Now That I've Held Him

Another Michael Card song.

Enjoy!

Christmas 2008...

...was definitely a new experience for us! Back in the oldie days, Rod and I would go celebrate with my family. One year with Mom's mother, Grandma Sorensen. It was always a smaller group...Rod, me, Mom and Dad, David, Grandma, and sometimes Aunt Leona. Add in a kid (Chad), then a couple dogs, then Sam, and finally Kali. Always small....eating and gift opening.

The opposite years were at the McCartney's...Dad's side of the family. And usually three of the four "McCartney kids" and their families would be there. We filled Grandma and Grandpa's house just fine. We could actually fit in the house (as opposed to summer bashes when the B. clan came home...and then we filled the garage! The only garage I know built and finished with family gatherings in mind!!!). We ate. We laughed over what clever plan Grandma had come up with that year to assign cleanup chores. (No one sat down at the table without looking under their plate, their table favor, their glass trying to figure out this year's plan!) We cleaned up. (One year, 4 aunties and uncles loaded up all the dishes, carried them two blocks away, and put them through auntie's dishwasher!!!) Then it was gift time! We used to draw names and exchange gifts. Eventually, Grandma started buying small white elephant type things. She'd wrap them up. We each drew one. If you didn't like it (a huge possibility ☺), you left the wrapping paper on it and tried to "con" someone else into trading with you. We had more fun with this silly game than any "real" present we ever received!

Fast forward to Christmas 2000. No more big family get togethers. But Grandma, Mom, Dad, and David would come to our house. With Sam's birthday on Christmas Eve, we were busy. We'd do birthday all day, then go to Christmas Eve service. Home for pizza...which later became all kinds of snackies. And then on to opening presents. This would last well beyond midnight. And then up the next day for dinner together.

Grandma moved to Colorado, but Ryssa joined the family in 2005. We still had a great time.

Fast forward again, this time to 2008. Chad and Ryssa are in Phoenix. Sam lives in town. I got home from the hospital on the 22nd. Rod, Sam, and Kali went to Christmas Eve service... fortunately it was live streamed on the internet, so I got to see it also. Home...eat the snackies... and it took all of 20 minutes to open presents! Kali played with her new thingamabob, Rod was busy doing something, and Sam & I watched a James Bond movie...until 11:15 p.m. We gave up! I was in bed before 11:30...the first time since I've been married that I was in bed before midnight on Christmas Eve!!!


Mom, Dad, and David came down for Christmas Day. Sam did most of the cooking for lunch... and did a great job. We opened presents. Then Sam had to leave to do Christmas with a friend. And the folks left...and at 4:30 p.m. Christmas Day, it was over. Just Rod, Kali, and me. Sam did come back later to have his birthday cheesecake that we forgot! A very quiet, different day.

Am I complaining? No.... It's just weird how much things have changed... and I know, will keep changing!

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas. Now on to a great New Year!

Joseph's Song

Joseph's song by Michael Card is one of my favorite Christmas songs.

Can you imagine trying to be the earthly father to God's Son?

Mind boggling.

Enjoy!

The Christmas Eve that Sam was born,

Phil B. sang this at our Christmas Eve service.

Sam and I missed it ☺

Immanuel

Immanuel...

Michael Card on piano

Steve Green singing

Enjoy!

Gloria

Gloria by Michael W. Smith

Enjoy ☺



I bought the CD for one song!!!

Silent Night

Silent Night by Bing

Enjoy!

Joyful, Joyful

From Sister.Act 2... Enjoy!

Tell me that didn't make you smile ☺

Over the next few days, I've left some of my favorite Christmas songs to come up while I'm gone. Enjoy...and Merry CHRISTmas!

Reason for the Season

This is one of my favorite Christmas Songs.

I heard it playing in a big chain store a couple years ago...

so I tracked down a clerk to find out what they were playing.

The album is by Lonestar.

Just because I'm not home
doesn't mean you shouldn't keep stopping by.

Starting tomorrow...and the following "even" days until Christmas, I've left you a few of my favorite Christmas songs by some of my favorite musicians.

Merry Christmas!

p.s. I finished quilting Ryssa's quilt late last night...but don't tell her! ☺

Mooey Christmas

I think I've decided this will be an annual post.

I love my cow!

Enjoy!

Have a great day!

Irish Chain

Sometime back before 1995, I made this double Irish chain quilt. It's hand quilted with holly leaves in the white spaces and straight diagonal lines through the chains. This small piece was enough to convince me I didn't want to make a large Irish chain quilt!!!

It's a gray and gloomy day. Not very pretty outside. Here and there are tiny patches of lingering snow. Is it spring yet?

Since I'm stuck in the house, I'm trying to make good use of my time. One baby gift finished, one half way done. Sam's quilt is on the frame. I got almost half of it quilted yesterday. I'm working on learning to be able to quilt a quilt over the course of several days... as opposed to quilting it all in one day. The all day quilting is just too hard on my body most days. (I don't know how professional machine quilters do it! Maybe you get used to it over time?) And it's hard to find that big of time chunk to quilt!

Have a great week!

Grandma's Tree

Way back when...oh along about 1990 or 1991, my Grandma S. had a stroke and had to move to a nursing home. When Christmas rolled around in 1992, I decided she needed a tree for her small room. I decorated this tree...everything is stuck on with glue. When she passed away, I got the tree back. Now it sits in our bathroom every Christmas. (What? You don't have a tree in your bathroom?)

Fifteen years later, it's a little worse-for-the-wear. Joseph went missing this year!


Have a great week!

Candy Canes

Friday night was the high school youth group's Christmas party. Miss K and her friend decorated a table with angels, greens, and these candy canes. Click on the pic to be able to read the card.




A few years back my Grandma wrote this poem:

The Candy Cane

They were having a convention
In Candy Cane land
All the candy canes were there
They had even hired a band


The big issue this year
The candy canes said
Was the color of candy canes
Should it still be red?


Christmas wouldn’t be right
If candy canes were black
Or orange, purple or yellow
Or all colors on the rack


By common consent
They finally did agree
Candy canes red and white
Were the best for you and me


Red for the sacrifice of Jesus
White for His love so divine
I think that they chose wisely
Red and white tells the story just fine.

Hope your weekend is going great.

Pattern #4

Way back when in 1988, Sam was born on Christmas Eve. Quite unexpected as he was due January 27th! Sam was tiny, 5# 4 oz. Mom was sick. But thanx to much answered prayer, both came home on New Years Eve. Our friends and Bible study group provided meals for two weeks!!!

The next Christmas I decided to make thank you gifts for all those who helped us. I made a small version of this Noel wallhanging... it was simply a rectangle with the applique.

Fast forward to 1993. I started Homespun Charm when I was seven months pregnant with Miss K. I only had a couple of patterns and was searching my brain for more ideas. I decided to adapt the Noel wallhanging... and ended up with these two wallhangings.

This was my fourth (I think) pattern. Noel Banners, #104. Such an exciting name! The large one still decorates our door every Christmas. I took the picture with the wallhangings pinned to a large white sheet taped to a wall in Mike and Michelle's house!


This is an interesting Christmas season... to say the least. I was supposed to have surgery two days before Thanksgiving so I would be home and well on the road to recovery by Christmas. Oops, enter Gus' magic ears hearing a problem....lots of tests...and Dr. IDon'tLikeHim jumping the gun and cancelling the surgery BEFORE the test results were in hand!!!

So now, surgery is the 16th.

Did I mention...another flare up of the diverticulitis?

And more antibiotics? And the fact that they give me metal mouth? Which is much preferrable to today when my iced tea tastes like fish!

And being told by my friendly Dr. to stay home and not go out until we go to the hospital? Fortunately, the bulk of the Christmas shopping was done. Rod and Kali are picking up the few things.

So.......if you see some gray haired lady on the news ranting about aliens keeping her locked up in the house and forcing her to drink fish water......well, be kind! It just might be me ☺

Have a great weekend!

December 2008

The last month of 2008... hard to believe! Time for another computer desktop. I actually remembered to make one last week when I had time... amazing! Can you believe Miss K actually thought I would use Christmas red and green? Silly girl ☺


I can't believe we forgot to take family pics before Chad and Ryssa moved to Arizona! And we forgot to take pics on Thanksgiving! Where did my memory go?

Have a great week.




scrappy thingies by shabby.princess, scrapbook.flair, digital scrapb.ook place, and free digital scr.apbooking