Gloomy with Promises…

We’ve been on the gloomy side here in the Pacific Northwest. On Sunday after church we decided it would be good to enjoy brunch out. We headed to the Kirkland Lake Washington waterfront Beachhouse Bar and Grill. You can see the gloominess out the windows. But not to worry because what appeared on our plates was not gloomy at all.

I had the Pecan French Toast and Dear had Eggs Benedict.

It was nice to have a meal put in front of me and have a bit of relaxation after a hectic week.

That was Sunday. On Tuesday we had a wee bit of sunshine and on my way home from Costco I got to see this amazing view. A rainbow filled with promises!

Today is Wednesday and it’s a free day for me for which I am grateful.Thursday is a special day and you’ll see why with my post. On Friday I hope to show you the star I bought wrapped in lights that Dear hung on our garage/shop. I’m waiting for a dry night so I can take a photo outside without getting my camera lens wet! On Saturday we are going to get our tree.

Hope all is well in your corner of the world…

A Small Interruption…

…to my Christmas table decor.

While working on my recipes for our Celebrations Cook book being published at the end of April in 2013 I had to redo one of my recipes which meant I needed to change out my Christmas table. I chose to set the table using my pewter pieces since my entree was a traditional English recipe. Some of my pewter pieces were acquired in England in the 70’s.

The pewter wine goblets and the Coffee service with creamer and sugar containers along with the salt and pepper shakers are from England. I decided to use the coffee pot as a vase on this occasion. The candle holders are Revere ware and the flatware is Gorham pewter. The chargers were gifted to us from our son and DIL for Christmas one year.

The runner is a gift from our son and DIL, too. I liked adding in the green goblets with the pewter.

The dishes are Royal Stafford and I think I purchased them at Marshalls.

I enjoy this table but soon it will be reset to our casual Christmas setting.

Now I need to get busy getting our Christmas cards ready to send out. Do you send out Christmas cards and do you add a personal note or do you type one Christmas letter to be included in all your cards?

We received good news yesterday from North Carolina! Our son-in-law is now a Marine Corporal. We are so proud of his achievement. I’m hoping to get an updated photo of him with his new blood stripes and pins along with his sword soon. Congratulations Marine Corporal Andrew!

Getting Ready…

…for the most wonderful time of the year.

Aren’t these “Wee Forest Folk” cute! They really are little. I only have the angel, a shepherd and 1 wise man.

I might head out on Boxing Day and try to find yet another nativity set on sale. I like the classic designs and some of the more modern designs, too.

John 1:14 (The Message)

The Word became flesh and blood,
    and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
    the one-of-a-kind glory,
    like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
    true from start to finish.

Our pastor is unpacking this one verse in the book of John for the month of December.

John 1:14 (ESV) And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

How are preparations coming in your home for Christmas? Are you going simple or over the top this year?

Oh, Come, Little Children

Oh, come, little children, oh, come, one and all,
To Bethlehem’s stable, in Bethlehem’s stall.
And see with rejoicing this glorious sight,
Our Father in heaven has sent us this night.

Oh, see in the manger, in hallowèd light
A star throws its beam on this holiest sight.
In clean swaddling clothes lies the heavenly Child,
More lovely than angels, this Baby so mild.

Oh, there lies the Christ Child, on hay and on straw;
The shepherds are kneeling before Him with awe.
And Mary and Joseph smile on Him with love,
While angels are singing sweet songs from above.

Words: Christoph von Schmid, 1794

A friend of ours faxed me the music and words for O Come Little Children in the Russian language. The Fax machine added an unwanted line through the music. I learned this song by heart in Russian and it’s been fun to sing it this week. We have started the Advent Season and I’ll be posting Christmas Music for the rest of the month. Some of the words in Russian translate different than the English version.

She’s Doing the Happy Dance!

No, it’s not because I’m nipping on the Smirntopf. I’ve met my November 30th deadlines and it makes me footloose and fancy free.

But back to the Smirntopf. If you follow my blog you know that way back in the summer I was inspired by Rosella to try making Rumtopf but I called mine Smirntopf because I used Smirnoff Vodka with the fruit and sugar instead of Rum. Here’s another post about Rumtopf on Rosella’s blog.

This is what it looked like when we added the last bit of fruit, sugar, and vodka and before we stirred and strained it.

Dear and I stirred the Smirntopf and strained our Smirntopf and have a pot of the fruit wondering what we will do with it. After straining the liquid from the fruit I stirred it real good and strained it again through cheesecloth before I filled the containers.

Now I’m wondering who might enjoy a little container of our Smirntopf…

Today is the last day of November and I have some final Grace Challenge thoughts to post.

I’m thankful for the inspiration and encouragement from my blogging friends.

I’m thankful to God that he gave me the words I needed to complete a project.

I’m thankful that we are entering the Christmas season and I’m turning my thoughts to focusing on Jesus during Advent.

When we focus on all we’ve been given it’s easier to give. At our church our pastor said “Grateful people give in response to God’s grace.”

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.
~ 2 Corinthians 8:9

My brother had a great suggestion for continuing the Grace Challenge.

“As you enter the advent season, a season traditionally marked by gift giving (graciousness) make your giving not out of obligation but truly out of grace. Here are some Grace Challenge encouragements for your gift giving, for your abundance of good deeds:

Make a list of the people you are buying gifts for this Christmas season in your Grace Challenge Notebook.
Pray for them daily; Give thanks for them daily.
With your gift, write a note that expresses the content of your prayer and thanks for the person you have been gracious towards. Use Ephesians 1 and Colossians 1 as examples for your writing and prayer.
Believe that your prayer and thanksgiving is worth more than the monetary value of the gift given. “

Blessings…

Christmas Beginnings…

I’m joining Kathleen at Cuisine Kathleen with my first Christmas table for Let’s Dish.

We even had a full on Christmas dinner at this table the Saturday after Thanksgiving with Josh, Laura and Dan. It’s a long story. The recipe for this Apple Butternut soup will be shared in December on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog.

Today I reset the table to my more casual everyday Christmas theme. I hope to share that next week.

More decorations went up today. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at our house…

The Majority…

It was nice having the majority of our children around over the 4 day Thanksgiving Holiday. We are looking forward to seeing Katie and Andrew the day after Christmas for the majority of their trip to the West. They will be in Salt Lake City for 4 days before they continue their flight to Seattle.

I made my first dutch baby the morning after Thanksgiving. I will definitely make it again. This one had blueberries in it. The photo of our 3 kids above was taken on the same day at our favorite Mexican restaurant. And yes, we ate our way through the 4 days…

All the Christmas containers are down from the attic. Now I need to decide what to put up. We won’t be getting our tree until the weekend of the 8th.

How’s Christmas decorating shaping up at your house?

Giving and Receiving…

We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing;

he chastens and hastens His will to make known;

We started with some appetizers. Really? Do you need appetizers at a Thanksgiving meal? Probably not so it’s good not to fuss over them.

The table is something I do like to spend time on. If this is not your thing don’t fuss over it either. The most important thing is having people around your table not what’s on the table.

We generally serve buffet style especially at Thanksgiving because we have way too many dishes to fit on the table and serve family style. When it’s just a family dinner it works fine to put all the dishes right on the table.

Did you notice, too, that there is nothing green on the plate? I gave up making salads for Thanksgiving years ago. There’s just not enough room on the plate for it. I just tell people to have a green smoothie for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning before they head over.

It’s wonderful when you can count on your guests to chip in with part of the meal. Thank you Beth for the desserts and Lana for the potatoes and turkey shaped butter!

We had a wonderful time from Thursday on. I will admit that I was dead Thursday evening. On Friday Lana, Laura and I made one short trip to Country Village in Bothell for a quick run through our 3 favorite stores. Just long enough to get a little shopping out of our systems. We dropped Lana off at home for her to continue her Christmas decorating with her new purchases. Laura and I headed to my house and suggested a meal out at our local Mexican hang out with the guys. They thought that was a great idea and it was nice not to have to cook or warm up another meal.

Because of our cookbook deadlines I made one more meal for my family to test on Saturday night. I’m happy to report it worked out great. All I have left to do is document the recipe for the book. My family might be sad when the recipes are all done and headed off to be edited.

After church today we helped Dan pack up and head back over the mountains. He made it home by 5:00 with clear roads and good weather. After we waved goodbye to Dan we jumped in the car and headed to friends for lunch. That was a nice unexpected treat after all the cooking in my kitchen this Thanksgiving weekend.

A few more days are left in the November Grace Challenge and I’m so grateful to God for family, friends, and food. I’m thankful we can share at our table. And when the dishes are cleared I’m thankful for a dishwasher that scrubs away and a friend that will scrub the items that can’t go in the dishwasher.

I Have a Song That Jesus Gave Me ~ Hymn

I Have a Song That Jesus Gave Me

I have a song that Jesus gave me,
It was sent from Heav’n above;
There never was a sweeter melody,
’Tis the melody of love.

Refrain

In my heart there rings a melody,
There rings a melody with Heaven’s harmony;
In my heart there rings a melody,
There rings a melody of love.

I love the Christ who died on Calv’ry,
For He washed my sins away;
He put within my heart a melody,
And I know it’s there to stay.

Refrain

’Twill be my endless theme in glory,
With the angels I will sing;
’Twill be a song with glorious harmony,
When the courts of Heaven ring.

Refrain

Words: Elton M. Roth, 1924.

HT: Jeremy Leffel Photography

Here and There…

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with Dave, Beth, Jamie, Sarly, Raelynd, BIL Steve, my sister Lana, and our son Dan yesterday in the Pacific Northwest. Our son Josh and Laura were celebrating with Laura’s family just a few miles away from us. Our daughter Katie called from their celebration with Son-in-law Andrew’s folks in the middle of Florida.

I nabbed this photo off facebook of part of my family enjoying their feast in Dallas, Texas. My sister Kathy’s family drove from Southern California to Texas to spend time with my brother Leonard’s family.

Then I nabbed this photo of my mom and dad enjoying their Thanksgiving feast with my sister Vera’s family in Huntington Beach, California. I really love that my dad has his napkin tucked into his waist. I can almost hear his voice and I know he is praising God and being thankful to Him for his family gathered around that table and scattered all over the U.S.

My brother Tim and SIL Letty joined them. My brother Steve’s family drove from Southern California to Arizona to celebrate with my SIL Kelly’s family. Dear’s brother Terry’s family celebrated in Fullerton, California.

Here there and everywhere we all joined in being thankful to God for all “he did to us” over the years!

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Gloomy with Promises…

A Small Interruption…

…to my Christmas table decor.

Getting Ready…

Oh, Come, Little Children

Oh, Come, Little Children

She’s Doing the Happy Dance!

Christmas Beginnings…

The Majority…

Giving and Receiving…

I Have a Song That Jesus Gave Me ~ Hymn

I Have a Song That Jesus Gave Me

Here and There…