Let's Catch Up

 

Since my last post before my break was the Monday before Thanksgiving,

I thought a bit of autumn glory would be an appropriate introduction

to getting caught up a bit.

How was your Thanksgiving?

Did you spend it with family and/or friends?

🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃

Strong Heart's brother and his wife invited us to spend the day at their house.

It was such a lovely day.

There was a lot of food choices, 

but the biggest blessing was spending time with family that we don't see very often.

Our niece and her husband and four boys were there,

as well as a family friend.

We came away with many precious memories tucked away in our hearts.

What kind of things did you do to prepare for Christmas?

Do you bake any traditional goodies?  Decorate a tree?  Wrap gifts?

🍪🎄🎁

I tried to include the Nativity in the above graphics, but sadly there was not one in the Blogger app. 

This is an AI generated one from the internet.

It's important to me to include this one, 

not that there's anything wrong with baking and decorating and giving gifts.

But the reason there is a Christmas is because of the birth of our precious Savior.

🍪🍪🍪

During my break, I did do some traditional baking.

The only "sweet treat" that Strong Heart asked for this year was the

German spiced cookie known as Lebkuchen.  

It's something that I've made every Christmas the years that our children were growing up and I've been continuing the tradition each year since we moved here 25 years ago.

This is an AI generated image from the Internet,

I've made different variations of them.

This year I cut them in squares and the citron and almonds were mixed in the dough.

🎄🎄🎄

We did have our little four-foot Christmas tree displayed.

I decorated it this year with my paternal grandma's Shiny Bright balls.

I love doing that because it makes me feel close to her.

She was a lady who had a great impact on my life.

👦👧👧

One of my very treasured memories from this year's Christmas preparations

was having the "Littles" from next door here to make gifts for them to give 

to their parents and grandmas.

Strong Heart had cut out a wooden puzzle of the type of dog they have.

Then the day they came over, he sat with the Little Guy as he painted it.

The girls and I made Lavendar soap for their gifts.

The oldest girl is now a teenager, 

so, she ran the microwave to do the melting of the soap compound,

Then they each took turns pouring the melted soap base into the soap molds 

and adding the Lavendar buds to the molds.

🍕🍨🍕

The second day that they came over was nothing but sheer joy and fun!

The three of them wrapped their Christmas gifts.

I had planned ahead by making and baking cut-out sugar cookies

and mixed up the icing for them.

Once they had wrapped their gifts,

I set them each up with the icing, sprinkles, knives, and cookies

and they went to work decorating them.

What fun they had!

I did take pictures, but just to ensure their privacy, I won't share those.

Once the cookies were all decorated,

we had pizza and ice cream.

They thought that was the end of the "party", 

but we surprised them with little gifts.

🎁🎁🎁

It was so much fun watching them open them and seeing their expressions!

Our daughter, son-in-law surprised us with a visit the middle of December.

They took us out for lunch and while we were sitting in the restaurant,

our grandson (their son who lives in a different state from them and us)

came walking into the restaurant to join in on the surprise!

Such a fun day!

I so enjoyed just having a slower pace this year leading up to Christmas Day.

It gave me an opportunity to spend more time each day in God's Word

and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.

Please let me know in the comments what your favorite part of Christmas was for you this year!  

I'd love to hear!

 

 

The Header and the Blog

 Hello Friends! 

 I'm easing back into this world of blogging this week with excitement.

I thought I would share a bit about the header on the blog today.

I had mentioned to a friend that, as much as I loved my old header,

I was just ready for something different for the season.

I described a snowy winter scene and had it all pictured in my mind.

Then I went to photos so I could choose a winter scene, 

but couldn't really find one that I liked.

In doing so, I discovered this old header from when I blogged 

several years ago.

As I studied the images on the header, 

I came to the conclusion that it was a perfect header for this time of the year.

The beginning of a new year often brings new viewers to the blog.

I thought this picture would give viewers a look into who the author of this blog is.

I truly enjoy flowers, family, cooking and baking, and garden produce!

This picture for the header says it all...

including the name of the blog,

because TRUE JOY is found in HIS Presence!

 

From My Journal

 TODAY IS: 6 January 2025

AROUND ME:  Beautiful white snow!  We currently have about six inches of snow, and it is forecast that we will have another six inches before today is over.

I AM PONDERING:  how fun it is to listen to the "Littles" next door having fun playing in the snow and sled riding down a steep bank.  Love hearing their laughs!

AMONG MY FAVORITE THINGS: being inside with a fire in the woodstove...especially when it's a dreary day outside.  As we say around here, "Just because it's dreary outside doesn't mean it has to be dreary inside. " :)

BOOKS I AM CURRENTLY ENJOYING:   The Soul's Conflict by Richard Sibbes  I'm making a bit of progress on this read.  I have read a few other books in between but have been making a lot of progress in this particular book.  I've promised myself that before I start any other reading, I will finish this one!

I AM THANKFUL FOR: my husband, my Redeemer, my Nurse Practitioner, our Pastor and his wife, my Bible, beautiful white flakes of snow, the men who work with our State Department of Highways who diligently work to keep our road clear in bad weather.

NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN:  The road we take to church is a country road (like many in West Virginia that are full of turns and curves) so we see pasture fields and enjoy keeping track of the cattle in the fields.  I recently noticed a bull that had a white W on its body.  Strong Heart explained to me that the person had bought the bull at a recent West Virginia University Wardensville Bull Testing Station.  The W that I saw was their way of freeze branding and I now understand what freeze branding is.

FROM THE KITCHEN:  I don't have much to report in this area with pictures.  During the Christmas holidays I did do a bit of baking...and some of it is still in the freezer.  One traditional cookie that I make every year at Christmas is the German spice cookie Lebkuchen.  I just didn't take pictures this year.

SOMETHING I REALLY ENJOY:  True friends such as these two pictured below.

TO DO LIST FOR TODAY:   Laundry and plant care.

"So teach us to number our days, 

that we may present to You a heart of wisdom."

Psalm 90:12