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I, Lily, am now the person who will update the blog. Angela and Mommy have joined Creative Memories doing digital srapbooking and at the moment are designing valentines. Please check out their website at http://www.digitaldesignsbyangela.blogspot.com/.

We have now achieved thinking up the names of two cows. ''Gerdie'' is a black and white cow. ''Nutmeg'' or ''Luella'', as Starla calls her, is a pure brown cow. We have gone through two bags of cow treats and have visiting ''cows'' everyday. Gerdie is what Mommy calls the stubburn cow. She'll just stand their and moo and moo and moo until someone comes and feeds her. Then all the other cows come running for treats and we have to get more treats. Then they all leave except Gerdie and then moo, moo, moo.

Believe me it gets annoying--but it's fun too. Here are some pictures.

Our Trip Up North

Just after Christmas we drove up north to visit Grandma and see friends. We had a great time, even though there wasn't very much snow. Lily and I went skiing and we all went sledding on the dunes around the beach. Mom visited Grandma every day and she seemed to be doing pretty well. We made a movie together with some of our friends and you can see some of our costumes in the pictures. We had a great visit!

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!