Merry Christmas!

We left for our grandparents Monday morning. It started snowing as we were going through Virginia, but it was just lightly snowing and the roads weren't slippery. 

light snow during the trip

 Nate got a hold of my camera and took some goofy pics of himself. =D

 Although it hadn't been snowing up there before, we seemed to carry the snow with us to our destination. It barely covered the ground that evening, but Daniel and Andrew (our cousin) wanted to build a snowman anyway.

a rather small snowman =D

Grandma' Christmas lights

Andrew being cute

Bethany thought Pap needed some extra hair =D

 On Christmas morning we had a late breakfast then, after clean-up, gathered in the living room for the Christmas story.

Pap reading the Christmas story

We then sang a couple Christmas songs with Nate accompanying on the guitar...

... and proceeded to open our gifts.

 Lunch/supper was absolutely delicious! We had turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, corn, stuffing, gravy, homemade bread, and red beets. (I think that's it... =D)

from right to left: Pap, Daniel, Nate, Aunt Jane, Uncle Time, Dad, Mom, Gram, and Bethany (Andrew was napping, and I'm taking the picture.

And had a good many pies including: cherry, blueberry, pumpkin, maple nut, and lemon meringue. And yes, they were scrumptious!!

Aunt Jane dishing up some pie for Dad

 After lunch Dad, Pap, Nate, Uncle Tim, and I went out to shoot guns, which we do every year (Bethany shoots sometimes too, but she didn't care to this time. Daniel likes to shoot the 22 pistol sometimes, but is afraid of the noise of bigger guns. Got to cure that boy if he ever wants to hunt! =D). We can't shoot much at our house, so we often bring our guns up here to shoot.

While Christmas is a fun time to get together with family and exchange gifts, let us not forget the greatest gift of all, Jesus Christ!

Happy Birthday, Bethany!

Bethany turned thirteen on Saturday, Dec. 23rd. Leah, a friend from church, came over and spent the night Friday.

Leah and Beth

 We were going to have a cookout for her birthday meal, but it was cold and windy. So she decided on stromboli instead.


blowing out her thirteen candles

opening her gifts--She got a travel mug, a shirt, some pens and pencils she'd wanted, a necklace, and a couple soft blankets. (I think I remembered them all).


I hope you all are having a very Merry Christmas! We are having a fabulous time at my grandparents. Will be posting pictures later!!

Gingerbread Houses

You can't beat a tradition that is both fun to do and fun to eat! =D We've been making gingerbread houses every year around Christmastime for about twelve years now, and it is an unbreakable tradition!!

no store-bought kit is as good as home-made gingerbread!

 Let the building begin!

Dad helped Daniel out on his house

the architects at work =D

front of Daniel's house

back of Daniel's house

Bethany's house (front)

Bethany house (back)

My house (front)

(back)

Nate's house (front)

(back)

And we can already attest to the fact that they taste even better than they look! =D

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...

...but it doesn't seem likely!! Though the weather is getting cooler now, the last couple weeks have been in the 60s! I hope there will be some snow when we go up to PA, though.

We've had our Christmas decorations up for a while now... I've just been too lazy to post them! =D But I figured that the fall decor on the blog was going out of season. =D So anyway, here are a few pics of some of our Christmas decorations:

our little tree. I sometimes wish we could get a real one--they're so pretty and smell so good--but several places I clean have real trees, and it's very annoying when tons of needles fall off whenever you brush against it...especially when you're trying to clean the floor!! =D

this is what I WISH our tree looked like through the living room window.... frosted with snow! =D

Daniel's 7th Birthday

Daniel turned seven last Thursday, Thanksgiving Day. With everyone here for Thanksgiving, he got enough gifts to spoil him, though some of them are being used by Nate and Dad as much as by Daniel... the remote-control helicopter particularly, which Paul got for Daniel. =D

opening his presents...

And let's not forget the birthday spankings!!! =D

 One of Daniel's gifts took a bit of before-hand planning. (To keep it a secret from him, we called it the Manhattan Project. =D) Since it wasn't something we could wrap up, Dad wrote a little jingle to tell him what it was...

I think he looks like our cousin, Lincoln, in this picture. Scary! lol =D (Don't tell Lincoln I said that, Gram! =D)

In case you can't read it:
Today is your special day, We think you will shout hurray!
For you we have a big surprise which will really put you on a rise.
We know you like to climb the trees, and swing and sway in the breeze.
So how about a house off the ground, that you can play in all year round?
You'll need a ladder to climb up in, and a door somewhere to let you in.
And side to protect you from the mouse, that may want to camp in your TREE HOUSE. 

The hilarious thing was that he didn't get it at first!! =D But he was very excited once we explained that he was getting a tree house!

Dad and Nate (though mostly Nate) built the tree house in a large oak tree at the corner of our yard on Thursday and Friday.

It turned out to be quite large... and higher off the ground than Mom anticipated. =D

Nathan cut round pieces of wood into the right length and used them for pickets, which look really cool. He even made a trap door above where the ladder is. He's going to make a wooden ladder of some sort later, I think.

Daniel really enjoys his new tree house!