Wishing for Snow

I guess if you want to have a white Christmas you have to go to Boston. I am envious of all the snow Michael and Maggie have and they're getting more as I write this. I hope this doesn't delay their flight "home" on Christmas day, though.
I'm scratching things off my "to-do list" slowly. I've declared that I am no longer baking for the sake of tradition. I dislike it more and more each year. None of us need any of that refined sugar anyways! I'd much rather cook a big meal than bake. I made Scottish Shortbread, German Sand Tarts, Chocolate Chip Treasure Cookies, and Pumpkin Bread. Still need to make a Pecan Pie and Pumpkin Cake for Christmas.
I loved receiving a few of Melanie's (Maggie's mother) famous frosted sugar cookies. They're so soft and the icing is to die for.
Tonight we pick up Mom and Chris. They'll be with us for 8 days. Chris wanted snow but instead he's getting wind chills around -5 degrees.
Looking forward to having my whole family here for Christmas. That's what really makes this year special for me.
1 At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. 4 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5 He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant.
6 And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.
The Shepherds and Angels 8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” Luke 2:1-14

Waiting to Exhale

Before we left for Thanksgiving in PA we had the joy of taking care of our Little Snowflake, Reagan. She was so much fun and didn't even know her parents were away for 4 days. Rachel was the only one who cried!

I knew it would be impossible to decorate the whole house for Christmas during her visit but we got started on a few rooms. Reagan loved the snowmen and now has many to say "hi" to. For over 2 months she was greeting every pumpkin I had in the house. We have a snowman that sings when you clap or make a loud noise so of course Reagan walks around trying to clap loud enough with her little hands. She then lets us know that she wants us to make the snowman sing and we comply.

She helped Pops build fires and cut plastic to cover outdoor furniture. Here are some pics. We then headed to PA for a quick visit with Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Al and Aunt Janet. We had a very nice meal in the dining hall at Stoneridge Villiage with Tom's parents on Thanksgiving day. The food was actually pretty good!

Then home to do more decorating. After putting the final touches (snow) on the living room tree, we discovered the tree stand had a leak. Jason helped pull the tree out of the stand while Tom guided it into a new one. I stripped the bottom third of ornaments for this task and all we lost was some snow! I was prepared to strip down the tree and start from scratch if necessary.

Tonight we're going to get a tree and some decorations for a family in house church who just had surgery and won't be able to get to their attic this year to decorate for Christmas. Our house church hopes to surprise them with some decorations as well.

Can't wait to be able to just sit and look at the tree lights and watch Christmas movies!