhood and glued it into a spiral notebook. (Part of K’s birthday gift earlier in December.)  They had such fun looking at it!  The next day we scanned everything and Miss K is going to make it into a printed book that will last vs the glue stick and notebook paper.  It is precious!  Gma M is very good at these savings in her own unique way.

We had Christmas Day at home.  ♥ Throughout the weekend, K & I had started the sewing project and it was fun to do that together.  Everyone helped cook meals and with dishes.  We enjoyed movies and an online game JP has that we play on the TV but with each of our phones.  It is fun and hilarious.  I have no idea the name or link for that.  You’ll have to ask him.

 

Good food and fun new recipes!

Hot-Buttered Apples and we served them over ice cream!  Yum! (gluten-free!)  This was dessert for Christmas dinner at noon with the in-laws.   I took this photo which was my supper that evening while under my electric throw on the couch!

Also a great new recipe is Tex-Mex Queso!  We had this Christmas Eve after church!  We added a pound of browned ground pork/sausage to make it more of a meal.  Yummy and easy to get ready quickly.

 

 

Sunset on December 23.  Wonderful color!

I offered to make my farmer a gift wish list with email links in early November but he said, “I thought we don’t do gifts.”  Hmpf!  So I shopped for myself on Thanksgiving weekend with the great sales online and the kids had gone back to their own homes.

Then 2 weeks before Christmas he asked for ideas!!!  #smackmyforehead  I sent a link to The Featherweight Shop and I think I included a few suggestions but he chose other things as well to make it to $100 and get his free shipping!  🙂  This is what I got!!  He excitedly told me they had things on sale and he got free shipping!

The needle threader/inserter is great!  As well as the thread cutter that sticks to the face plate.  So tiny but works super and just like my Bernina that I’m used to using!  The earrings are darling and don’t bother my ears at all.  Socks are calf-length (just above ankle a few inches for me) and a medium weight. Great quality shirt!!  Usual sizing.

I got him a new wallet as his in in shreds… but as usual, he didn’t like it and I sent it back.  He isn’t into gifts so that is fine.  At some point, he’ll decide he NEEDS a wallet and will find something!  LOL!

We had a wonderful time all together!  Saying good-bye is hard….

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December Waiting

This was my first Christmas to do a personal Advent study on the days leading up to Christmas.  I grew up in a church that followed that tradition but we don’t follow that now.  I thought I’d try it this year on my own.

I used the book: For All by Becky Kiser.  HERE is a link for it on Amazon if you are interested.  I’m not an affiliate so no connection if you use my link.  It is workbook format and the Sunday/candle days are optional or could be used alone if desired.  They are in the front of the book and not mixed in with the other days.

I even made a cluster of candles from things I already had on our coffee table in the living room.  I love candles and on the nights I was sitting in the living room, would light the appropriate number of candles for the week.  Yes, as we got closer to the celebration of the Light of the World, the room got brighter as well!

In the past, our church has set up a photo area for family Christmas photos.  I was counting on it this year but they didn’t do it.  So a tree with an outlet in the wall…. and us!  (One of us still needs to find a selfie stick that will hold my big camera and case!)

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We agreed after last Christmas that we were ready for a smaller Christmas tree and I got one from Ambrose Christmas Tree Store the first week of November.  I was hoping to beat the rush (and they had trees at 30% off) but my order got lost and I waited until the week after Thanksgiving and called.  I was nearby the next day and they said they’d have it ready and they did!  I was so pleased I got it there.  Lifetime guarantee to fix and/or replace the lights or anything that goes wrong with it.  Yeah!   I had chosen the tree star from there and they had that in place as well.

Thankfully, Miss K loves to do the ornaments (I don’t!) and she finished the decorating when she got here.  ♥

And… if a day had sunshine, about 3:30 p.m. it would make the sparkles on the star reflect onto the ceiling.  Delightful!

Also for the first time EVER, I bought an Advent calendar of sorts.  A chocolate one!  At Aldi.  It must have been the 1st day they were out as I never saw them again.  Glad to have The Nutcracker vs only santa.  I put it away in a spare bedroom closet as I bought it before Thanksgiving!

And then forgot about it until the middle of December! So I decided to do it on the days of January to make that month a bit more tolerable!  I forgot and started on the 4th of January!  Ha!  Then had a family interruption that included an unplanned trip to Ohio on the 7th so got off track again.  I resumed maybe by the 17th or so.

I forgot some nights and finished on Feb 7.  Once I shared with my farmer.  He doesn’t savor chocolate…. so I didn’t want to waste it.  It was all good!!  ♥

I will watch Aldi next November for a new one!

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