I love this photo of our son, Daniel. He was here for Christmas day and he and Abbey entertained us all with voice and instrument. It was great to see you, Dan!

Christmas Eve. Rockefeller Center. The tree. The crowds. The cold. The noise. Spectacular. All of it!


Adorable.
Adorable.

Tired.

Then came Christmas morning. Here's what happened:
We have a lovely star votive holder hanging in our picture window that wanted to be counted among our other stars. As the sun came up on Christmas morning, its shadow appeared upon the wall next to our tree. It was there for about 45 seconds; then it was gone. It hasn't happened since.

Merry Christmas!

We wish you a wonderful Christmas, full of happy, homestyle memories!

Silent Night

Bro. and Mrs. Clayton stayed with us once again this past weekend. Right before they left to return to Ohio, Bro. Clayton played "Silent Night" for me while we waited for everyone to get ready; it was impromptu, but it was beautiful! Thank you Bro. Clayton - you are an American icon!

And the WINNER is...

Julie from "Julie's Jewels" is the winner of our Christmas giveaway! Congratulations Julie!

Long time, no blog...

Our family has had the wonderful blessing of hosting missionaries Bro. and Mrs. C. at our home this past week. There was never a dull moment and I enjoyed a whole week away from my computer screen. Today they left for Queens, but will be back on Thursday and Friday to spend a little time with us before they head back to Ohio for Christmas. Here's a photo of Mrs. Clayton and I as we head out the door for our Annual Ladies' Christmas Party. She is a wonderful lady - full of energy and zest for life. My life was certainly enriched by her presence in my home this week.

"Apples of Gold" for December

Our December issue of "Apples of Gold" has been posted and is ready for your reading enjoyment! Please stop by and leave a comment. We love to hear from our readers!

Click here and then send me your thoughts.

All Aboard!

After many years of asking, "Can we get a train to go around the bottom of the tree, just a little one?" - Randy surprised me and set up a miniature train and village under our Christmas tree! What a fun, fuN, fUN, FUN thing to have! Thank you soooooo much Rand - I just love it!

Dino

We've lived in our home for eight years now. Our neighbor's dog, Dino, was just a young pup when we moved in and Mr. Higgins did not take to kindly to his presence in the neighborhood. As time went on, Dino and Mr. Higgins became friends and now Dino visits our back door at least once a week!

A Gift for You!

"Finding Certain Disciples" by Dr. Rick Cassada is a must read! It speaks of the importance of biblical salvation and would be a fantastic addition to your library. And the candle? DELICIOUS! Leave a comment on this post and I will put your name in a drawing to receive both items just in time for Christmas!

Did you know...

...that you can train chickadees to eat birdseed from your hand? It's takes some patience, but it can be done. Several years ago, my husband had one brave bird eating sunflower seeds out of his hand while he stayed as still as a statue. Click on the chickadee picture if you think you'd like to try it. Chickadees are the cutest little birds and are very friendly, too!

SNOW!

It was overcast this morning; the fact made obvious when no sun shone through our bedroom window at 7 a.m. Need I explain how delighted I was to see snow gently falling on our landscape when I opened our wooden blinds? I just love it when it snows on Sunday mornings and the Christmas tree is the only necessary light in the house! It makes our mugs of hot coffee all the more enjoyable while we watch the chickadees gather seed from our backyard feeder. These photos do no justice to the beautiful snow that fell today, I hope you enjoy them just the same!

Christmas 1970

I dreamed about this doll for the entire month of December when I was eight-years-old. The Sears Wish Catalogue had a picture of her and her "sister" Chrissy in the toys section.