Embracing the Days…

Catching up with some events from the last week. The super moon lit up the sky and our acres. So bright, it was almost as if we had street lights.

Addy’s last basketball game of the short season was on Saturday morning, the 6th of December.

As usual she played hard and well.

After the game all the ladies and JJ took in the Lady Lion’s craft fair in Kettle Falls. When we saw all we wanted to see we met up for lunch at TJ’s in Kettle Falls. Addy and JJ sat across the table from me and I took this shot of them.

Before the rains came and while the snow was still good enough for sledding, our Colville kids searched out their Christmas tree for 2025.

On Sunday while on greeting duty, I took this photo of the entry at our church. The Joy is real.

Our son planned a very special weekend in Nashville to celebrate Laura’s birthday. When they arrived an unexpected surprise for Laura was that cousins David and Kristin joined them for the celebration. It was an epic weekend for the four of them.

This is Nashville, not Iceland. Ice at Gaylord Opryland Resort.

All four of them described this weekend as unforgettable.

Monday was cheesecake baking day here at our country bungalow. I made two for our annual Staff/Deacon Christmas dinner which will be on Tuesday the 9th. While I mixed and baked our Christmas CDs were playing. While I was finishing up we got these two photos of our grands helping their Great Grandmother decorate her little corner tree.

This was our comp dessert at our anniversary getaway last week that I wanted to remember. It is a cotton candy sundae and it was delicious and unique.

In other news, I’m happy to report that our Christmas cards were mailed on Monday. This always comes with a sigh of relief and a smile of satisfaction.

Hopefully, I’ll remember to take photos at our dinner party tonight along with the finished cheesecakes.

Brie in Puffed Pastry

Time to gather up some ideas for the season.

Brie in Puffed Pastry
This is a very simple dish to serve as an appetizer or dessert.

Ingredients:

  • 1 whole Brie ( I used a 19.6 oz. round)
  • 1 sheet of frozen puff pastry thawed
  • 1/2- 1 cup chopped toasted nuts (pecans or walnuts)
  • 1/2- 1 cup jam/preserves of your choice (I used a chipotle raspberry)
  • 1 egg beaten with 1 Tbsp. water.
  • 1 sheet of parchment paper
  • Bread or crackers to serve with the Brie

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Roll thawed sheet of puff pastry on a lightly floured surface to approximately 12-14 inches square. Spread chopped nuts in circle in center of pastry.
  3. Top the nuts with the jam/preserves.
  4. Place brie circle centered on the jam.
  5. At this stage you can use some of the pastry to cut out a decoration for the top.
  6. Fold up the edges of the pastry to cover the brie completely.
  7. Flip the Brie wrapped in pastry over.
  8. Add decoration if you like.
  9. Place the Brie on parchment lined baking sheet.
  10. Brush the pastry with beaten egg mixture.
  11. Bake in 400 degree oven for 20-30 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.

Note: I prefer to scrape off some of the rind especially from the top where the jam and nuts will rest. I like the idea of the jam permeating the brie easier in the baking process. Although I didn’t have red grapes when I prepared my Brie but it would be a very nice accompaniment.

Hear the Advent Song ~ Hymn

 

Hear the Advent Song

Hear the ad­vent song
Of the an­gel throng
As they ho­vered ov­er earth;
As the night shone bright with ce­les­ti­al light,
As they told of Je­sus’ birth.

Refrain

Glory be to God, in the high­est, praise!
Peace on earth, good will to men.
Roll the an­gel song all the earth along,
Till the Lord shall come again!

Glory be to God!
All His works we laud!
But of all His gifts, the best
Is the Son he gave, sin­ful men to save;
Be His name for­ev­er blest.

Refrain

We will seek His face,
We will know His grace,
We will wor­ship at His shrine;
All our trea­sure lay at His feet to­day,
As we hail Him king di­vine!

Refrain

At His cra­dle bend,
For in Him des­cend
All the bless­ings God can give;
At His shame­ful cross, count your gain as loss,
By His death we sin­ners live.

Refrain

Peace on earth shall reign
When He comes again,
Lord of lords, and King of kings;
Even now God’s rest fills the trou­bled breast,
When the Lord His pre­sence brings.

Refrain

Let the sons of light,
Through the world’s dark night,
As the watch­ers wait the dawn,
Look with eag­er eyes for the new sun­rise
Which shall bring the end­less morn!

Refrain

Words: Arthur T. Pierson, 1897.

Fifty One Years

A few words from Susannah Spurgeon on this day, Greg and my 51st Wedding Anniversary.

I can see two pilgrims treading this highway of life together, hand in hand—heart linked to heart. True, they have had rivers to ford, and mountains to cross, and fierce enemies to fight, and many dangers to go through; but their Guide was watchful, their Deliverer unfailing, and of them it might truly be said, “In all their suffering he also suffered, and he personally rescued them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them through all the years.”

Mostly, they went on their way singing…

Susannah Spurgeon

Update: Thank you, everyone for all your kind wishes. I appreciated reading each comment and your thoughts!

Truth for Today #172

Friday December 5th

On Fridays my posts will include verses that stood out in my readings from the Bible during week. One, two, three or maybe more. If you have a verse/verses that you read during the week and would like to share, leave it/them in the comments and I will add it/them to the post. Let’s continue to dig deep into God’s truth.

The verses that you share are appreciated and so encouraging, I’m thankful for them and for each of you! 

Ephesians 1:3-10

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

From Vera:

“Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭25‬:‭4‬-‭7‬ ‭ESV‬‬

From Maristella:

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”

Isaiah 43:18-19.

From Karen:

I John 5:13

13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

From Dianna:

John 10:7, 9-10

So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.”

Everyday Images #76

November/December Prompts – Everyday Images #76
I’ll be linking up with Kym at A Fresh Cup of Coffee for the latest photo prompts.
~~~~~
Here are the prompts this time around.

Current season (quarterly)

We’ve had our first and our second snowfall.

Together

Together around the table to enjoy Greg’s Swedish pancakes. This is a family favorite!

Lights

We enjoyed some Christmas lights at the Coeur d’Alene Lake Resort

Silver

Our silver and gold Christmas wreath.

Vintage

Christmas Angels from Greg’s mother Verna’s Christmas stash.

Neighborhood spot (quarterly)

Barmans on Main Street in Colville all decorated for Christmas with a Santa Sleigh, too.
I’m in the process of decorating for Christmas here at our Country Bungalow. Trying to get inspired to write our Christmas letter and get going on our Christmas cards!
How are you getting along with Christmas readiness?

Christmas Caroling Hodgepodge

The first Wednesday Hodgepodge in December thanks to Joyce From This Side of the Pond.

1. What does it mean to have the ‘holiday spirit’?

I would say to be engaged, aware and a participant in what the holiday offers in small or large ways!

On a scale of 1-10 how is yours this year? (10=off the charts, 1=still looking for it)

I land at about an 8 most years.

2. What’s your favorite character from a (December) holiday-themed movie, book, or TV special? Tell us why. 

One of the favorites is  ‘A Christmas Carol’. I’ll  choose Bob Cratchit as my favorite character. Why? He is a noble character who is loyal to his family and a trustworthy human.

3. Do you like gingerbread? Are gingerbread houses part of your holiday tradition? 

I do enjoy gingerbread but it is not part of our holiday tradition and neither are gingerbread houses. Our church is having a gingerbread house making contest for families this year. It will be fun to see what the family units come up with.

4. Much of our vocabulary is determined by where we live or where we grew up. What say you-

sprinkles or jimmies? lightning bugs or fireflies? soda or pop? sneakers, trainers, or tennis shoes? sub, hoagie, grinder, or hero? freeway, highway, or motorway? frosting or icing? sauce or gravy?

Sprinkles, fireflies, soda, tennis shoes, sub, freeway, frosting, gravy

5. Share a favorite holiday memory from your childhood. 

Christmas caroling with our youth group is a favorite memory.  Our caroling started at an apartment building just a couple doors down from our church in Los Angeles. Our Babushka and several other widows lived in this apartment building so it was a good place to start. We’d all stand on the grass below their upper floor apartments and sing the carols. We left from there with tangerines and other treats from the Babushkas. Loading up in a few cars, we’d head to nursing homes where some of our Russian church members resided. From there we traveled to a few select homes.  At all of our stops we sang in Russian and English. Our last stop of the night turned into the party house for the rest of the evening. When we’d make it home late on Christmas Eve, we’d see our mom at her sewing machine finishing our Christmas dresses for church on Christmas morning. We always had a new outfit for Christmas and for Easter, too. We were in church on Christmas whether it landed on a Sunday or not. Tradition was that we’d have a regular joyful Christmas service in the morning and our Christmas Evening service was when our choir would perform a Cantata.

6.  Insert your own random thought here.  

Speaking of our Babushka’s apartment at 3000 East 8th avenue in Los Angeles, California….

On Christmas morning our family and our cousins and others would make a stop at our Babushka’s apartment for Christmas baked treats before our church service. This would be our Christmas breakfast. Apartment #10 has many cherished memories.

Me and my ‘Little Babushka’ on Greg and my wedding day, December 6th, 1974. We are currently in Coeur d’Alene Idaho enjoying an overnight stay to celebrate our 51st Anniversary. I’ll be slow in getting around to visit.

Happy Birthday, dear Laura, on your actual day! We love you, we love you, we love you!

Shopping and Celebrating Auntie Lolo!

Saturday the 29th of November we shopped small on Main street in Colville.

While we shopped the guys entertained themselves with chopping a lot of wood and then enjoyed table games.

Plans were afoot on this day to celebrate Auntie Lolo’s birthday early since we wouldn’t be together for her actual birthday on December 3rd. The birthday theme was lemon/lemons, a favorite flavor for Laura.

Jamie embroidered this special sweatshirt for Laura with her beloved title, Auntie Lolo! Addy and JJ helped with some of the embroidery.

Laura looked at this purse while we were shopping and she admired it enough that Katie snuck it up to the register to purchase it for Laura’s birthday gift. I didn’t take a photo of the solar decorative hummingbird lights that we gave her for their outdoor patio.

Lemon and pistachio Macarons that our son Dan made were the ‘birthday cake’. Dan has mastered the art of making them!

There is a back story to this drink that Katie had never tasted. While the guys were at the grocery store Andrew found it for her to try.

More Skyjo rounds commenced. The younger ones among us stayed at Bayles Mountain well into the evening while Gramps and Baba headed home.

Sunday morning most of us were in church together filling out a row.

Before the last of the Westsiders left for home after church there was some fun in the snow to document.

Another full and thankful time was spent over the long Thanksgiving weekend.

Our focus shifts now to preparations for Christmas.

Thanksgiving 2025

Hello December! Before we go full speed ahead we’ll catch up with our long Thanksgiving weekend festivities!

Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, we had a quiet start to the day as we waited for Andrew and Katie to arrive. Our Thanksgiving meal was slated for 5pm at our Colville kids’ home. Our only responsibility was making sweet potatoes with marshmallows toasted on top. Katie and Andrew arrived safely mid afternoon. We drove together to Bayles Mountain for our Thanksgiving meal.

What fun to get photos from both sides of the mountain and see that both of our sons decided to try to spatchcock a turkey this year. On this side of the mountains besides the spatchcock, Dan and Jamie cooked a traditional turkey with stuffing. Spatchcock was a huge success. Another favorite this year was Jamie’s homemade cranberry sauce with added raspberry, so delicious!

Addy and JJ both enjoyed having Andrew and Katie to help them with some projects while we waited for our meal.

Friday morning dawned beautifully as we waited to hear that Josh and Laura were on the road to our home.

We got the ‘on the road selfie’ and we counted down the hours for their arrival.

JJ was  pleased to see they brought the vintage G.I. Joe sleeping bag from the 80’s!

Very few photos were taken on Friday. Gramps made his tomato rice soup for us to enjoy and we added BLT’s to the menu.

After dinner we enjoyed some rounds of Skyjo.

Saturday morning found us eating together again!

Greg was on cooking duty again for his Swedish Pancakes and we all love to gather to eat them!

The agenda for Saturday included shopping ‘small business’ for the girls and for the guys chopping wood and preparing for Saturday meals including a birthday celebration for Auntie Lolo!

More about Saturday will come in a separate post.

Our Westside kids made it home safely on Sunday and we are thankful always for traveling mercies!

December is coming in hot with something on the calendar for each day this week! Whew!  I’m going to have to be intentional about pausing in the midst of this busy schedule to enjoy this Advent season.

 

When Shades of Night Around Us Close ~Hymn

When Shades of Night Around Us close

When shades of night around us close,
And weary limbs in sleep repose,
The faithful soul awake may be,
And longing sigh, O Lord, to Thee.

Thou true Desire of nations, hear,
Thou Word of God, Thou Savior dear;
In pity heed our humble cries,
And bid at length the fallen rise.

O come, Redeemer, come and free
Thine own from guilt and misery;
The gates of Heav’n again unfold,
Which Adam’s sin had closed of old.

All praise, eternal Son, to Thee,
Whose advent sets Thy people free,
Whom with the Father we adore
And Holy Ghost forevermore.

Words: Charles Cof­fin, Par­is Bre­vi­a­ry, 1736 (In noc­tis um­brâ de­sid­es); trans­lat­ed from La­tin to Eng­lish by the com­pil­ers of Hymns An­cient and Mo­dern, 1861.