Sisters, Sisters, There Were Never so Devoted Sisters

"White Christmas" was a favorite at our home this past week.  Cora loves the pretty dresses and sings, "wish I was in the arny now"!

Her mother and I are very happy that she likes this Christmas favorite.  Christmas was so very fun this year as you can see in these pictures.

The only fracas was over who got to push the new baby stroller or shopping cart.  Thanks Uncle Kristopher!

Merry Christmas

Happy Birthday Jesus. 'Tis the Reason for the Season.
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Christmas Lights

St. Louis Zoo has lights at night during the Christmas season.  We enjoyed walking around looking at all the beautiful lights with our daughter and family.

My granddaughters sure do love riding the carousel.  That is a winner every time.

This will be my last post until after Christmas, so ...

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all and HAPPY NEW YEAR.

  

Mustaches

My daughter's family having fun with a candy mustache she bought!  Hilarious!

Advent Fun

Oh Lolli Lolli Candy Shop

We spent last Friday and Saturday with our daughter and family.  They have planned a special event with their daughters every day of advent.  One of the events this weekend was seeing Christmas lights at the St. Louis Zoo.  More about that on another blog.  Before the zoo, we visited this candy shop.

It is a small little shop full of many different candies.  So many that it made it hard to choose from, that's for sure.  I chose 1/4 lb. double chocolate malt balls.  Yummy.

Kate & Cora deciding what to choose.

Christmas Time is Here

The house is decorated ready for Christmas.  My theme upstairs is white accent to go with green and maroon.  This is my fireplace mantel.  The following pictures are a closeup of an ornament and beading, table centerpiece and our Christmas tree (this picture was taken with my blackberry so it is not quite as good).

Still buying Christmas presents, but I am getting close to being finished.  No snow yet, but very cold weather this week.

As I am blogging, I am watching Radio City Christmas from New York City.  Enjoying the songs, movies, lights and everything that goes with the season.

Our church choir is singing the "Messiah" this Sunday.  I've had a cold for the past week so I'm not sure I'll be able to participate.  I hope so.  It is challenging when I am well!

Friends from Kenya

We spent the weekend with this wonderful couple, Tim and Lori Myrick, from Kenya.  They are missionaries that I met last July when I traveled to Kenya.  My husband has met with them several times when he has traveled to Kenya.  They have hosted our teams and have been a real blessing to us as we travel in Kenya.

We were so happy to visit with them while they are in the states and look forward to seeing them again the next time they are here. 

I admire their love for Christ and the commitment and sacrifice they and their children have made for his service.

Thanksgiving Fun

Cora and Olive sporting whipped cream mustaches!  Our silly girls!  We had  a great time visiting and eating.  So happy to be together with family over the holidays. 

New TV Show

One of my favorite new TV shows this fall is "Blue Bloods".  Very well written and really good acting.  It is on Fridays at 9 p.m. CST.  Doesn't hurt that Tom Selleck is on the show either!

Hope you have a great Thanksgiving.  It is hard to believe it is that time of year already.  We have had unseasonably warm weather, so it feels like it is still September.  Our family has so very much to be thankful for this year.  Good health, good jobs, good friends, loving family and a loving Savior.

Our family will be working at our church's Annual Community Thanksgiving on Thursday and an extended family gathering on Friday. 

Galatians 6:9
Do not get tired of doing what is good. Don't get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time.

Gift

Kindle...yes... a Kindle!  This is one of my birthday presents.  I love new technology so this is right up my alley.  My birthday was earlier in the month, so I have been using this for the last couple of weeks and really enjoying it.  I have downloaded several free books and also bought one new release.  My first book to buy was George Bush's new book, "Decision Point".  You can buy books, newspapers, magazines and blogs.  Also you can download games.  I have a game similar to scrabble that I have been really enjoying.

I also received this really nice cover with a light - which is really handy at bedtime. 

Maybe its not so bad to get older after all -- except of course, the aches and pains part.

Fair Trade Sale Completed

What a fun weekend.  So many vendors and so many products.  The jewelry to the left is from Back to Africa which I helped sell as well as a new friend.  Beautiful creations from Kenya.

Another vendor was Amani Ya Juu from Nairobi Kenya.  I visited this group while I was in Kenya.  My daughter sold their products.  Beautiful bowls, napkins, oven mitts, and many other items.

There were approximately 20 tables covered with beautiful items from around the world.  Many people came and did early Christmas shopping.  My daughter is planning to make this an annual event. 

Other vendors included at the sale were Bead for Life, Plowshare, Forai and handmade dolls made by my daughter's friend for Muñecas for Hope.

Next Saturday (November 6) is the Holiday Fair Trade Sale at Trinity Lutheran Church, 14088 Clayton Road, Chesterfield, MO.  All you St. Louis folks that possibly read this blog - put this on your calendar and come out and shop for Christmas.

I am making crayola caddies and crocheted children hats to sell so I can contribute to a Kenya Well fund-raising.  I am also selling jewelry from Heart of the Bride, "Back to Africa" products to help raise funds for this organization.

This is my granddaughter sporting one of my crocheted hats.  Isn't she growing up?  Slow down little one.

ESPN Gameday!

ESPN Gameday is in Columbia Missouri.  Missouri vs Oklahoma.  It looks like it is crazy in 'ol Mizzou!  I'll be glued to the TV at 7 p.m. tonight.  OKU is No. 1 and Mizzou is No. 11 in the BCS Standings.  Should be a great game and a fun day for those in Columbia enjoying the ESPN Gameday atmosphere.

Doctoring

My son had a tonsillectomy today.  I drove to Iowa yesterday to be with him and do some doctoring for a few days.  It usually is a lot harder on adults to have this kind of surgery than children I am told.  He will be 25 years old next week, so this isn't a great birthday present, but something that needed to be done.  Hopefully, after he gets feeling better it will be all worthwhile once he stops getting terrible sore throats.

So far he is on a diet of popcicles, sherbet, Gatorade, and Mac N Cheese.  The medicine he takes every 4 hours is a life saver but still doesn't feel great especially when it gets close to time to take more meds. 

My husband just returned from Kenya on Wednesday night and then I left Thursday morning for Iowa.  Wasn't too much of a welcome home!  Maybe by the time I return home, his body clock will be back on US time! 

Prayers for a quick recovery for my son are appreciated.  Later.

Special Treat

Love the creamslushes at Sonic.  My favorite are orange and lemon berry.  So glad they have been half price lately.  Yummy!

I have started walking after work to get exercise and enjoy the beautiful weather.  Today I walked with my creamslush.  I have a feeling this is counterproductive to weight loss!  But ohhh so good!

Bible Study

Just started this book in my Ladies' Bible Study.  I haven't read Max Lucado yet, so I'm looking forward to this book.  We have a really great group of ladies that meet every week and are a great prayer support group as well as bible study discussion group.

What is your group studying?  Is this book a good study?

Crafting Again

I've been working on several different projects, but the latest has been getting ready for a baby shower.  My daughter's SIL is having a baby.  My granddaughters are going to have a baby cousin.

The following pictures are some items I made for her.  The baby's room is gray and yellow and has an owl theme.

It was fun to find material for the owl to put on the onesie and to make the reversible fabric shoes.  A tutorial for the owl pattern is at:  http://alisa-thesweetlife.blogspot.com/2010/02/sweet-owl-pattern.html   The tutorial for making the shoes is at:  http://www.maked.ca/tutorials.html.

I'd like to make more of the baby shoes.  I think they are so cute.  I need to look through my material stash and see what colors I have that would make cute baby shoes.

I need to be retired so I have more time to craft!

First Birthday

Olive's First Birthday is today.  Olive is my daughter's second daughter.  The party theme was Apples and held last Saturday.  My daughter decorated these beautiful cookies (notice a bite is out of the cookies) and made a small apple cake for Olive's first cake.

Olive is enjoying her first cake.  The red icing was everywhere!  She wasn't sure about taking a bite at first but after the first bite, she really enjoyed it.

Big sister, Cora, had a great day too at Olive's party.  She helped her eat her cake and open her presents!

Antique/Golf Outing, Part 2

This year's outing, we not only went to antique stores and golfed, but also visited springs and mills.  The picture to the left is Blue Springs near Eminence Missouri.  We took a trail back to the springs and they were beautiful and yes, very blue.  The mill to the right is Hodgson Mill near Gainesville Missouri.  Very picturesque.

The following are a few pictures from the golf part of the trip. My husband fit in two golf games, one 9-hole game and one 18-hole game.  We walked the 9-hole game in the late afternoon and then he played 18 the next morning.  I drove the cart and kept score.  I'm pretty good at that!

We had a great trip and really enjoyed being together.  Now to start thinking about where we should go next year.

Antique/Golf Outing, Part I

My husband and I take an Annual "Empty Nest" trip which consists of antiquing (what I love) and golfing (what he loves).  This year we went to Southcentral part of the state.  Beautiful ozark area.  Our first stop was this fun ol' time store in Caledonia.  They had over 200 candy choices on the main level and antiques on the upper level.

Our next stop was a quaint antique shop across the street from the candy shop.  I found a really pretty glass cake plate.  I would like to visit this city again.

Not only did we antique and golf on our trip but also visited some beautiful parks and springs.  The next place was Johnson Shut-Ins.  Several years ago, this park was totally devastated after more than a billion gallons of water from a breach of a reservoir occurred.  I grew up visiting this park and always loved it.  We were so glad to see the park reopened and the shut-ins intact.  Follow this link for mre information:   "New" Johnson's Shut Ins State Park incorprates changes caused by breach."

This park is always so much fun to swim down the cascading falls between the rocks.  Also, it is in a beautiful location.

The last picture shows some of the antique shops we stopped at in Willow Springs and West Plains.  My husband found several cow bells and old gas cans, but I didn't find too many things that I couldn't live without!  It still was a great time and I saw many items that reminded me of my grandparents and times gone by.

Friends at the Fair

I went back to the State Fair the next day with friends.  We had a good time checking out all the booths, looking at the cows and horses, and watching a draft horse competition.

That evening we went to the Sheryl Crow concert.  She is a Missouri girl and one of our friends grew up in the same city and knows her and her family.  It was a beautiful evening and a great concert.  Fun time with friends.