My Christmas cottage

This little lighted Christmas house has been with us for a l-o-n-g time....

It started out,  a clay-like substance that was poured into a mold, it's baked in a Kiln

 and then it looks something like this...

example photo from goggle images

Now it's called Greenware

My mother-in-love would then "clean it up"

 which meant using a tool to smooth the seams,

 repair any imperfections

 and finally paint it. 

Then it was baked in the Kiln again and finishing touches were made...

like the little colored rocks in the windows

the shimmering snow on the roof

 and the itty-bitty lights in the trees

All hand painted with special care by my husbands talented mom

Her steady hands painted the shingles, stones and wood to look real!

It's quite amazing, even the figurines faces are done free hand.

I'm guessing this little treasure is about 25 yrs old

Had a little fun here adding some snow to the photo and tweaking the color! Now all i need is a little smoke coming out through the chimney  :)

I love bringing this little treasure out every Christmas season, then when it's time...

 I carefully pack it up and store it away until next year

Our Christmas day...

Our Christmas day starts with Lunch at mom & dad's

with all my siblings and all the niece's & nephews and significant others

turns out to be about 25 of us.

 Audrey headed right for auntie Jenny

Nine grandkids (with spouses) and 2 great grandkids

Three of the older granddaughters, cleaning up the dishes after lunch.

Foreground, my daughter Brianna, middle, my niece megan, background, niece Alex

(this was a first, we all think it should be an annual event)

My dad, playing with his great granddaughter

Son-in-love Chris with Carson, my brother Randy on the left 

Dad is always sure to pass the treat tray as we open gifts

Family 

 My boys

 Niece Jensen, son Brice, daughter-in-love Jenny all coloring with Audrey

Our little family unit gathers Christmas day evening

A smaller crowd...only 9

Grandkids In front of our tree

Rick and his little buddy

 Love my kids

Uncle Brice and carson

 This doll kept Audrey busy most of the night

a gift from Brice & Jenny

Uncle Gavin hanging out with Carson

We had a busy, and very fun day with our family. Always sad to see it end!

Friday we will celebrate Christmas with Rick's family...cant wait :)

Merry Christmas

 One of my most favorite Christmas quotes if from, The Grinch himself!

 

 "The Grinch"

Merry Christmas to all my friends and family

God grant you the light in Christmas, which is faith;
the warmth of Christmas, which is love;
the radiance of Christmas, which is purity;
the righteousness of Christmas, which is justice;
the belief in Christmas, which is truth;
the all of Christmas, which is Christ.
--Wilda English

Measurable amounts of snow

We will have a white Christmas!

about 5.5 inches....so far

 Our Driveway is average, not huge but not small either. Because of that Rick is able to  manage the snow with his own two hands (and a shovel of course). This morning he got out there about a half an hour after the neighbor with the snow blower, and finished up before him! Now THAT'S, my kind of man-power

Nice job Rick!

My heart is heavy

So it just snuck right up and hit me head-on.....

No, not a  physical head-on assault but an emotional blitz, I didn't even see it coming!

Sometimes all it takes is for a moment or a glimpse to set off something inside you

 that you didn't even know was there.

It stems from this weeks tragedy in Newtown Connecticut. 

You hear the news, it's unbelievable, you may even cry or sob at the moment you here of it. You are sad and grieve for the innocence that was lost, for these babes who were really just beginning to live, for their parents and grandparents, for the brave teachers and all the families of those who perished in this senseless fit of rage.

I even prayed, I prayed for God's peace, that passes ALL understanding, cuz at that moment...well, it's just really hard to understand how this could happen, but we don't have to...we live in a fallen world these horrific acts have been happening throughout the ages. So for me, 

 it's my faith that sustains me in times such as these. 

I rely on God's promises, His peace that only He can give, and the hope that is in Him alone!

~~~

I was helping my daughter out this morning, I took little Audrey to preschool so my daughter wouldn't have to wake up the baby. I love doing it, and Audrey's in her glory. I dropped her off last week as well, it was fun meeting her teachers and seeing her jump right into craft time. I saw that she was safe and taken care of and as I turned one last time to look at her she was looking back at me with the sweetest little smile, "good bye grandma", she said and off I went.  When I opened the school doors to leave that's when I got emotionally smoked, nope didn't see it coming.  I thought of those sweet little ones who lost their lives this week, in a safe school with amazing teachers, this kind of thing can happen anywhere. I really wanted to turn around and go get her, but then I remembered that this is the world we live in, we cant live afraid.  So I looked down, as I walked back to my car past other adults, the tears welled-up as I sat in the car regaining my composure. I prayed again, took a deep breath and went about my morning. 

My grandchilden are prayed for every day.

 For God's protection, not only physically but that He will guard their hearts as well 

from the evil in this world. It gives me peace to know He's got their backs!

~~~

Mourning this week for the sweet little ones and adults from Newtown, 

who are God's newest angels...

A Time for Everything   Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 1There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: 2a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, 6a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. 9What does the worker gain from his toil? 10I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

"KISS" cookies

 Wrapper removal....there is a technique

Chocolate in one bowl, wrappers in the other 

 Audrey has got it down pat!

I can just read her mind about now, "should I eat this one, or put it in the bowl"? 

Grandma, can I eat this "chocolate chip"?  That's what she was calling these Hersheys kisses. I'm wondering if she was trying to outsmart me by diminishing the size of these morsels when calling them "chips".... ha such a funny one!

This brings back a funny little memory of my daughter Brianna (Audrey's mom)  When Brianna was about Audrey's age, she was helping me make these Kiss cookies at Christmas time. Her job was the same....to unwrap the chocolate kisses so I could top the cookie when they came out of the oven.  Her little mind didn't think I would notice that several of the candy kiss tops had been bitten off. It's so funny how they think at this age, I remember we giggled about it as I told her NO MORE BITTING OFF THE TOPS OF THE KISSES.

She was being VERY careful not to touch the hot pan, I was a little reluctant but she insisted on helping with this part as well. She did just fine with my eagle eye supervision

I love making memories with this little one, 

even if she insists on the "Crazy face" pose.

It's a good start

Winter... 

Finally...our first snowfall happened last weekend

 God demonstrates His beauty all around us

Love how the snow collects on the branches of the pine trees 

Snow piled high on my little solar lantern

The lights looks so much prettier with a blanket of snow around them

Looking forward to the beauty that winter has to bring 

Holiday traditions

This was a weekend of holiday traditions, which kicks the Christmas season off for our family every year. Friday night we attended a large Christmas party at a friends home, they host this party every year on the 1st Friday of December. I left my camera at  home but believe me we have a blast. After a large buffet like meal, there is the much anticipated "white reindeer" gift exchange. It's always fun to see what crazy gifts people have found around their homes to bring as gag gifts, it's a night full of outrageous laughter, good fellowship and fun.

*

It's a hard act to follow but on Saturday night, my husbands family gathers for the annual 

Hemmer progressive dinner

We usually get a good crowd but as the kids have grown up, moved away and have gotten "big-people" jobs we sometimes have to go on without a few of them, they are always missed!

We started at Rick's sister's house for appetizers, then moved to Rick's brother's house for the main course, finally ending up at our house for dessert and the (always fun) ornament exchange.

Cheese cake from Hy-Vee

I found this yummy recipe in Pinterest and had to make it !

It had to be created in layers...Mint ice cream, a layer of Chocolate ganache and  oreo cookie crust. Topped with whipped cream.... It's a frozen dessert that is "to die for"!

Sixteen of us gathered in my living room

 (a few are lingering in the kitchen)

The ornaments just waiting to be chosen

My son-in-love is thrilled with his Pickle ornament!

This was the first year Audrey was REALLY able to get into the game.

She picked the sparkly green gift bag 

My daughter-in-love admires a spectacular reindeer ornament.

My daughter and her elf

The game involves the "stealing of others ornaments" If you see an ornament that someone else has, and you really want it, you can steal it instead of taking one in a gift bad...

there a little stealing going on here.

Our grandson Carson with his Great-grandpa (Rick's dad) 

Audrey didn't have to ask twice.... 

Travis (our niece's fiance) was glad to play the princess matching game with Audrey. 

 I love it when my three end up together, laughing and chatting-it-up with each other.

It makes a mommy's heart glad!

  Carson and Rick chillin'.

Carson is teething on an ornament gift bag

 It was such a fun weekend spent with friends and family, a great way to start the holiday festivities off with a bang.  Do you have any fun holiday traditions, I'd love to hear about them.