A Free Range Tree…

This year we are trying some new things to simplify Christmas. We cut down a huge tree in our side yard a couple years ago and don’t you know two trees have sprouted since then. This tree was the larger of the two. We have no desire for it to grow much larger so we decided we’d use it as our Christmas tree this year. Oh boy…it wasn’t easy to uproot it. Dear has some sore muscles from the job.

We are calling this our Free Range Tree. It is also organic. No pesticides, insecticides or chemical engineering of any kind were used on this tree.

We had to buy a larger pot to put it in after this smaller pot failed the stand up and stay up test.

It was quite a juggle job to get it in the house but we managed and it is sitting pretty in the living room in it’s natural state. Hopefully Dear will put the lights on it soon and I will decorate it and will show you the final result. So stay tuned to see our organic, free range, Charlie Brown tree! I like the words in this version of “O Christmas Tree”.

O Christmas Tree

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy leaves are so unchanging;
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy leaves are so unchanging;
Not only green when summer’s here,
But also when ’tis cold and drear.
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy leaves are so unchanging!

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Much pleasure thou can’st give me;
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Much pleasure thou can’st give me;
How often has the Christmas tree
Afforded me the greatest glee!
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Much pleasure thou can’st give me.

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy candles shine so brightly!
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy candles shine so brightly!
From base to summit, gay and bright,
There’s only splendor for the sight.
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy candles shine so brightly!

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
How richly God has decked thee!
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
How richly God has decked thee!
Thou bidst us true and faithful be,
And trust in God unchangingly.
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
How richly God has decked thee! !”

Signs of Christmas

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas here at this old house.

We are slowly getting things together for Christmas. I’m happy to say that our Christmas cards with letter and photo are on their way today. The sad thing is that the envelopes did not have enough glue on them to seal properly and I had to buy envelope sticker seals to seal them up properly. Sheesh. Next time I buy cards I’ll open the box up and check the envelopes…

Do you still send Christmas cards in the mail?

I’m linking up to signs, signs hosted by Lesley!

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage on their site. All my photos that I stored and uploaded from that site are now big ugly black and grey boxes with a message to pay big bucks to get them restored to my blog. It will take me a long time to restore thousands of posts.

Celebrating Together…

We came together on Sunday morning to celebrate Dear and my 41st wedding anniversary and our dear daughter in law’s birthday at Palisade Restaurant in Seattle. Our daughter Katie has a birthday at the end of the month so we started her celebration, too.

Have you seen these great nail wraps from Jamberry? Katie added these Christmas wraps on her nails for December.

Four of our six were able to celebrate together. We missed having Dan and Jamie with us but a 6 hour drive is a little tough to make especially when there is a snowy mountain pass between us.

Love these faces!

Forty one years together that we are thankful to God for.

This was a first for Dear and Me! Neither of us had ever had a Santa photo taken before!

We didn’t take our kids for Santa photos either. We all had fun taking one this year since Santa and Mrs. Claus were in the buffet room at Palisade! Speaking of the Brunch Buffet…it was amazing. I think one of my favorites was the Prime Rib Hash…

The views from Palisade are fabulous. Can you see the Space Needle?

Zoom, zoom…

We really had a wonderful weekend. Now we are full speed ahead on our Christmas preparations! We don’t have the tree up yet but I’m done with the Christmas cards except for two illusive addresses…

How’s it going at your house?

Verily, verily…

Jesus is the way the truth and the life, Emmanuel…God with us.

ver·i·ly

(vĕr′ə-lē)

adv.

1. In truth; in fact.

2. With confidence; assuredly.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. John 5:24

John 5:24 in other versions of the Bible…

²⁴“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

²⁴Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

We are looking forward to Christmas Day and enjoying all the preparations leading up it.

Linking up with ABC Wednesday with thanks to Mrs. Nesbitt and the ABC team for V is for Verily.

Raclette and the Mennonite Girls…

ra·clette (rä-klĕt’) noun

1.a dish, of Swiss origin, similar to a fondue, consisting of melted cheese traditionally served on boiled potatoes and accompanied with pickles

Raclette is a Swiss Cheese dish that has been popular for centuries. There are different opinions about who started it. Some say shepherds in the mountains, other say it was the grape harvesters in the vineyards of the Valais region of Switzerland. No matter who, the fact is that after a hard days work, they gathered around a campfire and enjoyed a Raclette.

Everybody agrees, that it took place in the Valais region of Switzerland and that the original cheese was made there.

Raclette has more than one definition. Raclette is a Swiss cheese dish, a cultural land mark, the name of a cheese, a table top appliance, a dining experience, a great time!

This past Friday Dear and I joined the British Columbia Mennonite Girls for an early Christmas Raclette party at Bev and Harv’s beautiful home in Chilliwack. For most of us it was our first experience enjoying this type of meal where meat, cheese, vegetables, and pickled accompaniments are provided but each individual is responsible to cook and melt their choices for themselves on an electric Raclette grill.

We had thinly sliced and marinated flank steak, shrimp, sausage, jack and cheddar cheese (instead of the raclette cheese), mushrooms, broccoli, peppers, scallions, dill pickles, baby gherkins, pickled onions and of course the boiled potatoes and fresh baked french bread.

But…first things first.

We all sat down in the Russian style with the men together on one end of the great huge table and the girls on the other end!

Instructions were given on how to use the grill and melt the cheese. We sang Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow for our Grace and the new culinary adventure began.

We started with a delicious salad that Bev put together for all of us, greens, pineapple, beets, goat cheese and nuts with a homemade dressing that was so bright and delicious.

Anneliese baked the bread for our evening.

My messy plate full before I scraped the cheese onto my bread.

There was lots of busy fun around the whole table.

We had to make room for two desserts, too. This one was a delicious gluten free caramel cake that Julie baked.

And Anneliese made a Beautiful Black Cherry chocolate trifle.

We ended the evening with our gift exchange. A wonderful variety of thoughtful gifts were opened and enjoyed.

The celebrations went late and Dear and I were happy that Judy and Elmer provided us with a room for the night. When we woke up on Saturday morning we were served a delicious breakfast before we hit the road for the U.S.A. on Saturday. It was another hearty and hardy experience for us with our Mennonite friends!

As soon as we crossed the line from Canada into the U.S. I turned my phone back on and researched where we could buy a Raclette! We’re still celebrating at our house as today is our 41st Anniversary. I’ll share our anniversary celebrations later in the week…

The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns ~ Hymn

The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns

The King shall come when morning dawns,
And light triumphant breaks;
When beauty gilds the eastern hills,
And life to joy awakes.

Not as of old a little child
To bear, and fight, and die,
But crowned with glory like the sun
That lights the morning sky.

O brighter than the rising morn
When He, victorious, rose,
And left the lonesome place of death,
Despite the rage of foes.

O brighter than that glorious morn
Shall this fair morning be,
When Christ, our king, in beauty comes,
And we His face shall see.

The King shall come when morning dawns,
And earth’s dark night is past;
O haste the rising of that morn,
The day that aye shall last.

And let the endless bliss begin,
By weary saints foretold,
When right shall triumph over wrong,
And truth shall be extolled.

The King shall come when morning dawns,
And light and beauty brings:
Hail, Christ the Lord! Thy people pray,
Come quickly, King of kings.

Words: Unknown Author; translated from Greek to English by John Brownlie in Hymns of the Russian Church, 1907.

Ht: Cyberhymnal

Riding our Sleigh North…

…for our first Christmas Celebration this year.

This collage is from some of our Mennonite Girls Can Cook parties from Christmases past.

This year we are meeting up in Chilliwack, B.C. We are experiencing something new and I’ll share more next week.

A Tea Break…

We chose Attic Secrets in Marysville for our tea on the Saturday after Thanksgiving since we planned to shop at the Navy Exchange Complex afterwards.

My sister Lana, Sister-in-law Letty, Me, DIL Laura and daughter Katie.

We each chose our teacups and brought them to our table and selected our tea.

We were so pleased to see a gluten free tea choice for Letty on the menu, too.

After our lovely leisurely tea we headed to the Navy Exchange to do a little tax free shopping. We made a couple more stops to Cost Plus, Hobby Lobby, and a grocery store before heading back to Josh and Laura’s to see what the guys accomplished. Besides their construction project Josh managed to make a great pot of chili and a pan of gluten free cornbread for us all to enjoy. Here are the construction project collages!

A useless door in Josh and Laura’s family room that was a drafty nuisance! Out with the door.

In with new framing, plywood, and insulation.

New tar paper on the exterior and matching siding.

New drywall and mud on the inside waiting for a few more coats and then sanding before a paint job and added baseboard. These workers are done with their job for the day!

We enjoyed the great chili and cornbread and pomegranate margaritas. Some of us headed home while another group stayed and played some rip roaring table games.

U is for Umbrella!

It’s time for the letter U and here in the Great Northwest a good choice for U is Umbrella.

We attended a wedding of the son of some dear friends of ours in Oregon and it just poured. The venue offered white umbrellas to all the guests. This photo above if of my cousin and his wife and the photo below is of my cousin and her husband. I think they pulled out their own black umbrella to use instead of using the venues white ones.

Our daughter again a couple years ago with a parasol. Close enough for jazz.

Thank you to Denise Nesbitt for starting ABC Wednesday and to Roger and the team, too!

Welcome December! Today our Thanksgiving company flies home and I will dive into the Christmas preparations. Have you started decorating yet?

Quaint Langley on the Island…

On Black Friday we hopped on a ferry from Mukilteo to Clinton on Whidbey Island for a visit to the quaint and picturesque town of Langley on Saratoga Pass.

While waiting in the ferry line I took a photo of this sign. I guess the people in ferry line-ups can get a little feisty.

Once off the ferry we found a parking spot in Langley and headed to Prima Bistro for lunch.

My brother Tim with his wife Letty.

Whales have been spotted in the Saratoga Passage. Saratoga Passage lies in Puget Sound between Whidbey Island and Camano Island. Saratoga Passage extends about 18 miles in a northwesterly direction from its entrance between Sandy Point on the Whidbey Island side and Camano Head on the other. I liked this sign that says, “Spy a Whale, Ring the Bell.” We didn’t hear the bell during the few hours we were here.

Overlooking the passage from First Street in Langley.

Dear and me. Dear’s facial hair is gone as of today.

Some quirky things that we saw along 1st Street.

After our delicious lunch we walked along the streets of Langley shopping in the Star Store and our favorite thrift store in Langley. Oops, I ended up buying some dishes at the thrift store. Letty bought some nice leather gloves at the Star Store.

I’ll also be linking up to Signs, signs by Lesley later on Wednesday of this week.

Our long Thanksgiving weekend was filled with lots of great fellowship and great food. We are so thankful for all the gatherings and fun times we had and are having. Our Thanksgiving company leave on Tuesday. Today we enjoyed a small Thanksgiving feast at our house and now the table games are happening while I watch Soccer with some Jalapeno chips. I’ll share more from our Saturday and Sunday Thanksgiving happenings later in the week.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage