on Christmas Day in the morning...

Let me give you a wee picture of what happens behind this closed door on Christmas Day...

in the morning.

 

We always do brunch with the family.

Some traditions change from year to year...

but that is one that has remained the same.

We have the very same menu from year to year as well!

I'm not allowed to mess with that...

so I have been told.

Christmas Morning Wife Saver (breakfast casserole)

Fresh Fruit Salad

Croissants

These two were here before the others arrived.

Lucy fetched Baby Jesus from the nativity scene...

and cradled Him for a bit.

Maggie returned Him to His place among the shepherds, wisemen and angels.

My nephew came next.

He lives in our area...

and has no immediate family nearby.

And he is always fun to have.

Just ask the kids!

He decided to don the Santa suit and be the greeter as the rest arrived.

Ooops. 

All pretense was over...

as the beard fell to the floor.

Since when is Santa tall and skinny anyhow?

Once brunch was over and done with...

we moved to the living room.

We could have lingered at the table much longer...

had Lucy not insisted it was time to open the gifts!

Emme read the Christmas story for us...

from the Children's Storybook Bible.

She had everyone's attention...

even the wee ones.

We started a new tradition this year.

The gift-opener sat on the 'gift-opening chair'.

That worked well!

How was it that these two both got the same gift from the one who had their name?

I was glad that the Furby's were not staying at Grammy's house...

especially when I learned that there was no OFF switch. :)

Emme and Spencer will be playing tennis with us this year!

Brendan loves nothing better than a good book!

I'm not sure he was all that impressed with the books he was required to read on Christmas Day.

But he was a very good sport...

and read to Micah and Lucy for well over an hour.

Ranen and Maggie changed into their new jammies...

and nibbled at chocolate monograms they found in their stockings.

And before we parted ways on Christmas Day...

Ranen played some carols for us on her violin.

And she played one of my favorite old German carols...

Oh, come, little children, oh, come, one and all,
To Bethlehem’s stable, in Bethlehem’s stall.
And see with rejoicing this glorious sight,
Our Father in heaven has sent us this night.

As she played...

the words ran through my mind in German...

like I learned them so long ago.

Ihr Kinderlein, kommet, o kommet doch all!
Zur Krippe her kommet in Bethlehems Stall
und seht, was in dieser hochheiligen Nacht
der Vater im Himmel für Freude uns macht!

And that was Christmas 2013...

behind the closed door.

There was laughter and joy...

good times, good food and good gifts.

But there was also sadness...

as we acknowledge that in a family there are difficult times.

Even at Christmas!

the wonder of it all...

Is this Christmas?

Lucy is two...

and wonders what Christmas really is.

  

For the past decade...

we have taken the pre-schooler grands to an animated Christmas village at a local sweets shoppe.

Micah and Lucy are the only pre-schoolers this year...

and the two cousins had a wonderful time together.

The wee ones love it...

including the old-fashioned 'horsie rides'.

For the old-fashioned price of 25 cents...

they both had a thrilling ride.

And another...and another...and another.

Lucy carries a puppy with her at all times...

and noticed that her 'Spot' was in good company!



Puppies and penguins...
angels and elves...
 soldiers and santas and twinkling lights.

'Is this Christmas?'
...she wonders.

Hardly!

May we always point the wee ones to Jesus...
 the reason for this season.

Wishing you all joy this season...
and Christmas in your heart.

 

And maybe some smiles.

And sprinkles too!


 

'tis the season...

It's time to 'deck the halls'.

We started outside...

and had the perfect day to hang lights earlier this week.

(Actually...we have had more than our fair share of 'perfect days' this November!)

It felt almost balmy.

He does the peaks.

I do the eaves.

Why does it seem we just barely take the lights down...

and it is time to hang them up again?

The years just fly by!

Once the lights were up...

Ranen and Micah came to bake peppernuts

...and packed up their 'take-home' bags.

I haven't found a grand yet that doesn't love those spicy little morsels!

 'Tis also the season for spinning of tires on lawns...
so it seems.
That is a little decorating that we never ordered!

It seems someone finds pleasure in making tracks over front lawns.
And when they were done playing on our front lawn...

they took to the field and did a little more damage.
There is a little consolation in knowing we were not the only ones targeted.

I looked at hubby and said...

'Do you still have your spike rods?'

And we had a good laugh.

A very long time ago...

we had the same thing happen on our front lawn.

Two weekends in a row.

Hubby decided to put an end to it...

and laid down three spike rods that he painted green.

The unsuspecting driver would not get away next time!

It was also November.
We were actually looking forward to have the offending vehicle make another visit!
It/he/she never returned...

though we were ready.

By spring we had long forgotten about the green spike rods...

and our daughter decided she would like to

do the first lawn-mowing job of the year.

She was unaware of the spike rods...

and we had long forgotten about them ourselves.

The John Deere lawn mower never made one round before it found those spikes.

We discovered that the spike rods worked well!

We got caught in our own web.

So now we just smile...

and turn the other cheek.

'Tis the season!

handmade and pinteresting...

Though I am little reluctant to 'pack away Christmas'...

I started yesterday.

In a small way.

Indoors only.

And I took note of a few of gifts...

handmade ones...

that I am not packing away...

but will enjoy throughout the year.

Those white-washed milk bottles that sit on my wee kitchen window sill...

were a gift from Lisa.

She got the idea from pinterest...

and went with it.

So fun.

I love them!

And my sister sent me a personalized calendar.

If you happen to be related to me...

all your important dates are marked on the calendar.

It is hanging in my ensuite...

where I am bound to take note.

A soft and fleecy scarf arrived in the mail at Christmas...

handmade by a dear friend from afar.

A scarf with pockets.

How fun is that?

Way back when...

I got inspired by Vee to make boot cuffs for my girls.

And then Karen was turning out infinity scarves by the dozen...

so I thought I'd try my hand at those as well.

 

On our road trip in November I crocheted three sets of infinity scarves...

and three sets of boot cuffs.

I couldn't tell you about them at the time though...

...since they were Christmas gifts for these three girls.

 The cuffs fit. 

They look better with boots, though! :)

I sewed all the grandgirlies some nice girlie aprons...

and found a reindeer apron for Ryder...

but Micah was apronless.

So...

just before Christmas...

I quickly sewed him a gingerbread man apron...

with stuff from the scrap bag.

I saw a picture on pinterest...

copied what I saw...

and it turned out cute.

So...

I'm sharing it here now...

in case anyone needs ideas for next Christmas.

By then I will have long forgotten about it.

I packed away my nativity scene yesterday...

along with the handmade Saint Thomas Cross that was part of the display.

The wooden self-standing cross is made by carving pale wood (such as aspen) into paper thin shavings.  

It is a traditional Finnish Christmas decoration and came from our friends in Finland.  

There are not many craftsmen left who are able to make the crosses...

and so I treasure mine. 

And that is  my 'handmade and pinteresting' post for today.

 

Enjoy the first weekend of 2013!

 

memories of christmas 2012...

Family...

together at Christmas.

Those are the memories that live on.

We had some quiet moments...

of quality cousin time.

Some...

not so quiet!

We played Quirkle (new to me and fun...even if I was the 'biggest loser')...

and Apples to Apples...

and 'steal'.

On Christmas Eve we all took in the six o'clock church service.

I don't recall ever not attending church on Christmas Eve.

Those services are the best...

and usually end in the singing of Silent Night by candlelight.

A capella.

Beautiful!

This year, hubby and I were the 'token' grandparents...

and read the Christmas story from our rocking chairs on the stage...

to the 'one-hundred' pre-schoolers sitting at our feet.

Two sat on our laps.

Two we knew quite well.

It seemed our laps weren't big enough for all who wanted to climb up!

After church...

the kids and grands all came for appies.

And so ended...

'the night before Christmas'.

They went home to their own beds...

to return before long.

In the morning...

I re-set the table for brunch.

Tradition dictates what we eat every single Christmas morning.

Christmas morning wifesaver...fresh fruit salad...warm 'potato' rolls.

The place cards were made up last minute...

inspired by 'pinterest'.

A 'shipping tag...tied to a sprig of greenery.

The grands always wonder when 'grandpa Santa' will appear.

Unfortunately, grandpa was feeling 'under the weather'...

and not up to playing Santa.

But my nephew Brendan...

who joined us for the day...

stepped into the suit.

It seems one size really does fit all!

Brendan disappeared to take a phone call from his parents in Manitoba...

and re-appeared at the front door as Santa.

Everyone had a good laugh.

They seemed to think Santa was far too tall and lean this year...

despite the added pillow fluff!

 

The pre-requisite to getting their stocking was a visit to Santa's knee.

Some were a little reluctant to take their seat!

Is this not how one-year-old-visits to Santa always go?

It was a doll kind of Christmas for the wee girls this year.

The boys got 'wheels'.

And once the gifts were all opened...

we sat back to enjoy a violin recital.

Wintertime in Russia...by Ranen.

Beautiful!

Lucy much preferred that to sitting on Santa's knee. 

 

Kris went to work at noon. 

(There are those who are required to work on Christmas Day.)

The rest of us played games...

and ate some more!

This year I gave the grands each an apron for Christmas...

to go with their fully autographed copies of Mennonite Girls Can Cook.

I had planned to do that for Christmas 2011...

but never got the aprons made.

Enough for now...

of Christmas memories 2012.

We are off to a family turkey dinner today...

at my sister's.

Happy Boxing Day...

one and all!

Wishing you a Merry Christmas!

He loves each of us

as if there were only

one of us.

~St. Augustine

 

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,

that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

And that is why we celebrate Christmas.

May you experience the Lord's goodness and blessing

in a very special way this Christmas!

(Though we are having a little snow here today...
the photo is from 'yesteryear'.)

 

'twas the week before christmas...

'Twas the week before Christmas

there was so much to do...

...but I took a few pictures

so I'll show those to you.

The cookies were baked

by the grands, as you see...

they donned their new aprons

and sampled with glee!

The concerts were many...

we took in a few...

the ones our grands were a part of...

were our favorites to view!

The lights that were strung here and there in our city...

called us to come see.

To miss them would be a pity!

The snow is still here...

the valley is white.

Merry Christmas to all...

and to all a good night.

(...on this the eve of 4th advent Sunday)

a gathering of friends at christmas...

We had a little get-together here on Sunday night...

...the gals from MGCC and their hubbies.

(Ellen made the trek north from Seattle...

while Betty and Char had their own little get-together in Manitoba.)

 When these gals offer to bring food...

they mean business.

Delicious...

and plentiful!

There were a lot of cooks in the kitchen!

We played games...

and had a white elephant gift exchange.

The 'elephant-in-the-bag' could be anything that one already owned...

but could not be purchased for the gift exchange.

Amazing what fun gifts we came up with.

The most sought after one...

...was a wire basket filled with 2 1/2 dozen extra-large farm fresh eggs

...laid that very morning.

I was happy to have the eggs in my fridge when the evening was over...

and have already broken into the stash!

Marg somehow landed up with a wire robe...

which was most appropriate.

Her i-pad at times types words without her approval.

On her most recent get-away she sent us a note...

describing the relaxing time she was having...

as she lounged beside the pool in her 'wire' robe...

coffee in hand. 

It turns out she was wearing a white robe...

and i-pad got things a little confused.

Meanwhile we will forever have visions of Marg in her wire robe!

The guys played crokinole..

...many rounds, it seems.

The girls spent hours around the table.

We had things to look after...

and stories to tell...

and gifts to exchange...

and friendships to enjoy.

What a fun time we always have together!

Friends are a gift from God...

adding beauty and joy to our lives.