December ~ 'twas all about Christmas

The rose blooming in my garden in December brings to mind an old Christmas carol...

Lo, how a Rose e'er blooming
From tender stem hath sprung!
Of Jesse's lineage coming
As men of old have sung.
It came, a flower bright,
Amid the cold of winter
When half-gone was the night.

The December sunrise came later every morning...

with the moon still hanging in the western sky.

The month started off cold and it was easy to turn our thoughts to Christmas celebrations. 

We started off the month with a MGCC Christmas party...

hosted by Anneliese this year. 

It was a beautiful evening with special friends...

good food and so much fun!

It was beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

Our 'life group' had a Christmas party early in the month as well...
always a highlight of the season.
The 'white elepant' gift exchange is always our entertainment for the evening.
A few items seem to re-appear from year to year!

Then there were the concerts...

Lucy played in her first violin recital.

Sweet Lucy...
she did a fine job!

Getting up in front of people is not one of Micah's favorite things to do...
but he surprised us all and played a beautiful old German carol called Ihr Kinderlein Kommet
(Oh Come All Ye Children).

Ranen has no fear of playing for an audience...

and plays beautifully!

And there were school concerts...

featuring some of my 'elfin' grands.

And we also managed a trip into the city to take in Cirque de Soliel Kurios with the youngest five grands.

What a circus that is!

 Emme, Spencer and Ryder spent a few days with us while their parents were out of town...

and they quite enjoyed cooking their own dinner at the table...

raclette style!

It seems you can enjoy Swiss raclette even if you refuse to eat cheese.

There are plenty of other options.

One evening we took Maggie and Lucy on a Christmas light tour in our town.

There are some amazing displays...

and their favorites were the ones that danced to the music!

We delivered a few Christmas gifts to Dad and Marge the week before Christmas...

and Dad decided there was no better time than the present to unwrap the gifts.

Why not?

We never know what tomorrow may bring.

Tonight was the night we were to have an extended family gathering at their place.

The room was booked.

The food was prepared and Dad was so looking forward to having his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren together for a Christmas celebration.

But freezing rain in the valley today put an end to those plans...

and we have re-scheduled for another time.

It's just as well Dad and Marge opened their gifts the week before Christmas!

As for Christmas at our place...

we had a lovely time with the family.

 They all came for an appetizer buffet following the candlelight service on Christmas Eve.

On Christmas Day, we had a late morning brunch and then exchanged gifts.

It seemed so quiet and peaceful this year...

the grands are all growing up so quickly.

We always manage to make a big mess...

and lots of good memories!

I will leave you with a few of my favorite snap-shots taken this month.

With cold temperatures, blue skies and snow-capped peaks...
I couldn't resist 'snapping'.

Where the corn fields stood a few months ago...

the winter wheat is now a lovely green against the the backdrop of the white mountains.

That was last week.

Tonight the field is under a blanket of snow...

with a layer of ice to top it off!

Red, white and blue.

Blueberry fields, snow-capped peaks and blue skies.

The wineter sunsets were amazing this month.

God paints the best pictures!

I will end with a photo of the grands taken on Christmas Eve.

Maggie, Emme, Spencer, Ryder (Pauline ~ exchange student from Switzerland)
Micah, Ranen and Lucy.

Thank-you for continuing to vist me here on My Front Porch...

even though the updates are few and far between.

I hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Christmas...

and wish you the very best in the new year!