I just love all things Christmas.
Don't you?
And the very best thing of course is knowing the Savior and being thankful for His free gift of salvation.....
and for all the blessings He brings to us...let's share FIVE of them from the past week and then link up at Susanne's to join other writers giving thanks.
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| Happy Birthday, Claire, age 19!! 21 December |
- BIRTHDAY! a dinner out on the evening of Winter Solstice to her fave Indian restaurant! Thankful for this youngest daughter of ours.
- BAKING! Last Friday was a "snow day" for all the schools around our state.....some areas were getting lots of snow and we, here in eastern NY, were getting ice in the form of freezing rain. So, my Christmas vacation started a day early which thankfully left me extra time to bake some goodies! I made homemade chocolate orange fudge, chocolate cherry kisses, and vegan cocoa cookies. And then a couple of days after Christmas, I had to bake for a party tomorrow at my sister's, so I made Easy Chocolate Mint Truffles and chocolate-coconut bars.
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| french vanilla coffee with Baileys and my library book...a great way to spend a winter afternoon! |
- RELAXING! This past week has had many opportunities to just sit with a good book, good coffee and relax. Man, have I needed this! I didn't realize just how busy the autumn months were until winter started last week and life slowed down a little. I'm thankful for those quiet moments in the day to read Scripture, pray, sip hot coffee or tea and read a good book. Sometimes I just meditate and look out the window or make plans for hikes next summer. No matter what, I'm thankful for relaxing moments.
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| Christmas Eve service "Little Drummer Boy" King and Country style!! |
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| Dave and I ready for church 24 December |
- CHRISTMAS EVE! Because Dave and I were not in the choir this year, we all could sit together and worship. Oh my goodness, the music team did an amazing job with the King and Country's version of Little Drummer boy. Do you see the large drum on stage?? Dave is friends with the young man who played it. (we don't usually have that large drum up there...just a regular drum set). And of course Pastor Rex's message was spot on and we all ended the evening with a candlelight rendition of Silent Night. This is always the highlight of everyone's evening. Courtney had fun showing me snap-chat filters (and told me NO one over age 30 should be doing snap-chat...so of course I don't! She had fun showing me what it was all about). I'm thankful for an uplifting and fun Christmas Eve.
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| Courtney and I at the Christmas Eve service |
- CHRISTMAS!! Here are some highlights of our day:
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| a real WHITE CHRISTMAS! 25 December about 8 a.m. we received about 4 inches of snow! |
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| Courtney having fun handing out gifts and being silly with the reindeer antlers |
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| Earth Psalms Book (Devotional about God's Hand in nature) a special gift from daughter Courtney |
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| Claire, looking festive, opens a care package of vegan snacks among other goodies! |
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| Dave was happy to have a couple days off! |
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| We all helped shovel snow after dinner! |
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| Family Game Time on Christmas evening Harry Potter Clue (gift for Courtney) |
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| Sunrise the morning after Christmas as seen from my family room door 26 December |
HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!
GOD BLESS YOU!!
8 comments:
I love to have a little Baileys in my coffee on a snowy day. We had a big snowstorm on Christmas day as well but the skies had cleared by midday. It's below freezing now brrr.
I love relaxing moments! If only there could be some everyday!
Love white Christmases - they seem extra-special somehow ...
Looks like you put your time off to good use. Happy new year!
Happy New Year!
I hope you are staying warm up there! The week after Christmas is the perfect time to curl up with a good book and relax. I don't always get to do that, but sure enjoyed it this year. Speaking of books, Earth Psalms looks like a good one. Happy New Year to you!
Happy belated birthday to Claire! Nice that your family could all be together for Christmas. Looks like you had a lovely holiday. I've seen Earth Psalms around and I love that author. You'll have to let me know how you like it. Happy New Year to you and your family.
It looks as if your daughter has the same white jacket as me, lol ! Yes Christmas is over now for a year, getting older I wished I could switch it. In Belgium and France Christmas goes to the stomach with things you never eat during the year and people (except us) are only thinking about food !
I had a white Christmas too. You will notice that it didn't make my FFF list. :) It's the first snow covered Christmas I've had since 1990!
Love seeing your happy faces as you open your gifts and enjoy time together.
I'm glad too that you have had some relaxing and restful times.
Happy New Year!
I am very very late visiting this week! I think I am just getting back to normal after the holidays and having family here.
So glad you could all be together! Looks like a wonderful time! We enjoyed playing games, too, and having some outings yet some quiet times as well.
Glad you had a white Christmas! I've only had one, our first year here in TN.
Belated happy birthday to Claire! Her birthday is our anniversary!
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