Tears!

Our adopted cows have been gone since Saturday. I (Hope) phoned our neighbor today to ask about them and he said that this pasture is used for pregnant cows and when they are ready to deliver, they are moved to another pasture. (Angela had been saying the cows were looking plump in the middle.) So, we're going to miss the births of 7 new cows and our cows will go on to other pastures and new cows that are pregnant will be delivered in a month or so. He said they'd wait until the spring grass filled in better. Everyone was disappointed but when Starla heard that "Luella, Nutmeg, Gertie and Apple Gray" weren't coming back she sobbed for half an hour. It was honestly like grieving the loss of a pet. She doesn't want "new cows". And we just bought 15 more pounds of treats last week.....

Valentines Celebrations

Angela kicked off her digital design business by creating custom valentines and she sold 14 orders! Meanwhile, I sold my famous chocolate chip cookies in gift bags at Daddy's work.

On Friday our friends came over for a sleepover. It was very fun. We made s'mores on the firepit. The next morning we got up and made pancakes and they were very good! We went over to the park and played for a while and baked valentine cookies for our neighbors. Robyn and her friend made a special desert.

We went to 2 parties. The picture below is of us with our choir friends.

Our family had a special dinner-steak and Mom and Dad gave us each a gift. Angela, Robyn and I each got a book series we've been wanting and Starla got play money for her cash register.

More Visitors

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.