More celebrations!

 These next 2 celebrations took place at our house.   As I was cleaning the house for the company, I realized that our blinds needed cleaning.  I was able to do all of them except these in the stairway.    My sweet husband willingly helped me!

I spent some time with cooking.  Al's dad used to make these chocolate covered peanuts.  And my Uncle John made the BEST peanut brittle!  I made both plus some other goodies.

Recipe for the peanut brittle:
In a 3-4 quart Pyrex dish, stir together:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
dash of salt
Add 1 1/2 cup raw peanuts.
Microwave on high 4 minutes.
Stir and microwave 3 more minutes.
Add:
1 Tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
Microwave 1 minute
Remove from microwave and add:
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
Stir well and spread on warm cookie sheet that has been greased or sprayed with Pam
Spread as thin as possible.  Be careful!  It is HOT!
Cool 30 minutes and then break into pieces.

*****

On Saturday night, we had a Japanese fellowship.  We had invited several Japanese but not everyone was able to come.  The original intent was to show an American Christmas for Japanese.  Last year we did this for Thanksgiving.  As it was, most of those students or Japanese were not able to come.  Conflicts or illness popped up.  But everyone did have some kind of connection with Japan.

A couple of us were MKs.  That's Missionary Kid if you don't know.  We grew up in Japan.
One couple are missionaries back in the States on furlough.
There were 3 young ladies who have spent some time in Japan and plan to go back to serve there.
There were 3 Japanese women.  Two are married to Americans, one being a Japanese/American.  One is a student at the local college who also brought along a friend, who is part of her host family.  And there were kids too.

We can seat 22 around our Amish made table.  It has lots of leaves we can add!

There was American food and some Japanese food too.  What a fun time we had.  Both languages were spoken, back and forth.

 
I made these little poppers for each person.  It is based on the M&M story:

Kaori-san read a "kamishibai" Christmas story in Japanese.  Andy translated it for those who didn't speak Japanese.

New connections and friendships were made.

You could tell we were all "Japanese" at heart.

We took off our shoes in the "genkan" (entryway).

For the next party, we took a few leaves out of our table.  It didn't need to be so long.  We had had 21 guests on Saturday but would only have 11 for Sunday evening.  Our friends came at 5:30 and we went caroling!  We each had one person we picked to sing for and drove around to various homes for that.  I forgot to take pictures - sad ;(  

Afterwards, we came back to our home for soup and goodies and for lots of laughter and fellowship.

 As Christmas gets closer, one thing I really enjoy is getting Christmas cards and letters!  When the season is over, this stack will make it to my bedroom and I will pick a card each day and pray for the family.   I got that idea from someone many years ago and I have kept up that tradition.

Our next party is with my husband's siblings.  And then we wait for the arrival of our family from 3 states!  Can't wait to hug on our grandchildren!

Celebrations at Christmas

'Tis the season!  

What fun to enjoy Christmas parties with friends!

My first party was with Sarah and our young mother's Bible study group.  We met in the fireside room at our church.  Of course, we had to light the fire for ambiance!

See the presents by the fireplace?  We each looked for an item at home that was still in good shape, but perhaps you don't use it, but someone else might!  These gifts were numbered and we were all assigned the same number as our gift and had to write down something about ourselves that others might not know.

     "I can wiggle my ears."  (Yes, she proved it.  I can also do it!)
     "I was bitten by a bear and lived to tell about it."
     "I wanted to be a CEO of a big company."
     "I grew up in the country in a 2 story yellow house (then she added "in Nebraska" and that gave it away! - Andrea!!)
     "Loves to bake at Christmas time."
     "Have a scar on my back from the doctor cutting me in utero during a c-section."  (YIKES!)

The person who guessed who wrote it, got the present from that person.  It was such a fun and enlightening game!

The bear story?  Me.  OK, it was at a petting zoo and the big bear that "mauled" me, err, nipped at me was a little bear cub.  But it makes for a good story!  And the CEO?  She now has her own wedding venue so is, in fact, with her husband and their friends, the "CEO" of this!
   
Lots to eat and just have fun!  We missed Hannah, but she was getting ready for the arrival of a new born baby - who is now here!!  Congratulations to you and your family!!!

 This year we studied "HisStory", a look at the Bible as a whole story.  I was in my 20's before I connected all the dots.  I could tell you details about many of the stories of the Bible, but didn't realize it is all really one BIG story!  There really is a story line!  So we did a book by book look at how these books look toward the Saviour, the ONE we are celebrating this Christmas!

A children's story book Bible that explains this one continuous story is:

For our gift to the moms, we got them this book, "Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing", which is one I am using along with my Bible reading. 

The wife of a friend of mine who was in my class in Japan had it posted on her Facebook page when she was diagnosed with brain cancer.  I asked her about it and she shared with me about it.  She taught art at our school in Japan and I think the pictures really spoke to her, but the words too!  You would think it is a children's book, but it is GOOD for grownups!  I read a page at a time and it really speaks to me!  Little nuggets of truth from the Word.  Thank you, Lois, for directing me to it!  Rick and Lois were such an encouragement to thousands as they walked this path.  They kept trusting in God's perfect plan and had such peace.  Lois died in August.  Please pray for Rick as he seeks God's direction for him in the coming years without Lois at his side.

The next day I had a party (Christmas brunch) with my Old(er) friends at Sally's house.

 Her house was decorated so very pretty!

 After eating, we had our Bible study.  We have been going through a Women of Faith Bible study on emotions.  A couple of ladies led it for the most part and they did an excellent job of leading us to the One Who holds us in our circumstances, whether difficult or joyful.  A couple were missing this day because they are walking in hard times and just were not able to come.

 These friends of mine have been so much fun!  And such prayer warriors too!  How they love the Lord and I am learning each week how to draw closer to Him.

I will post about some more parties in the next post.

Lincoln Highway - a new road to try

We woke up about 4 am and slipped out of the house before the family woke up.  We had said our good-byes last evening.  

 We pulled off the road at Mt. Horeb to grab some breakfast.

 The dusting of snow was beautiful and did not affect the roads luckily.  Last spring we had to travel far south and leave the night before we had planned to, in order to avoid the 19" snowfall that would have trapped us a while longer.  Well, is "trap" the right word?  I wouldn't have minded a few more days with the grandchildren!!  But Al needed to get to work.

 The barn that is slowly falling down.

 We saw several deer this travel day.

 We had not really planned a new route but as I studied the atlas, I told Al I found another route to try.

 From Cedar Rapids it goes west.  We often take 218 south to 80, although we have gone through the Amana colonies before.

As I studied the atlas, I noticed that the L sign goes clear across the United States, from Times Square in New York to San Francisco, California!  It is called  the Lincoln Highway and is one of the earliest transcontinental highways for automobiles across the States.  It was conceived in 1912 by Carl G. Fisher, an early automobile entrepreneur.  He believed that the popularity of automobiles was dependent on good roads.  Before this time, many people traveled across the country by train.  

It was America's first national memorial to President Abraham Lincoln, predating the 1922 dedication of the Lincoln Memorial.  They had considered calling it the "Coast-to-Coast Highway".  As the first automobile road across the United States, the highway brought great prosperity to the hundred of cities and towns along the way.  It was affectionately known as "The Main Street Across America".

This is an interesting, what, silo?  Little house on top of a silo?  Maybe it is the "dawdi haus", the place where the grandparents live!  Ha!  Course it would be hard for grandpa and grandma to climb up a ladder to that place, unless there is an inside elevator!  Maybe it is a business office.  Who knows!  Maybe the man shed, where he goes when he needs time away.

 A pink "Barbie" barn!  Or has it been converted into a house?

 The pink "Barbie" house that is beside the barn.  One doesn't often see a pink house/barn.

 There was some construction on the road, but once it is completed, it is definitely a route worth considering from Cedar Rapids to Des Moines.   A lot less traffic than Interstate 80!

 They are making it into a 4-lane road all the way.  It is 4-lane only partially now.

 Not Ohio - Iowa

 This has seen better days.

 A rather brisk, cold day for farmers to be out working!

 Back in Kansas!       Long horns, along with donkeys

 Flint Hills

 Bald eagle!

 Kansas sky

 Home to an empty fridge!  I would have to go shopping the next day!