Category Archives: Traditions

Three Kings Day ~ We Three Kings

 Three Kings Day is celebrated on January 6th, twelve days after Christmas. It is often viewed as the last day of the Christmas season (the end of the 12 days of Christmas).

Also known as The Epiphany, Three Kings Day (Día de los Reyes) is a Christian celebration that commemorates the Biblical story of the three kings who followed the star of Bethlehem to bring gifts to the Christ child. According to the Biblical story, the Three Kings – named Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar – presented the Baby Jesus with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Three Kings Day was the gift-giving time, rather than Christmas day. Just as it is common for children to leave cookies for Santa in the U.S., in some regions, it was customary for children to leave their shoes out on the night of January 5, often filling them with hay for the camels, in hopes that the Three Kings would be generous. Children would awake on January 6 to find their shoes filled with toys and gifts.

Also traditional is for families to gather together and share the Rosca de Reyes. The Rosca de Reyes is a crown-shaped sweet bread decorated with pieces of orange and lime. It is filled with nuts, figs, and cherries. Hot chocolate is traditionally served with the Rosca de Reyes.

We Three Kings

(Words and Music by John H. Hopkins, Jr., 1857)

We three kings of Orient are;
Bearing gifts we traverse afar,
Field and fountain, moor and mountain,
Following yonder star.

Refrain

O star of wonder, star of light,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect light.

Born a King on Bethlehem’s plain
Gold I bring to crown Him again,
King forever, ceasing never,
Over us all to reign.

Refrain

Frankincense to offer have I;
Incense owns a Deity nigh;
Prayer and praising, voices raising,
Worshiping God on high.

Refrain

Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume
Breathes a life of gathering gloom;
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying,
Sealed in the stone cold tomb.

Refrain

Glorious now behold Him arise;
King and God and sacrifice;
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Sounds through the earth and skies.

Refrain

Our Little Girl is 22 today!

Happy 22nd Birthday Katie!

Photos from Katie’s 1st ~ 21st Birthdays
1st in Ventura with family & friends
2nd in Ventura, California
3rd in Downey, California. She’s pretty happy even with that tiny cake!

 

4th  in Bothell, Washington.

5th in Bothell

 

6th at Baba and Deda’s sharing the day with Aunt Nina and cousin Stephen both born on the 27th too.

7th in Bothell, Washington
7th with family, Titov’s and Spiro’s
8th at Discovery Zone
9th with fam and Spiro’s

 

10th at the Skating rink where your dad broke his wrist…

11th in Bothell (1st rental) with Jamie, Christie, and Johanna

 

12th bowling with fam and Hiller’s

 

13th with Jamie, Kristen, Heidi, and Christie (sorry Christie this was the only photo I had)

 

14th with Jamie, Heidi, Kristen, and Christie (very nice photo this time Christie!)

15th with Kristen, Heidi, Christie, and Katie K.

16th Ice Skating with fam, Katie K, Christie, Heidi, Jamie, Kristen, Brad and Joe
17th ~ fam, TCL crowd, school crowd
18th smaller TCL and School crowd

 

19th ~ the year of the ice cream cake…

 

20th ~ The year of the maple bar cake!

 

21st the Spice Bundt cake and another small crowd with Kristen, Christie, Jamie, Heidi, Ben and fam.

22nd will be another wonderful celebration with Bowling, Tacos and another Spice Cake!

We love you dear Katie and are so happy that God brought you into our lives 22 years ago. May your birthday and everyday be filled with an awareness of who created you and who you are in Him.

Photobucket has blacked out all my photos and is holding them hostage. I’m slowly cleaning up my posts to remove the ugly black and grey blocks that photobucket has inserted instead of my photos.

The First Noel ~ Christmas Carol

  The First Noel

The first Noel the angel did say
Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay;
In fields where they lay tending their sheep,
On a cold winter’s night that was so deep.

Refrain

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
Born is the King of Israel.

They lookèd up and saw a star
Shining in the east, beyond them far;
And to the earth it gave great light,
And so it continued both day and night.

Refrain

And by the light of that same star
Three wise men came from country far;
To seek for a king was their intent,
And to follow the star wherever it went.

Refrain

This star drew nigh to the northwest,
Over Bethlehem it took its rest;
And there it did both stop and stay,
Right over the place where Jesus lay.

Refrain

Then did they know assuredly
Within that house the King did lie;
One entered it them for to see,
And found the Babe in poverty.

Refrain

Then entered in those wise men three,
Full reverently upon the knee,
And offered there, in His presence,
Their gold and myrrh and frankincense.

Refrain

Between an ox stall and an ass,
This Child truly there He was;
For want of clothing they did Him lay
All in a manger, among the hay.

Refrain

Then let us all with one accord
Sing praises to our heavenly Lord;
That hath made Heaven and earth of naught,
And with His blood mankind hath bought.

Refrain

If we in our time shall do well,
We shall be free from death and hell;
For God hath prepared for us all
A resting place in general.

Refrain

The First Noel is unknown in origin but is generally thought to be English dating back to the sixteenth century. There is a misconception that the First Noel was French and it is believed that this is because of the French spelling of Noel as opposed to the olde English Anglo-Saxon spelling of the word as in Nowell. After England was captured by the Normans numerous words were adopted from the Norman French language and Noel was re-spelt as Nowell, early printed versions of this carol use the Nowell spelling. The First Noel was first published in 1833 when it appeared in “Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern,” a collection of seasonal carols gathered by William B. Sandys.

 

One of My Favorite Card Artists ~ Gordon Fraser

Here’s some more fun for Saturday, scroll down below this post for a quiz…

 I want to share one of my favorite cards and card illustrator Gordon Fraser. This card was printed in England. Whenever I’m in Canada I search the stores for any of his cards. I love the little hedgehogs, mice and other animals on these cards.

 

 

The card reads To Wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. To all Bloggy Friends that celebrate Christmas my wishes for you are the same with added blessings too!  I hope my card makes you smile.

Photobucket has blacked out all my photos I was storing on their site and they are holding them hostage. I am working on updating my more than 4000 posts.

Antique Postcards ~ 1908-1912

 These Postcards that I am sharing for Show and Tell Friday are all from Dear’s ~ Great, Great Aunt Emma Daniels. Great, Great Aunt Emma was Swedish and she never married. The Postmarks are mostly from 1908 through 1912. Some of them are made in Germany and others are Tuck’s Post Card, Raphael Tuck & Sons, Art Publishers to their Majesties the King & Queen. These are from our collection of Christmas and New Year’s Postcards. I’ll share more at Valentine’s Day and Easter.

PM1910

PM1908

PM1912

PM1909

PM1909

These are all close enough to being 100 years old that I took the liberty to call them Antiques. To all my Show and Tell friends may your Christmas be filled with love and joy!
For more Show and Tell Friday head on over to Kelli’s.

WFMW ~ Hands On Wooden Nativity

When my kids were little we bought this small wooden nativity set at Disneyland one year. We wanted something that the kids would be able to touch and move around all they wanted without the danger of breaking. It was always fun to see how they would rearrange it after I set it up! We’ve been enjoying it for at least 22 years. The shepherd has lost his staff, one of the lambs only has 3 legs, and the stable frame has cracked and been re-glued. This hands on wooden Nativity still works for us!

To see more WFMW click here.

Christmas Tour of Homes ~ 2007

 Boo Mama is hosting a Bloggy tour of Christmas homes. Come join the fun.

Christmas Tour of Homes

Please do come in and enjoy my home at this beautiful Christmas time. Jesus has prepared the way for us to love and enjoy this season. There would not be a Christmas worth celebrating without Him!

 

The wreath welcomes you at the front door. Please do come in and make yourself at home.

I’ve been busy preparing for your visit.

From a Christmas past on to Christmas present…

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care…

and lighted garland is placed here and there…

 

Some Christmas decorations handed down from years gone by…

Now here’s a Caramel Pecan treat before we go any further. If you enjoy them you can find the recipe here.

 

Now to some tables set for my friends. First red and green on cream.

 

or how about gold with green?

 

Here’s the fun Christmas breakfast table set for the family with placecards and placemats from long, long ago.

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the tour of my home. It would be so much fun to see you in person and share a cup of coffee, cocoa, eggnog or tea to go with the Caramel pecan cookies. We could sit by the fire and enjoy the lights on the tree. Blessings on your day touring other homes. Click here to continue your tour from Boo Mama’s.

Photobucket has blacked out all my photos I was storing on their site and they are holding them hostage. I am working on updating my more than 4000 posts.

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

 God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

God rest ye merry, gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Remember, Christ, our Saviour
Was born on Christmas day
To save us all from Satan’s power
When we were gone astray
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

In Bethlehem, in Israel,
This blessed Babe was born
And laid within a manger
Upon this blessed morn
The which His Mother Mary
Did nothing take in scorn
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

From God our Heavenly Father
A blessed Angel came;
And unto certain Shepherds
Brought tidings of the same:
How that in Bethlehem was born
The Son of God by Name.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

“Fear not then,” said the Angel,
“Let nothing you affright,
This day is born a Saviour
Of a pure Virgin bright,
To free all those who trust in Him
From Satan’s power and might.”
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

The shepherds at those tidings
Rejoiced much in mind,
And left their flocks a-feeding
In tempest, storm and wind:
And went to Bethlehem straightway
The Son of God to find.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

And when they came to Bethlehem
Where our dear Saviour lay,
They found Him in a manger,
Where oxen feed on hay;
His Mother Mary kneeling down,
Unto the Lord did pray.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

Now to the Lord sing praises,
All you within this place,
And with true love and brotherhood
Each other now embrace;
This holy tide of Christmas
All other doth deface.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

Show & Tell Friday ~ Fun Christmas Table

Last year at the after Christmas sales I bought these great chair covers for half-price. Our everyday and breakfast Christmas table is casual and fun with Santa Bear place-mats from our daughter Katie’s 2nd birthday party 20 years ago.

 

 

The chair covers are Christmas hats with a little bells on the back of the covers that jingle when you move the chair.

For more Show and Tell head over to There’s No Place Like Home.

Photobucket has blacked out all my photos I was storing on their site and they are holding them hostage. I am working on updating my more than 4000 posts.