Friday, December 24, 2010

Immanuel


"In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.




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 that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, 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 heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.'

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.'

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived."

Luke 2: 1-21





"All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”)."
Matthew 1: 22-23

Merry Christmas Eve

Kelly

Thursday, December 23, 2010

opening presents



Adrian 1979


David 2010


Really fun, huh?

And is it just me or does the present Adrian opened look similar to this toy on David's wishlist?

We had one of those at my grandma's house when we were growing up.


More present opening pics:


The boy's had practice as we opened gifts with my side of the family after Thanksgiving and he got to open his presents from his great grandma tonight.




As you can tell, he thinks presents are mighty tasty.






Wednesday, December 22, 2010

bearing gifts


Yesterday I blogged about how I was going to make a gingerbread house out of graham crackers last night. Well, the best laid plans . . .

It seems that *everyone* is down with the stomach bug.

We already had our share in October so we're really hoping that we don't get sick again.

Out of the six girls who were supposed to get together, four had the bug I think and one's kids did. Oh my.

We decided to call it off and reschedule a cookie swap for the new year.

Cookies aren't just for Christmas, right?

Anyway, I had stained glass cookies ready to go so I decided to add them to the hot chocolate mixes we'd already made for gifting to our neighbors.







Last night I decided that I needed to treat myself since I hadn't gotten to have girls' night so I put aside the to do list and when my little munchkin was in bed I broke out the supplies for my Christmas scrapbook.

I made a Christmas scrapbook for my mom several years ago with one layout for each year of the Christmases of our family.

I was excited to start one of my own and my mom gave me the album and pages for Christmas when we celebrated with them after Thanksgiving so I was ready to go.
Last night I was able to complete the cover page, 2007 and get 2008 well under way.

It will be fun to look back at our Christmases through the years as our family grows.

Anyway, getting out the scrapbooking stuff reminded me of some Christmas stencils I've had since childhood and I had a good time transforming some plain brown paper gift bags into something more festive for bearing gifts to our neighbors.

Thank you Jacquie and Julie for both making this possible! I'm sure I wouldn't have managed to accomplish gifts to our neighbors on my own and it's something I'm glad to be able to do.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

gingerbread house

This is my very first gingerbread house to ever make although I was quite fond of sugar cube castle making when I was young. I got to make this house with my friends Emily, Sarah and Rachel and Emily's parents for her birthday several years ago. Her parents made these yummy houses and the extremely yummy icing (I could have eaten that stuff all night!) to put them together. We had lots of fun.

Tonight I'm making graham cracker houses with a group of girls from my church. Anybody have any great tips or ideas for me to use on mine?

When you make a gingerbread house do you eat it?

Kelly

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Monday, December 13, 2010

christmas color week - green





Just saw this on Christian's blog.

What a fun idea.

Want to play along?


special helper


This is my very first nephew.

I now have 6 nephews and 2 nieces but this guy was my very first taste of being an aunt.

We're buddies.

He has a special love for rolls.

When we celebrated Christmas with my side of the family I asked him if he'd like to help me make the special Christmas morning rolls.

He was excited to do so and we had so much fun.




We have been making these treats for Christmas morning breakfast for many, many years.


Buy a couple packages of crescent rolls and lay the rolls out flat in pairs, pressing the seams together.



Mix together 8 oz. or so cream cheese (for two packages of rolls), some powdered sugar (sorry I don't have exact amounts) and some almond extract.


Put some of this mixture on top of the crescents.


Make sure it tastes good.




Top with a dollop of cherry pie filling.


Bake at 350 until golden. Enjoy!



What do you eat on Christmas morning?

Kelly

top photo: Mandy
all others: Adrian

Sunday, December 12, 2010

three little boys


What happens when you get three little boy cousins together?


Sometimes things get a little bit crazy.



Can you even imagine when they're all running around?

Fun times are ahead!

Are you close to your cousins?

I grew up around many cousins on my mom's side of the family and we had lots of adventures together. One of the things I can remember doing is making our own "Double Dare" show. Do you remember that tv show?

Kelly

Saturday, December 11, 2010

cutie cousins


We got to spend great time with some of our cousins over Thanksgiving!

Not all moments were this idyllic however. :)

More pictures to come tomorrow.

Stay tuned.

Kelly

p.s. We LOVED the weeble treehouse that's at Nana's house and we scored one of our own on craigslist this week for only $15! Yippee!

photo by Mandy

Friday, December 10, 2010

ten on ten - December


morning


love that smile


prepping


new stage - nothing is safe

(including Christmas cards apparently, sorry Julie!)



decorating


dishes


lunch


looking through old photos

circa 1994


exploring big time - good thing those outlet covers were already there



Daddy's home!


very yummy dinner at church with friends


Julie putting together hot chocolate mix for us to gift to our neighbors



Is anyone else still in the very midst of decorating for Christmas or are all of you already done?



Kelly



TEN ON TEN :: THE IDEA

Take a photo every hour for ten consecutive hours on the tenth of each month. Document a day of your life and find beauty among the ordinary moments. Then share your beauty with us!