No Place Like Home

Today is the 5th and last Monday for No Place Like Home hosted by Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage. Thank you, Sandi, I’ve enjoyed this weekly blog carnival.

Today I have some more of our Christmas Decor to share.

 

The vintage angels and Santa and Mrs. Claus were my mother-in-law, Verna’s that got passed down to us.

The hanging wreaths and stars were made by our sons in Sunday School when they were little tykes.

 

These mugs belong to our three children. I can’t remember what year I purchased them but probably the late 80’s.

Four more days if I’m counting correctly. I’m tidying up the bungalow and getting the guest rooms ready for Christmas Day. The only things left to purchase are food items for our meals to have on hand. We already bought our Rib Roasts and I’ll be roasting root veggies plus brussels sprouts and we can’t forget the creamed corn and Yorkshire Pudding. Haven’t decided on dessert yet.

We are on our way to Spokane today (70 miles south) for the last of our shopping. Heading to the Ukrainian Market (Kiev) and Costco to name a couple stops. I’ll visit blogs later tonight.

Hope all is Merry and Bright at your home.

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

God rest ye merry, gentlemen, let nothing you dismay,
Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas Day;
To save us all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray.

Refrain

O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy;
O tidings of comfort and joy.

In Bethlehem, in Israel, this blessèd Babe was born,
And laid within a manger upon this blessèd morn;
The which His mother Mary did nothing take in scorn.

Refrain

From God our heavenly Father a blessèd angel came;
And unto certain shepherds brought tidings of the same;
How that in Bethlehem was born the Son of God by name.

Refrain

Fear not, then, said the angel, Let nothing you affright
This day is born a Savior of a pure Virgin bright,
To free all those who trust in Him from Satan’s power and might.

Refrain

The shepherds at those tidings rejoiced much in mind,
And left their flocks a-feeding in tempest, storm and wind,
And went to Bethl’em straightaway this blessèd Babe to find.

Refrain

But when to Bethlehem they came where our dear Savior lay,
They found Him in a manger where oxen feed on hay;
His mother Mary kneeling unto the Lord did pray.

Refrain

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 others doth deface.

Refrain

God bless the ruler of this house, and send him long to reign,
And many a merry Christmas may live to see again;
Among your friends and kindred that live both far and near—

That God send you a happy new year, happy new year,
And God send you a happy new year.

Twenty Months

This little charmer is 20 months old. His mommy took these photos this past week. He is constantly on the move and wants to do everything his older sister does. He still has very limited words but is practicing. He likes the real things over toys. When he comes over he wants to vacuum or swiffer. He likes to zoom around the house with our grabbers.

Do you have a grabber?  Once I can upload a photo of our grabber I’ll post it here. Hope you all have a good weekend. Our little 20 month old might be spending the morning with me while his daddy helps Dear get the siding on the last side of the shop, measuring, cutting, fitting, and screwing in each piece.

Hope you all have a good Saturday!

7 Days Until Christmas!

How is it going at your house? Are you almost ready to celebrate Christmas?

After looking at the photo above I moved that star above the angels head about a foot to the right.

Hope you are finding ways to Be Merry!

May the pure love of Jesus shine brightly in your heart this Christmas Season!

One tiny baby, one manger stall, one God who sent His Son to show His love for all.

Truth from A to Z Bible Verse Challenge ~ N is for…

It’s Thursday and time for our Bible Verse Challenge. We are on the letter N. Leave a verse or verses in the comments and I’ll add them here. If you have a post on your blog please leave your link the comments.

N is for Name:

Philippians 2:4-11

4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the NAME that is above every NAME, 10 so that at the NAME of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

From Patsystitch: Name

Acts 3:12-16. And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead, To this we are witnesses. And his name – by faith in his name – has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.

From Vera: Now

““Now I will arise,” says the Lord, “now I will lift myself up; now I will be exalted.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭33:10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

From Happy One: N is for NEED

Philippians 4:19
But my God shall supply all your NEED according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

From Maristella: N is for NATIONS

“Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great:
He appeared in the flesh,
was vindicated by the Spirit,
was seen by angels,
was preached among the nations,
was believed on in the world,
was taken up in glory.
1 Timothy 3:16
And:
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28:19-20

Click over to Bethany’s Blog, Raindrops and Rainbows for her post on verses for the letter N.

“For N I am choosing the word NAME. Through December I have been writing a verse a day with the theme of names of Jesus.  It is a good reminder of all He is to us….the Good Shepherd, Savior, Mediator, Teacher, Alpha & Omega.” 

Keep digging!

Know Your Rights Hodgepodge

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1. What’s something about Christmas that most people like, but you don’t? Elaborate.
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Yearly Santa Photos. As a child I wasn’t raised with the notion that Santa was real. When we had kids we talked about Santa as a fun participant but we didn’t make them think he was real. We don’t have one photo of our kids with Santa through their growing up years. We do call the gifts in the stockings as being from Santa…again for the fun idea of it not reality.
My parents were Russian immigrants arriving in the USA shortly after WWII from Iran. Their families escaped out of Russia in the early 30’s into Persia. Russians have Dzed Moroz instead of Santa Claus.
Ded Moroz or Father Frost, the Slavic version of Santa Claus, long ago became the symbol of Russian winter, New Year’s and presents. He is usually accompanied by his granddaughter Snegurochka riding with an evergreen tree in a traditional Russian troika, a sleigh drawn by three horses abreast.
All that being said, we have some fun vintage Santa Christmas decor from Dear’s mother Verna.
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2. Tell us about one cherished tradition from your childhood and if you’ll make it happen this year?
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Cherished tradition from my childhood is going to my maternal babushka’s apartment for Christmas breakfast before church. We were in church every Christmas morning. Our little babushka lived in an apartment building a few doors away from our Russian Baptist church. Babushka has the yellow apron on next to our mom. Of course that can’t happen because those days are gone.
We added a cherished tradition in our home that we all count on for Christmas morning after stockings. Dear makes his Swedish Pancakes for all of us to enjoy with little smokies on the side. We’ve had to change this up as our “Coast” kids travel to us on Christmas Day so we have Swedish pancakes on Boxing day now.
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3. In 1941 FDR declared December 15th Bill of Rights Day. Citizens were encouraged to fly the flag and gather for prayers and other ceremonies as appropriate. Did you know this?
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I didn’t know this.
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Will you fly a flag?
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No we aren’t flying a flag today. Our flag pole is put away for this snowy season we are in.
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Can you name all the rights and protections guaranteed in the first ten amendments of the US Constitution?
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No I cannot.
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Of the ten, which two do you value most? If you need a list you’ll find one here. 
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The first and second amendments are the two I value most. In the first amendment I value freedom of religion which we are putting to the test during these times. The right to bear arms is important to us.
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4. Do you know someone named Bill?
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We had a cousin Bill on our Pop’s side of the family.
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Tell us something about him?
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Our cousin Bill was a troubled young man and died young from injuries in a bar fight. If any of my siblings read this and remember something different correct me.
Is there a famous ‘Bill’ you’d like to meet?
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I’ll meet him in heaven but it would have been nice to have a fireside chat with Billy Graham. He played a role in the salvation of our Pop.
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5. A step in the right direction, on the right track, bragging rights, be in the right place at the right time, get off on the right foot, right as rain, right side up, give your right arm for, have one’s heart in the right place…choose a ‘right’ that applies to your life in some way in recent days and tell us how it’s so.
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I’m going to say a step in the right direction. At the beginning of 2020 Intermittent Fasting became  a new eating lifestyle and I’m happy to say that it works for me. I’ve dropped some pounds and my face is not as puffy as it used to be. It’s something that I can do forever and even when I can’t adhere to the plan during a period of time it’s easy to jump right back in.
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6. Insert your own random thought here.
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We had a few inches of snow fall on Tuesday. Time will tell if we are in for a white Christmas.
Thank you to Joyce From This Side of the Pond for asking the questions each week.

Happy Days in December…

So happy to report that with the help of our son, Dan, the siding on the front of the shop was completed this past Saturday and Sunday. Now all that is left of the siding is the back end.

When he wasn’t helping his dad Dan was taking his kids on a little snow hike.

This next photo is of a snow hike they took at the end of January 2020.

What a difference a year makes. Jaymison can ride in the sled now!

Earlier last week Dan had some helpers in putting up the Christmas lights.

Our temps have been below freezing for several days in a row which makes these outdoor projects a challenge. We are supposed to have a round of snow blow in tomorrow. I have a luncheon to attend and I’ll have to take the roads slow and steady. Thankful for good snow tires and all wheel drive!

No Place Like Home #4

It’s time again for No Place Like Home with our hostess Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage. This is the 4th Monday.

This year we stumbled on a good deal for a pre-lit artificial tree so we surrendered to the idea for the convenience. The Angel topper has been with us for most of our Christmases.

Our first Christmas ornament in the upper left corner was a wedding gift back in 1974. We were married in December. Many old ornaments and some new ones mixed in.

I have a college friend who sends these pop up cards every year. We’ve saved most of them and like to display them. There are several more of them not pictured.

From our home to your home we hope that you have a melody in your heart during this joy filled time of year!

“O Come, Let Us Adore Him”

Let the Earth Now Praise the Lord ~ Hymn

Let the Earth Now Praise the Lord

Let the earth now praise the Lord.
Who hath truly kept His word
And the sinners’ help and friend
Now at last to us doth send.

What the fathers most desired,
What the prophet’s heart inspired,
What they longed for many a year,
Stands fulfilled in glory here.

Abram’s promised great reward,
Zion’s helper, Jacob’s Lord,
Him of twofold race behold,
Truly came, as long foretold.

Welcome, O my Savior, now!
Hail! My portion, Lord, art Thou.
Here, too, in my heart, I pray,
Oh, prepare Thyself a way!

King of Glory, enter in;
Cleanse it from the filth of sin,
As Thou hast so often done;
It belongs to Thee alone.

As Thy coming was in peace,
Quiet, full of gentleness,
Let the same mind dwell in me
That was ever found in Thee.

Comfort my desponding heart:
Thou my strength and refuge art.
I am weak, and cunningly
Satan lays his snares for me.

Bruise for me the serpent’s head,
That, set free from doubt and dread,
I may cleave to Thee in faith,
Safely kept through life and death.

And when Thou dost come again
As a glorious king to reign,
I with joy may see Thy face,
Freely ransomed by Thy grace.

All is Calm…

…and with grandchildren, all is bright!

Here is Addy pleased that she’s earned another badge from Awana. Are you familiar with Awana?

With an unwavering commitment to the gospel, Awana is being used to reach over 4 million kids every week in 120 countries, giving children and youth from every background an opportunity to know, love and serve Jesus for a lifetime.

Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed
In 1950, Latham and Rorheim founded Awana as a parachurch organization. The name is derived from the first letters of “Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed” as taken from 2 Timothy 2:15.

Our DIL messaged the fam these photos of Addy who earned a new badge at Awana and then Addy and JJ enjoying the great outdoors. All our past snow has melted and we have more snow in the forecast for Friday, Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday. That forecast shows sunny days on Saturday and Monday. Time will tell if the forecast is correct.

On Wednesday I was able to take our Christmas cards to the post office and send them off. Two other packages were mailed off for two babies that will be born to our extended family early next year.

Dear has made some progress on the shop with all the trims around the overhead garage doors and man door. Our local son will come over on Saturday to make some more progress on the siding.

Since this photo was taken the wrap is up in this front end of the shop, all ready for the siding now!

Soon I’ll wrap presents. This past Tuesday when Addy and JJ came for a short visit Addy asked, “Baba, do you have a present for me under the tree?” I said, “no, but there will be presents for you under that tree soon.”

I hope all is calm and all is bright at your home!