The Stockings Were Hung…

…by the chimney with care.

 

We have had our 3 and 3 matching stockings for several years now but this year Katie’s fiance is joining us for Christmas so I went on a quest to find #7 that would blend with the others. I knew finding a matching one would be a challenge. I think this one works fine. Finding an initial to put on it was another dead end because these felt letters couldn’t be found anywhere. I did find an A that was the right size. It’s not the stocking that counts…it’s what’s inside it that counts. (chuckle) We’re thrilled that the 7 of us can be here this year and enjoy Christmas Day together!

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

Filled With Wonder!

Luke 1:46-55 (ESV)

Mary’s Song of Praise: The Magnificat

And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

Thinking about Mary and her encounter with the angel Gabriel fills me with wonder. Can you imagine? Our sermon on Sunday was about wonder. How do we discover the sense of wonder in our daily lives? Here are some ways offered to us;

1. By opening our eyes to the wonders of God’s creation (Psalm 19)

2. By opening our hearts to the wonder of God’s presence (Luke 1:39-45)

3. By opening our minds to the wonder of God’s plan for us (Luke 1:26-38)

4. By opening our mouths to speak to the wonder of our life with God. (Luke 1: 46-56)

ht: Pastor Gary Gulbranson (Senior Pastor ~ Westminster Chapel in Bellevue, Wa.)

Have a wonderful week of Wonder!

The First Noel ~

The First Noel

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.

 

Hoping you experience the love of God today and everyday!

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen ~

…and gentle women!

 

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.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone filled with comfort and joy!

FFF ~ Reminiscing…

…to think, talk, or write about remembered events or experiences.

 

These are all images from my early days in Montebello, California. One of my high school friends posted them on Facebook. It was so much fun to see them and remember the times I spent at each of these spots so many years ago. Some of these buildings do not exist anymore.

1. 31 Flavors on Beverly Blvd. in Montebello ~ My family would stop here growing up. It was always a very exciting time for us kids. We didn’t eat out as a family and to stop and get a treat like this was special. We would get one or two scoops. When we got to have 2 scoops I’d always choose orange sherbet and chocolate chip.

2. Curries Ice Cream Parlor was across the street from my junior high school. At lunch you could get a hot dog, chips, and cherry coke for about 35 cents. I think I only had money for lunch maybe once or twice during my time in junior high. I always had a sack lunch made by my mother. The cherry coke was the kind where they pumped in the cherry flavoring into the coke.

3. The Garmar Theater was the only theater in town. I went a few times with my friends in junior high and high school.

4. Gardunos was a fast food stand a block from my high school. We had an open campus for junior high and high school so we could walk the 1/2 block to Whittier Blvd. and enjoy the food here.

 

5. In the background of this 2nd photo of Curries Ice Cream you can see the wonderful brick building that was my junior high. It is long gone and has a modern building that looks more like a prison on the property now. I really loved the great old brick building but it didn’t withstand earthquakes well and had to be replaced for the safety of the children going there.

Thank you to Susanne at Living to tell the Story for hosting Friday’s Fave Five. A time to join together and remember our favorites from the past week. Click on the image to join in.

My posts will be getting a bit spotty for the rest of the year. I’ll be concentrating on some holiday baking next week and getting things ready for house guests. Our middle son will hopefully get time off to come from Eastern Washington to spend Christmas here. Our daughter Katie’s fiance Andrew will get leave to come for Christmas. He arrives on Christmas Eve. Katie is very happy about that. Are you staying home or traveling for Christmas? Enjoy!
Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

Shine!

Arise, shine;
For your light has come!
And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you.
For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people;
But the LORD will arise over you,
And His glory will be seen upon you.

~ Isaiah 60: 1-2 (NKJV)

Grub and Goodies from the Island ~

 

We ate dinner at the Front Street Grill on Penn Cove in Coupeville. We had Penn Cove mussels and Coconut prawns with very yummy sauces to start off our meal. Dinner was really good and we had a nice chat with the Chef since we ate early and there weren’t a lot of customers.

 

The next morning we had our breakfast at the B & B and enjoyed the company of a younger couple who were staying at the Inn.

 

We found a few fun treasures to bring home. The hanging candle holder is from a thrift store on the main highway. It was $1.75 and I saw it at a nice gift shop for $16.95. I found the Christmas dinner plates at a shop in Langley. I paid $25.00 for 10 of them. The 4 red heavy glasses were $12.00 at an antique mall in Freeland.

So after a trip to good ole Fred Meyer today I’m pretty sure I am all done with my Christmas shopping. I was happy to find out that Fred Meyer is giving a 10% discount to 55 and older customers on Tuesdays up through December!

Hope you are all doing well while counting down the days to Christmas…

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

The Island Life…

Some people love it, some people thought they’d love it. We love to visit and stay awhile.

 

The town of Langley is one of our favorite towns on the island and the Star Store is always a fun stop. We were happy it was open because all the other shops in Langley didn’t open till 11:00 a.m.

 

We stopped for photos before the rains came down and kept coming down for the rest of the weekend.

 

 

Greenbank was our next stop going North up the island.

 

Our destination was Coupeville. We stayed at the Blue Goose Inn. Is anyone wondering why it’s painted salmon?

 

Our lovely room.

 

We drove along a lot of back roads and saw some nice sights. We want to visit again in dry weather so we can get out and about more.

 

Thomas Coupe, a sea captain, took up a claim in 1852 in Penn’s Cove and from there the town of Coupeville grew.Coupeville is one of the oldest towns in the State.  Coupe has a distinction of being the only man ever to sail a fully rigged ship through Deception Pass. Penn Cove Mussels were a must for us to try while staying here.

 

On our way home the wind had really picked up and there were white caps on the Puget Sound. I’ve got a few more shots to share of our dinner and breakfast later this week.

 

Have a great day everyone!

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

Transported to Another Dimension…

by a short ride on a Ferry Boat.

 

From the ferry on our short trip from Mukilteo to Clinton on Whidbey Island.

 

I waved hello to my Mennonite Girlfriends in British Columbia on the other side of these mountains.

 

 

We were in for a rain filled weekend. We knew ahead of time so we had the proper gear on board.

 

It’s hard to stop for a photo op when exiting a ferry boat. You have to keep going with the flow. That is my excuse for this blurry photo.

Whidbey Island is the largest island in Washington’s Puget Sound, forming the Sound’s northern boundary. At 168.67 square miles, it’s the fifth-largest island in the continental United States.

The island was named for Joseph Whidbey, a member of the  Royal Navy who accompanied Peter Puget as one of the first explorers of the area in 1792. The first permanent European settler was Colonel Isaac N. Ebey, in 1850. In 1857 Ebey was killed and beheaded by Haida Indians.

I’ll be sharing more photos from our Northwest Island Adventure in the next couple of days. I don’t have a lot of photos because we were in the middle of a Pineapple express with lots of precipitation.

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

Heading out Early…

 

Good Saturday morning to you. After our early morning coffee Dear and I are hitting the road and will find a breakfast adventure on our way to Whidbey Island today.  We prefer drinking our coffee at home. I’ll be missing in action till Monday but hope to have photos to share next week if the rain holds off here and there. They are warning us about possible flooding on some major rivers here in Western Washington. Time will tell. Enjoy your weekend.