Decorated and Delivered~

Dear’s Great, great Aunt collected postcards. These are some of her Christmas cards. I really enjoy Christmas Greetings. My goal last week was to get our cards out and get the house dusted and ready for Christmas decorations. On Friday my goals were completed and my cards made it to the post office. Ahhh…that feels good. By Sunday night all the decorations that I’m going to put out are out and the tree is decorated in a minimal way. Some years are like that. This weekend we are celebrating our anniversary with an overnight to Whidbey Island and I didn’t want these kinds of things to be weighing on my relaxation.

This morning I have a breakfast casserole in the oven that I will be taking to our Women’s Bible Study Christmas celebration. I’m hoping that the tables will be decorated and that I can share some nice ones with you.

Today is the day the U.S.A. was attacked at Pearl Harbor. A good reminder to thank God for those in the military and to pray that God will protect them and bring them home safe. Also that God will comfort those who have lost their loved ones in battle this year.

Hope wherever you are and whatever you are doing you have time to relax and savor this new day…

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.

Something Borrowed, Something Blue Monday…

Monday December 6th is Dear and my 36th wedding anniversary.

Here we are all decked out in blue at our Russian Baptist Church Shower in 1974.

This is my maternal grandmother, my babushka, at our shower wearing blue, too. She really was a wonderful lady who was a prayer warrior. She was widowed while in Iran and immigrated a few years later then my parents to the USA. She lost her hand and part of her arm when she was a young girl and never let her handicap stand in the way. She raised 3 children, embroidered beautifully, and was a wonderful cook, better then most people with two hands.

This is my maternal grandmother, my mother, and me at Laguna Beach, California in the early 70’s.

Through all the ups and downs of marriage, finances and child rearing I am very thankful for the commitment and love Dear and I have shared. I count myself blessed to have married a man with integrity and faithfulness to me , his family and his God.

Thank you Dear! Here’s to many more years together!

To see more Blue Monday posts please visit Sally at Smiling Sally!

Mystery Tree 2010 ~

Mosaic Monday at Little Red House will be in full swing soon.

We had our mystery tree delivered on Saturday and I’m happy to say it’s another good one. There was no fussing and stressing at a Christmas Tree lot trying to get agreement on the perfect tree. It’s fun to anticipate what it will look like after we cut the strings. We have enjoyed this tradition for the last three years and it will continue.

The lights are going on right now and I should have it decorated by tonight. I did put a few other decorations up. My favorite…

The quilted place mats that I put on the hearth were made by Wendy of Ivory Spring. Thank you Wendy for sharing your beautiful handiwork with me. I appreciate it.

I’ll be sharing more of the Christmas decorations around the house later in the week. How are your preparations coming?

Rest of the Weary ~ Hymn

Rest of the Weary

Rest of the weary, joy of the sad,
Hope of the dreary, light of the glad;
Home of the stranger, strength to the end,
Refuge from danger, Savior and Friend!

Pillow where lying, love rests its head,
Peace of the dying, life of the dead:
Path of the lowly, prize at the end,
Breath of the holy, Savior and Friend!

When my feet stumble, to Thee I’ll cry,
Crown of the humble, cross of the high;
When my steps wander, over me bend
Truer and fonder, Savior and Friend!

Ever confessing Thee, I will raise
Unto Thee blessing, glory and praise:
All my endeavor, world without end,
Thine to be ever, Savior and Friend!

Words: John S. B. Monsell, Hymns of Love and Praise for the Church’s Year, 1863.

Round Robin Photo Challenge ~ Before and After…

Before and After

Hello Robins! Here is my interpretation of Before and After. This is the window I look out from when I’m on my computer. I’ve seen so many sweet birds out in the bushes.

To see more photo challenge interpretations visit the Round Robin Photo Challenge Blog by clicking away!

Stepping Away…

…so I’ll be better prepared to gaze upon His glory!

I’ll be back sometime soon. Just don’t know when. I’m going to concentrate on our Christmas letter and getting the greetings out, family birthdays, our anniversary, and decorating the house. The tree arrives on Saturday and our son is traveling over the passes to spend some time here this weekend. Hope all your preparations are going well. Blessings…

Starting Slow…

…with the Christmas decorating.

This sign was my one new purchase on the girls day out after Thanksgiving. It will be going up on the wall in our eating area. Here’s a little Christmas Prayer from Hilltop Verses and Prayers by Ralph Spaulding Cushman that helps me focus on what Christmas is all about.

CHRISTMAS PRAYER

Let not our hearts be busy inns,
That have no room for Thee,
But cradles for the living Christ
And His nativity.

Still driven by a thousand cares
The pilgrims come and go;
The hurried caravans press on;
The inns are crowded so!

Here are the rich and busy ones,
With things that must be sold,
No room for simple things within
This hostelry of gold.

Yet hunger dwells within these walls,
These shining walls and bright,
And blindness groping here and there
Without a ray of light.

Let not our hearts be busy inns,
That have no room for Thee
But cradles for the living Christ
And His nativity.

Leftovers…

I wanted to post some leftovers from our long Thanksgiving weekend before I head into the “most wonderful time of the year”. I lifted a couple of these photos from Facebook. Thanks Bob and Kristin!

Here’s Dear carving the Thanksgiving Turkey. He’s the master!

We had to treat our out of town guests to the best doughnuts on earth so a morning run to Frost Doughnuts was in order. We bought the Smokey Bacon Maple Bar, Pumpkin Silk w/Walnuts Bismarck, Marcona Almond & Tart Cherry Bismarck, Salted Caramel, French Toast Twist, Bourbon Caramel Pecan, and Lemon Bismarck.

Love this photo of my mommy and daddy that my niece took at the festivities in Southern California.

On Saturday evening we were invited to my sister Lana’s house for her husband Steve’s birthday. We had a wonderful Greek meal of Avgolemono soup (Greek lemon soup), lamb, rice, and tabbouleh. Lana had her house decorated for Christmas and her table was set beautifully for our dinner.

Today our Thanksgiving Company fly back to Southern California. Later I’ll see about having Dear bring down the Christmas boxes from the attic. Haven’t had much luck with cyber Monday purchases. We have more celebrations ahead before Christmas, too. What’s up in your neck of the woods?

Traditions Continue…

For the last 3 years on the day after Thanksgiving the girls make their annual trek to Goodwill, Tea, and anything else that meets our fancy. This year after tea at 3 Cups of Tea, we made a visit to Country Village in Bothell and shopped at two of our favorite stores there, Cranberry Cottage and The Weed Patch. I’ll see about sharing my purchases later in the week. This year it was just the 4 of us, Lana, Laura, Letty and me.

Please visit Mary at Little Red House to join in the fun of Mosaic Monday.

Lift Up Your Heads, Rejoice ~ Hymn

Lift Up Your Heads, Rejoice

Lift up your heads, rejoice, redemption draweth nigh;
Now breathes a softer air, now shines a milder sky;
The early trees put forth their new and tender leaf;
Hushed is the moaning wind that told of winter’s grief.

Lift up your heads, rejoice, redemption draweth nigh;
Now mount the laden clouds, now flames the darkening sky;
The early scattered drops descend with heavy fall,
And to the waiting earth the hidden thunders call.

Lift up your heads, rejoice, redemption draweth nigh;
O note the varying signs of earth, and air, and sky;
The God of glory comes in gentleness and might,
To comfort and alarm, to succor and to smite.

He comes, the wide world’s King, He comes, the true heart’s Friend,
New gladness to begin, and ancient wrong to end;
He comes, to fill with light the weary waiting eye;
Lift up your heads, rejoice, redemption draweth nigh.

Words: Thomas T. Lynch

This is the first Sunday of Advent. Advent is marked by a spirit of expectation, of anticipation, of preparation, of longing. The tradition is marked with an Advent Wreath and 5 candles. Each of the 4 Sundays a candle is lit with the 5th candle, the center candle being lit on Christmas Eve.

The first candle is traditionally the candle of Expectation or Hope (or in some traditions, Prophecy). This draws attention to the anticipation of the coming of an Anointed One, a Messiah, that weaves its way like a golden thread through Old Testament history.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage