Christmas

On Christmas day our family volunteered at a womens and childrens homeless shelter downtown to deliver gifts and serve lunch. We all wore hair nets and gloves and aprons and served bread, salads, plates, and drinks at all the tables. Then we we went to the nursing home and did a musical program. It was lots of fun!

Christmas Eve

On Christmas eve Robyn, Lily and I participated in the Christmas Eve family service and that was very fun to do. Lily and I played the hand chimes for one of the songs while the choir sang. After the service we went to our friends house for dinner! There was lots of good food and we all had a good fellowship with each other.

Our Annual Christmas Cookie Exchange and Birthday Party for Jesus

We had a cookie exchange at our house again this year which was fun. We have a lot of cookies! I made a baby Jesus cake and the younger girls did a nativity puppet show and painted a nativity pictures on a poster. We got a lot of card supplies made cards that we passed out when we went caroling at the nursing home.
Merry Christmas one and all!
-Angela

Nativity Pendant

Another neat story about our Christmas "decorations"..... There is a mom in the girls' choir who has this stunning pendant I've admired for years. She wears it all through the Christmas season. Last year I complimented her on it and she told me that she had bought it several years ago from a boutique that features local artisans in an upscale neighborhood of Dallas. She commented that the artisan had since died. Well, the week after Christmas on a whim, I did a search on eBay using the information she gave me and I was stunned when I saw the pendant up for auction by a lady here in Dallas who scavenges at estate sales and sells her finds. Long story short, I bought the admired pendant for $5. It speaks loudly of what Christmas means to me. People can't help but notice it. It is indeed a gift from God to me.

The girls going to Nutcracker

Here we are dressed and ready to go and see our friends Mollie and Emma in the Nutcracker ballet.

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas....

For mom, it was a challenge to get the new house decorated after just finishing unpacking a month ago but we were ready right after Thanksgiving. There's a story to both our indoor and outdoor decorations. Mom bought the blow up nativity with her allowance last year and we were disappointed when we got it out and it wouldn't work this year. Mom said, "I don't expect Lowe's will exchange it a year later but if God wants us to show what Christmas means to us to our new neighbors through this decoration, He'll have to work it out." And He did so we have a new blow up nativity in the yard this year. Inside, we are enjoying many lovely new ornaments and a hearth candle holder from Mrs. Bonnell's bounty. This summer when she moved, she let us choose some christmas decorations to bring back. That was a blessing.

A Musical Advent Sunday

On the third Sunday of Advent where we celebrate JOY, the girls played "Joy to the World" on their handbells and Angela played "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" for the offeratory at the church we attend. Later that night, we tasted heaven at the choral service that the girls sang in. In the brief video clip, the sanctuary is lit by candlelight only so it's difficult to see them but you can hear them singing "In the Bleak Midwinter".

Thanksgiving with Grandparents

Grandma and Pop-pop came to visit for Thanksgiving. We had a lot of fun together.
We went to the botanical gardens. They gave us each some money to spend and Lily and I went out to Hobby Lobby and Lily got card supplies and I got yarn with my money. I made a shawl with some of my yarn and I am wearing it in the picture of Grandma and I. Grandma and Pop-pop gave Mommy and Daddy a fire pit and we all roasted marshmallows around it on the last night that they were here. I gave Grandma and Pop-pop a scarf and headband that I made. There is a picture of Pop-pop wearing the things that I crocheted for him. On Thanksgiving, Robyn dressed up like an Indian (whistling while swinging--she's multitalented that way). Thanksgiving dinner was very yummy. My favorite part of the meal is sweet potato casserole--Yum!!!--but we also had a lot of pie--pecan, chocolate pecan, pumpkin, and apple!

House Blessing

During the move, we had our small group and some other special friends come over for a house blessing. First we ate pizza and brownies in the neighborhood park pavilion and then we walked to the house where we went through each room and prayed and sang hymns. It was really fun.

We Moved!

We've spent the last several weeks relocating down the street. It sounded easy but "pride comes before the fall". We literally pushed our belongings down the street on dollies (including the piano), in our bike trailer, on our wagon and in our van. We decided to buy versus rent because it's a "buyer's market" and we found a place in the neighborhood we've been living in that backs up to a cow pasture. And, if moving wasn't enough, we took down the privacy fence and Brian put up the rod iron fence so we could enjoy looking at the cows out back and pretend we live in the country. Being a Ph.D. which he claims makes him an expert "post hole digger", he battled the clay soil and won. And then we pulled out all the shrubs out front and planted lovely things like a crepe myrtle, azaleas, a hydrangea, carpet roses and mums. We planted a tree out back too. And then we painted a bedroom. So, it's been busy around here.....

Daddy speaks in chapel at DTS

Daddy spoke in chapel at DTS this past week. The subject was Parental Rights and Responsibilities and he adapted his talk at Blythefield for the seminary setting. If you want to hear it, go to www.dts.edu/media/chapel/ and click on 10/14/2008.

The State Fair

Last week we went to the state fair. It was fun. We went to the dog show, the petting zoo, the backyard circus, the butter sculpture of King Tut's tomb and our favorite show was the african acrobats. Here are a few pictures:

Choir Concert

Last Sunday evening was the Nielson and Young piano concert at PCPC, the church were we have choir. Our choir was participating in one of the songs titled, 'When With Our Music God is Glorified'. We were accompanied by a small orchestra and the two pianists. Mom video taped parts of the song for you to see. The whole concert was beautiful and we enjoyed it a lot. See if you can find Lily and I in the video. We are rather small, so good luck searching.

Angela's Birthday Party

This weekend we celebrated my birthday with a few friends. On Saturday night we went out to LaMadeline, a little french bistro, for dinner. Mommy brought a table cloth and candles for the table. I had made a corsage for each lady that afternoon and we set one at each place setting. We made a carrot cake and I got a new, special dress that morning for the party. My two friends Hope and Grace and their mom and my friend, who is my choir director, were my special guests. We each had a delicious dinner and cake. After the dinner we went to the symphony. It was amazing! The music was beautiful. My choir director's husband plays cello in the symphony and he is also my cello teacher. It was a lovely evening spent with very dear friends!

The Pumpkin Patch at the Botanical Gardens

We spent a pleasant afternoon at the Pumpkin Patch. It's cooled down into the 80's and the weather was great. Here are some of the photos:

Volunteering at the Nursing Home

Last month we started volunteering at the local nursing home. Two days a month we come to help the folks play bingo. We help them move their tokens and show them where each one goes. It is a lot of fun!