Happy New Year!

The new year has arrived and as promised, I am sincerely going to try to blog more often. Obviously, it's not going to be daily, but maybe I could manage weekly... or at least, more often than quarterly. How 'bout that? Reckon that will keep my Fan Club* happy?

While I didn't maintain my blog as well as I would have liked in 2014, there are enough posts to give you a good idea of our Year in Review, so I'm not going to do that. However, we weren't able to be together with any of our extended family during the Christmas season, so I thought I'd share some of our recent activities.

We kicked off the festivities early in December with an interchurch Christmas brunch at Country Buffet. The highlight of the morning was the white elephant gift exchange.

The next week we were invited to an Ugly Christmas Sweater party. Rather than going out and buying ugly sweaters, we got creative and decorated some old sweaters we already had. Our family spent one whole evening working on our sweaters. I said, "After all this work, I hope somebody in our family will win one of the prizes!" And turns out... they did!

 Laura's "sweater" featured a stocking with a teddy bear tucked in it, a letter to Santa, sparkly pom-poms and jingle bells... and the pièce de résistance.. an obnoxious violin that played Christmas songs. She won the Ugly ribbon (3rd place.)

And then Lyle won the Ugliest ribbon (1st place) with his tableau of Frosty getting run over by an SUV! He and I had worked on his sweater design together. I thought he could have a scene of a car hauling a Christmas tree with a snowman as part of the scenery, but he decided that it needed a little more drama than that. I guess it paid off because everyone seemed to love the snowman parts flying everywhere!

The actual week of Christmas was pretty rough at our house, as both girls had a nasty round of the flu... Laura early in the week, and Rebecca on Christmas Day. Lyle and I were grateful to not catch it this time around!

 We had a nice day at home on Christmas Day. The day started off sunny and mild. Lyle built a fire in our backyard fireplace and smoked a turkey breast on the grill for dinner. He enjoyed watching the fire while he visited on the phone with his mother.

We didn't know how smoking the turkey on the grill would turn out. My dad has been smoking turkeys for Thanksgiving and Christmas for probably 30 years, so it's kind of a tradition in our family. This year between work, church, and friends, I ended up having three different Thanksgiving dinners... and not one of them served smoked turkey. We haven't been with my folks for the holidays for several years, and I just missed Dad's tasty smoked turkey! So I asked Lyle if he thought it would work to smoke a turkey breast on the grill (since we don't own a smoker). He did some research and said he thought it wouldn't be too hard. He has a little metal box in which to smolder wood chips for the smoke flavor. I soaked the turkey breast in my Dad's recipe for brine for 24 hours, and then added a pan of water for moisture. It worked perfectly! So now we know--a smoker is not necessary! I expect we'll be enjoying smoked turkey more in the future.

And then the snow arrived! The clouds rolled in and the wind kicked up on Christmas afternoon, and the snow started falling. It has been cold and snowed more several times since. But still, we have seen some sunshine in between. After all, this is Colorado!

Thus concludes the synopsis of our Christmas celebration. Looking forward to seeing what 2015 has in store!

*Charter members of my Fan Club include my parents, my husband, and my children... and a few others who have let me know that you miss my blog. I do appreciate your encouragement. It means a lot!

Demonstrating Love

It's a good thing the Valentine festivities around here didn't depend on me this year-- what with being gone most of the week last week, and then not feeling well this week. If it had been up to me the holiday would have been largely ignored, at least in the way of decorations. Laura, however, was on top of things. Shortly after the Christmas decorations came down in early January, she festooned the front door with strings of whimsical paper hearts. I've enjoyed looking at them each time I go through the foyer on my way upstairs.

Then last week the girls made themselves Valentine mailboxes (fashioned of cereal boxes, decorative paper, and ribbon) and hung them in the hall as an invitation for any "interested parties" (i.e. family members) to leave sweet notes or small gifts. Mostly they've had fun surprising each other.

Laura presented each of us with a thoughtful Valentine gift yesterday. Mine was some yummy-smelling refills for my Scentsy. She got her dad a box of candy and her sister an adorable stuffed puppy. She has such a giving heart.

Last night Lyle apologized because he hadn't got me anything. I told him that didn't bother me in the least. "Remember the Starbucks you left on my desk earlier in the month? That says 'I love you' better than you buying me something just because the stores say you should!"

I still don't feel much like celebrating today, but that's okay. When you truly love someone Valentine's Day isn't much different than any other day of the year. We can go out for dinner, or buy candy or flowers... or even a Starbucks... any time we want to!

Lights on the Boardwalk

I love the lights of Christmas! One of our favorite traditions is to go for a Christmas Eve drive, sipping hot cocoa, listening to carols, and enjoying the lights. In the meantime, we enjoy seeing the lights as we go about our business on these dark evenings.

One evening the girls talked us into going over to Coeur d'Alene and walking on the boardwalk to see the light display on and around the Coeur d'Alene Resort.

Granted, I'm not a professional photographer, nor do I have an amazing camera... but I was pleased with how well my phone camera captured the lights. Better than my regular camera, I think.

My favorite display was at the end of the boardwalk... the nativity scene... the Reason for the Season.

Many of the light displays tied in with the secular aspect of Christmas, of course. There were even a few that didn't tie in with Christmas at all-- a hot air balloon, a green sea dragon... and Noah's Ark?? That reminded me that I had seen a Noah's Ark figure in with the Christmas decorations at one store (I don't remember where) and it was labeled "nativity scene"! Um... somebody have their Bible stories mixed up, perhaps? Or, let's see... maybe the animals came two-by-two in a boat to visit the Baby Jesus?

There are also nightly cruises to the "North Pole" which I think is a little island in the middle of the lake where Santa sits. We didn't want to pay to take the cruise, but we had fun waving at the boats. Or at least, some of us did. Others of us were embarrassed at the ones who did the waving.

It was a fun evening... making memories!

Thanksgiving Traditions

I'm blogging today about family holiday traditions (and non-traditions) on the Sonlight Blog. Please pop by and leave me a comment there. I love to hear from you.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Summer Saturdays

The past 2 or 3 summers I have managed to convince the Man of the Place that a fun "date" is to take me garage-saling on Saturday mornings. We pick out the "Saturday only" garage sales listed in the Nickel's Worth, he programs Rhoda (our GPS), we stop at the ATM and then our favorite coffee kiosk, and we're off. Some weeks we find very little. Other weeks we spend our full "allowance" (usually $40-$60). It doesn't really matter. It's just fun.

Yesterday was our first garage sale expedition for this summer. As we waited for our coffee, he asked me, "What are we looking for?" Umm... well... I'm not really sure. I'll know it when I see it. But... umm... clothes, if we can find any that fit... and umm... well, you know, pretty vintage dishes and stuff. Can't you imagine how excited the man is to set off on a shopping trip with such a vague list? He kinda smirked at me, but good-naturedly followed Rhoda to our first "destination" (that's what she calls Garage Sales).

It turned out to be a good day for bargains. We got a nice 2-person swing for the backyard (like a porch swing, only on a stand), a vintage floor lamp for the family room, some books, games, and puzzles for Becky, some jeans, hand-towels, and a nice purse-- all for less than $50.

But my favorite find?

This sweet vintage plate and three pretty hankies for a grand total of $1.25!

This is what I'm really looking for at garage sales. Just a wee bit of vintage loveliness to add to my "parlor" decor. I love finding just a bit at a time like this, because then it doesn't cost very much, plus I don't end up with more stuff than I know what to do with.

Want to read about more garage sale finds? Visit the Garage Sale Treasures meme @ My Life on a Taffy Pull.

Favorite Christmas Recipes

Is anything more cozy than the fragrance of Christmas baking? We love to make goodies to take to parties and get-togethers, and to make up goody bags to give out to friends and neighbors. Here are some of our favorites (with recipes I have posted previously):

• Apple Cookies
• Banana Nut Bread
• Beulah's Sugar Cookies
• Christmas Eve Mice
• Friendship Tea
• Hot Cocoa Mix
• MawMaw's Date Loaf Candy
• Monster Cookies
• Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
• Popcorn Balls 

Diary of a Stay at Home Mom is featuring Christmas recipes each Thursday this month, if you're looking for more ideas.

What are some of your favorite holiday food traditions?

Sunday Drives and Family Time

Last night Lyle drove up in the mountains a bit to pick up our older daughter from a friend's house. The rest of us went along for the ride. I had been told that the night view was spectacular from this friend's house with the lights twinkling in the valley below and I wanted to see it. Also, the moon was full last night and it was just a nice night for a drive. As we drove home we were commenting on the beauty of the drive, and the evening in general.

Our younger daughter said, "We should go for a Sunday afternoon drive tomorrow! We haven't done that in a long time!" (Mainly because it's been winter for a long time!)

Sunday drives are a favorite family activity around here, in case you hadn't noticed. I've wondered, though, if it was really something that Lyle and I mainly enjoyed and the kids just came along because they didn't have much choice. So I asked 'Becca what she liked about it... "Oh, just getting to go for a drive and seeing the mountains... and the deer... and snow... and getting stuck in the snow... and family time!"

I am grateful that our teen children want to do things with us!

And in case you wondered, we didn't end up going for a drive today. We have a trip coming up in a little over a week, so we decided to stay in today... though we were tempted!

Christmas in the Country

Usually we stay home for Christmas and have a quiet celebration with "just the four of us." This year we decided that our family gift would be a trip to Arkansas to spend Christmas with my parents.

We left on the evening of Christmas Eve. As we traveled on Christmas Day we "enjoyed" scenery similar to this:

Most of the time the blowing snow wasn't a problem, but occasionally it limited visibility just like fog. We were happy to arrive safely at my parents' house on Saturday evening... and they were excited to have us come.

My sister and her family were also there part of the time. My parents were thrilled to have the house ringing with the bustle and activity of children again-- but no doubt they'll appreciate the peace and quiet once we've all gone home again.

We had our gift exchange and Christmas dinner on Sunday. It has been nice to get away and spend time with our extended family this holiday season. We'll start home again on New Year's Day and hope to be back to our normal schedule on Monday.

Hope you had a blessed Christmas! Happy New Year!

Waiting for Christmas

Our tradition is for gifts to accumulate under the Christmas tree as they are wrapped throughout the month before Christmas. Our tree had been up for a couple of weeks this year before I put any under it that were for our kids. I told Lyle I kinda hated to because I knew it would start the begging. "Can we open just one now?" And it would be fun... to let them open just one! But the next day, it would be one more. And by the time Christmas came around there would be no gifts left, and what kind of let-down would that be? So... Mom had to be "mean" and say, "No. You have to wait till Christmas!"

Waiting's hard, isn't it? I think the hardest thing for me to wait for is answers. What will happen in the future? Will things work out the way I think they should? What if they don't? When I don't have all the answers right now, I tend to worry and fret about all the what-ifs. With the uncertain economy this year, the stress increases. I'm learning (gradually) that it's just a pointless waste of time and energy to worry about such things.

When the future arrives and the answer comes, it's kinda like Christmas. Sometimes things work out exactly how I wanted them to. Often they work out even better than I could have imagined. And occasionally it's not what was "on my list" at all, but it's what my Heavenly Father wanted me to have-- so I'm learning to be content... and trying not to worry!

Living Nativity Scene

Our family had the privilege of experiencing a "living nativity" this past Sunday evening. It was located at a church about an hour away from where we live. To be honest, I wasn't expecting it to be any big deal-- a few people dressed up to portray the Christmas Story out on the church lawn or something. One of our favorite "traditions" is to go for a drive to look at lights and listen to Christmas music and stories on the radio one evening during the Christmas season, so I thought it could just be an extension of that.

I had no idea how popular this particular program is! We thought it was a little odd that the directions said to go to a particular middle school to pick up our "pass" to get in to see the Nativity, but when we got to the school we realized why. The school parking lot was a maze of cars lined up two abreast waiting to make the short drive down the street and around the corner to the church. Ah-ha! This was how they kept the line from backing up on the highway. It was a much bigger production than I had imagined.

I would be interested to know how many cars were lined up. I would estimate several hundred, at least. It was a big parking lot and at one time while we waited it was completely full. The program was to run from 6:00 to 8:00. We got in line at 6:25. An hour later we got to the man (dressed as a Roman soldier) who was handing out glow rings to hang from our rearview mirror. That was our "pass". During the next half hour we were offered candy canes and served hot cocoa while we continued to wait in line. At 8:00 we were finally at the front of the line to drive over to the church.

When we got there, we realized that our wait was not over yet. The cars were backed up down a service road! Just before we got to the entrance we were given an audio CD to listen to as we made our way through six different scenes.

The whole thing was very well organized, and very moving. I thought it was worth the two-hour wait! (But I have to admit I'm glad we have XM satellite radio in the car! We enjoyed several Christmas OTR programs while we waited.) The unfortunate thing was that the battery died on my camera, so I ended up with not-so-great cell phone pics.

First, we passed the shepherds "abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them... and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God.." 

Every time the spotlight glory of the Lord shone on the "heavenly host" they would raise their arms. Then when the light moved back to the shepherds they put them back down. I overheard someone say that some of the angels got too cold earlier in the evening and had to be swapped out, which slowed the waiting line down some. It was a very cold night... about 20 degrees... so I did feel sorry for the angels and other participants.

Next we passed the bustling marketplace of Bethlehem, where the census was being taken and taxes collected. We were impressed by how elaborate this scene was. Becky especially liked the baby goat one child was leading around.

We got to the inn in Bethlehem just as Mary and Joseph were being turned away. This was the only place in the whole scenario where any of the characters overlapped.

The Holy Family in the bitterly cold stable moved me to tears. I know it probably wasn't actually that cold the night and place where Jesus was born... but just to be reminded again... the circumstances of His birth were no accident. The lowly stable was all part of His plan.

Nearby, in the shadows, a choir softly sang traditional Christmas carols. (The CD told us to roll our car window down to hear the singing.)

My picture of the wise men with their camels didn't turn out at all. The CD said that since it was some 2 years later when the wise men arrived in Bethlehem, they portrayed them on their journey, following the star. We wondered where they found live camels in eastern Washington in December!

The last scene was the cross. It was simply spotlighted with a lamb tied to the bottom of it, to remind us of the Lamb of God. Greater still than the humble circumstances of His birth was His willingness to die in such a brutal way... for us.

I think our family has discovered a new Christmas tradition...

Christmas Memories

When I was growing up we stayed home for Christmas most years... and usually it was just our family-- my parents and their five children. A few weeks before Christmas Dad would inevitably tell us, "Well, kids... I'm sorry... but it looks like it's going to be a pretty small Christmas this year." So we would brace ourselves and mentally try prepare for the worst. Come Christmas morning we were always amazed-- every year there were way more gifts than we had expected! I think Dad was probably amazed himself. We never had a lot but it was always enough! And we were grateful.

One year, though, we got to visit both sets of grandparents at Christmas time. I remember the trip and the family time much clearer than I remember the gifts we received. It was 1971 and I was six. We lived in Tennessee that year, and we traveled to Arkansas to be with Mother's family and then on to Louisiana to be with Dad's family.

The whole family was at Grandmother and Granddaddy's house in Arkansas… all the aunts and uncles and cousins. The family was a good bit smaller then than it is now, but it was still a house full! With so many people, the pile of gifts under the tree looked enormous… and all the little children were so excited!

 Gift opening time finally arrived… but first Granddaddy read the Christmas Story from the Bible. We squirmed in anticipation as we tried to give our attention to the familiar story of the Baby born in the stable and the shepherds who came to worship. When Granddaddy finished the reading a knock came at the door.

It was Santa Claus with a sack of presents! Santa Claus reminded me an awful lot of Uncle Keith and as I look around I realized that Uncle Keith was suspiciously missing! Others of the “big kids” (the 6- to 8-year-olds) had the same idea. We were just pretty sure that it was actually Uncle Keith in the Santa suit and not some unknown stranger.

The little kids weren’t convinced and wouldn’t go near him at first. They eventually warmed up to him as he made himself at home and proved himself friendly! Soon he was hunkered down under the Christmas tree passing out gifts.

What a Merry Christmas that was!

I remember some of the gifts exchanged included things like books, games, jigsaw puzzles, socks, handkerchiefs -- things like you'd find at the dollar store these days -- or hand-made items like potholders, aprons, doll clothes, or decoupaged plaques.

Christmas seems so much more commercialized these days. I realize that my adult eyes don't see the world through the innocent filter of childhood any longer... but I also know that the simple gifts we exchanged with family members all those years ago would be shunned by many as not gift-worthy these days. I expect that's where a lot of the stress of the season comes from... trying to live up to expectations of what an acceptable gift would be.

Of course we love to give to our children and other loved ones, but I have found it a little easier to simplify when I think back to that long-ago Christmas and realize that the memories I treasure come from family togetherness and the celebration of the Reason for the Season, not the material gifts.