Christmas decorating

The day after Thanksgiving, we decorate for Christmas.  Some people decorate before Halloween!  I just love Thanksgiving too much and don't want to jump over it!

We were in Wisconsin so got to enjoy watching the kids decorate their home.  We wouldn't get to ours until the following week.

We found these birch branches to put out.  I'll have to remember to save a few branches when our birch tree needs trimming!

Hannah had the idea to rearrange the furniture and put the skinny decorative tree in the front window.  Jill wasn't too keen on the idea, but after we did it, she liked it.

The family tree with the kids' ornaments goes in the family room.

They get an ornament from Nana every year.

From their other grandma too.

This yule log is a family tradition that goes back to my growing up days.  My dad found a tree branch in the mountains in southern Japan and made a yule log for my mom.  Every year we had this to mark off the weeks until Christmas.  When I got married, Dad made one for me.  And Jill asked Grandpa Pete for one also when she got married.

One evening, we went out and saw lights at the park that is by the lake.

Another evening, we went to the Cellar District, a restaurant that used to be a church.

Pretty awesome food!

It makes me sad though to see a "dead" church.  In Europe we saw many churches that people no longer attended.  Just museums.

May I keep Christ alive in my heart.  Follow Him purposefullly, faithfully.

"Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, with ALL your soul and with ALL your strength.  These words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." - Deuteronomy 6:5-8

We told the children good-bye the evening before we left in case we left before they woke up.  Time to get to Kansas and decorate our home for Christmas!

Here is a song that Steve Green sings.  May these be true of us.

We're pilgrims on the journey
Of the narrow road
And those who've gone before us line the way
Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary
Their lives a stirring testament to God's sustaining grace

Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses
Let us run the race not only for the prize
But as those who've gone before us
Let us leave to those behind us
The heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives

CHORUS:
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave
Lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey

Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful

After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone
And our children sift through all we've left behind
May the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover
Become the light that leads them to the road we each must find

REPEAT CHORUS

Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful

Thankful days!

We had a wonderful time with our daughter and her family in Wisconsin for a few days around Thanksgiving Day!  When we arrived, sweet Claire was sad because she had had a fever that morning and couldn't go to school for their school party.

Luckily, the fever was short-lived and by the next day, she was bouncing around!

We received a text from our daughter, Mindy, that her husband and her baby, Tenley, both had fevers also.  They had been exposed to Covid so were not going anywhere for Thanksgiving.  

Some of the things we packed into our days there:

Claire and I played with her dolls.  Someone gave her this school house for her dolls!  It sure is fun to play school!

The girls practiced their instruments.

Because stocks dropped, the guys and the two older girls took advantage of low prices to buy shares in some companies.

Not sure why Claire is in the dog house...

Papa did some "papa-chores".   Fixing stuff is what he likes to do!

He even walked Kobi a few times.

Sophia painted a record - they call them vinyls nowadays.  She goes to thrift stores to buy old records.  She bought a Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass record.  We had to listen to that before she painted it.  We used to listen to them when we were dating years back and had a record or two of them back in the day.

Hannah did a self-portrait of her with Kobi.

The girls and I went shopping.

I helped Claire find her Christmas dress that she will also wear for the school program, church program and piano recital.

We played games and laughed a lot!

And we celebrated Thanksgiving, of course!

It was snowing off and on that day!

Claire helped mommy make "Margie rolls".  This is Margie Busenitz' recipe.  You won't want to settle for store-bought rolls after you taste these!

Jill saw a recipe for "fancy" mashed potatoes.  It was good, however, a lot of work and we decided that plain old German Mennonite mashed potatoes is just as delicious, really.  The potatoes in the photo looks really pretty though!

Jill had told us that we would not be having turkey.  No one in their family really likes it.  She made stuffed chicken breasts and that was super delicious!

Our son and his family invited a couple of international students to their home for Thanksgiving.  We have done that before too, a few times.

At your Thanksgiving dinners, do you go around and share what you are thankful for?  Some years, we have written out what we are thankful for on small paper leaves cut out of colored paper and put them on broken limbs, to look like a tree.

I keep the leaves and I still have some that my mom and dad filled out.  Now that they have passed, they are so special to me!

There are many things to be thankful for, of course. I'm happy that our grandbaby is feeling better! 

As we shared around the table, I was overwhelmed with thankfulness to the Lord this year that He listens to me, but most importantly that He speaks to me!!  The One Who hurled the stars into space, Who created mountains, atoms, monkeys and each of us.  He speaks to me!  To anyone who will listen!  

I LOVE the Bible, His very words.  This is one way that God speaks to us!!  I LOVE to listen to what He says.  Even if He is pointing out something I have done wrong, He always does so in a gentle and loving way.  He is SOOOO loving.  He guides me, teaches me, tells me He loves me!  He understands when I am upset.  He knows when I am happy.  He knows if I'm having a bad day.  He is ALWAYS with me!!  When I ask Him to help me and give me strength for a hard task, He will help!  What a wonderful Father He is!!!  The Bible is my most precious gift, a treasure worth more than anything!  My heart goes out to those in some countries who are not allowed to own a copy.  In some countries they have even taken the app off their phones! Which is one reason to "hide God's Word in our heart"!   Psalm 119:11  "Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors." vs 24.

Thank You, thank You, Father!!  

1. Open my ears, that I may hear
   Voices of truth Thou sendest clear;
   And while the wave notes fall on my ear,
   Everything false will disappear.
   • Silently now I wait for Thee,
     Ready my God, Thy will to see,
     Open my ears, illumine me,
     Spirit divine!