Merry Christmas

Some of the creative ways that the kids wrapped their presents this year.

Rolling out of sugar cookies.

Ann and Riley joined us one weekend for some cookie decorating and game playing.  :)

 Notice who is under the table waiting for cookies to fall to the floor.  :)

More cookie fun

A few of our cookies decorated.

 A few nights ago we spent the evening having family fun.  First we started out the evening making gingerbread houses.

 Below are the finished houses!  It was great fun.

^{Luke 2: 1-20 1} In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while^[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.
 ⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
 ⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
 ¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
 ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
   and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
 ¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
 ¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.


~~~Kathy~~~~

Walk Through Bethlehem

 The check in table.

 Zach working the carpenters shop.

 Josh guiding a group through the city.

Dad (known as Eli to the tourists) talking to the wine merchant.

 One of the tax collectors.

 A shepherd and a roman guard (the shepherd got executed).

 The Gentzler family the last night.

 Mom, one of the rabbis and his wife.

 The corral for the animals. And yes, there is snow on the ground.

 Our city oven.

 The potters.

Me sitting at the well the last night. 

 The whole group at the end of the last night.

Every one had a great time making and working Walk Through Bethlehem. We are so exited  about next year and are thankful to every one that made this happen. We are especially thankful to dad who did most of the work and is now exhausted.  

Becca :D

A day for Riding!

B and her friend were invited to go riding the other day.  A couple from church has 3 Arabian horses, they are all sisters.  We had a great morning.  They have a lovely farm about 25 minutes from here.  You can see that we were riding in an indoor corral.  Those horses are spoiled!  It was in the 40's outside at the time, but it was pretty nice inside.

~~~Kathy~~~~

Kristen's Tea Party

 My sweet friend Kristen is moving in a few weeks. So on Sunday Mom and I threw a going away Tea Party with some girls from church for her. We are all going to miss Kristen so much! She is such a joy to be around!

 We served cucumber sandwiches, pumpkin bars, mint brownies, shortbread, and orange cranberry scones. 

 Lots of laughter and talking!

 The group of girls bought Kristen a 21-piece China tea set as a going away gift.

 After Kristen opened her gift and cards we moved to the dining room and played a few wild rounds of spit! It was so much fun! We tried playing singles, but there were too many cards to fit around the table so we ended up playing teams. Lots of fun!

Birthdays, quilts and growing kids

 Yesterday we celebrated Dad's birthday.

 His birthday dessert was "Mystery Pecan Pie".

 

Mom finished a new quilt top.

 Mom thinks a few of us have grown and wanted to put up an old picture to prove it.

 

 

 

                              -Zach

Animals

 Bree sleeps with her head out of the bed quite often!

 Sleeping on the costume that I was making for Kevin.

 Rose hanging out in her cage.

 Bree crosses her paws in such a lady like way!

Trying to sit on the steps.  

~~Kathy~~~~

New toy

 After much research (which I detest doing) Kev and I found a new stove.  The old one was original to the house so it was about 20 years old.  We were having electrical troubles with it and decided it was time to replace it.  I finally decided that I wanted the dual oven model and found this one. 

 It is fantastic!  I have already used both ovens at the same time.  We do a LOT of cooking around here!  :) 

The above pic is of the smaller top oven.  The bottom oven is a regular oven or convection.  So now I need to learn about using convection.  If any of you have helpful hints I would love to hear them!

Here is a sample of what we have cooked in it.  B made these "Double Lemon Delights" cookies the other day.  Delish!

~~~Kathy~~~~