Happy New Year 2015~ Bring It On !

 My Wee Little Sheep were tangled in the miniature Christmas lights and the little Santa was unwinding them for me as I cleaned up my craft room / studio for a new year of rug weaving and crafting. I can see by his eyes he was a bit frustrated with the mess the little sheep made, but being of jolly nature, little Santa persevered and the lights were wound up and put away until next year's Christmas crafting.

 Our year ended with the joy of having our daughter's  children for a few nights before Christmas. We shared Christmas Eve with her and her children, it was a pleasant time of family fellowship. ( We had a good time of cooking together, watching movies, games, puzzles, and a special outing. )

 Our Christmas Village takes up our whole sun-room. It also takes a little more than a day to set up, and a whole day to take down and put away...

 ... but we think it is worth it. ( Whew ! ) Now the Christmas lights and the Christmas Village are put away until next year.

 Santa has hung his suit up in our guest bedroom for the year but not until after he ...

 ...visited our 5 grandchildren over the snowy mountains and far away and our 4 grandchildren on this side of the mountains. He is a busy Santa, but this grandpa ( oops, Santa) makes a lot of time for all of his grandchildren !

The past year, 2014, was a year of many challenges and blessings. We are thankful for all God has given us and look forward to 2015 knowing He is in control. Of all His many blessings this past year we have to say we are so thankful for the miracle and blessing of this little guy, firstborn child (son ) of our youngest son and his wife after almost 13 years of marriage.

We hope 2015 is a year of blessing to all our family & friends. May you have blessings abundant even in the midst of tragedy, trials, and whatever life throws at you. Take time to savour the little moments of simple joy, hug those you love whenever you have the chance, write notes of thanks & appreciation to those you seldom see, read & contemplate your Bible, and dance for joy when the mood strikes ! Happy New Year 2015, bring it on.

Santa & I Are Very Good Friends !

 My husband & I have been gone . We've been over the snowy mountains and far away, returning home yesterday. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with our sons, daughter, and their families. Just because Santa & I are very good friends, he visited us after Thanksgiving. He let me take a picture of him holding our new grandson ...

...and I even persuaded Santa to let me sit on his lap for a picture. ( Shhh, don't tell anyone, but Santa kissed me ! )

Christmas And Moles?

I just happened to be at our daughter and her family's' home when who should appear? Santa!

The youngest grandchild, Little J, was quite taken with Santa.

Three of the four children in the house were awake and got to sit on Santa's lap, but our oldest grandchild was fast asleep.Maybe he knows Santa can't leave the gifts until all the children are asleep. He was right too. Santa gave the children some candy and told them to get to bed so he could leave their gifts, then Santa was off ...

Little J runs to the window to see where Santa has gone.

On Christmas Day our daughter and her family came to our home to celebrate. My husband ( he kind of looks like Santa, doesn't he?) carved up the turkey, one of our home grown Midget Whites , made ready just the day before. Turkey and ham , mashed potatoes, coleslaw,won-ton soup ( you don't have won ton soup for your Christmas dinner?) lefse, and so many other yummy things to eat ! When it came time for the family to go next door to my husband's sister's home for dessert Little J had just fallen fast asleep. I stayed at home and kept the fire going while he slept, enjoying the quiet and watching our youngest grandchild. There is nothing as peaceful and tender as the sight of a sweetly sleeping child. Later on the rest of the family returned. We played games ( WII ) and ate more food. I got to cuddle my grandchildren , enjoy watching the family play together, laugh together, remember how much I appreciate all God's blessings, and not take for granted food, home, health, loved ones. ( pictured above, our daughter and her youngest daughter) Now for an announcement, Vickie of Sand Flat Farms* has won! She beat us in the Underground Varmint Termination Contest *!She whupped us big time!!!! Vickie trapped 25 groundhogs ( well, 26 if you count her cat Jasmine's kill) and my husband Jim only got a measly 10 moles. Even though there is another day to this year, I don't think our one trap will catch enough moles to beat Vickie. So CONGRATULATIONS Vickie, you have won a WHAC-A-MOLE Game ! I tried to find a Whac-a-Groundhog Game, but no luck. ( sigh ) So send me your snail mail address and this game will be yours . I say we should continue this challenge next year, goodness , the moles around here are plenty busy. I still think they are PLANNING TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD *. Well, maybe just Cedar Pond!

Santa, and the Last of the 2008 Christmas Posts

~One of my small village scenes. The farm with the poultry yard. I don't see any stalking,murderous coyotes in this scene. Maybe I should look into some little porcelain coyotes and fake blood for a dose of reality here. Maybe not, I like to think the whole world conspires to goodness and bliss this time of year. Will someone please inform the coyotes they are not following the plan?Somebody, somewhere ,seems to think we'll all just get along and there will be peace on earth if we just play nice. ~We DID play nice and have peace here on Cedar Pond the 23rd of December. It has become a tradition to have any grandchildren who live close enough, to come over and bake Christmas cookies, play games and spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa's. Here #5 Granddaughter rolls out the sugar cookie dough and cuts it into Christmas shapes.

~#2 Granddaughter also takes her turn at her own batch of sugar cookies.~

~#1 Grandson plays with MY Rudolph toys while awaiting his turn to roll out and cut his sugar cookie dough. I think he preferred to play with my toys instead of baking . He played with my toys the whole time he was here. How can you resist Rudolph and his reindeer friends anyway? ~The grandchildren and I took the time to glitter up a cardboard village that was the only Christmas village we had when our daughter, their mother was growing up. Since I now have a porcelain Christmas Village, I thought the grandchildren would appreciate taking home the little village that adorned their mother's Christmas memories.

~#2 granddaughter decorates her cookies. We made the cookies dairy-free so their mom can eat them.~

~Poppa also likes to help out, he and #5 granddaughter also do taste tests of the cookies and the frosting. ~The grandchildren have all had visits from Santa in December. For some reason I find them all whispering and giggling as they tell me they are sure Santa is their very own Poppa! I just cannot understand how they would think Santa and Poppa are one and the same.....just because they SOUND alike, and they both wear the same glasses, and they both have the same moustache, and just because Poppa and Santa are never together in the same room at the same time , even though everyone else is present, why would they think Poppa is Santa? Look at the picture above, and then compare it to the picture of Santa (below) , what do you think? Oh, doesn't our dog Hawk look pleased to be posing with Santa? We think it was so nice of Santa to stop by and give Hawk some attention.....

~For more pictures of Santa check out our daughters blog,A.Joy At Home.~

Christmas Sugar Cookies

~This Santa Nodder was a gift to my Hubby from one of his favorite great Aunts. He received this when he was quite young, and this Santa is at least 50 years old. HALF A CENTURY ! Almost an antique, like Hubby and myself. This Santa was meant to hold an apple or orange or candy for Christmas. We bring him out every year, and so he is definitely part of our family tradition.~We don't put apples or oranges in him though, I keep a small set of plastic angel figurines in him and allow children to play with them. Our daughter , A.Joy ( Nov. 30 ), posted a song and a little bit of her memories about the little figurines shown here . ~Another tradition for our family, and with many, many families, is the baking of Christmas cookies. The favorites are sugar cookies. The kids have always liked to frost and decorate them, but I leave a few unfrosted and bare of decoration because in all the eating of special foods and desserts, I yearn for a delicious and plain sugar cookie with a good cup of coffee.

~The grandchildren love to help me bake and frost and decorate Christmas cookies.~

~Here below is the best recipe I have found for sugar cookies. I have tried a lot of different recipes, they are all good, but this one always turns out for me and is a staple in December. I make a lot of the dough, wrap balls of it in wax paper, then put the wrapped balls of dough into zip lock bags and pull out a ball to roll out and cut into shapes just before company comes, while company is here, or if I need to take a batch somewhere for a Christmas festivity. ~Aren't they cute ? Decorating is fun, but eating the frosting and candy decorations and cookies is more fun!

~Christmas Sugar Cookies~

2 cups all purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 6 tablespoons butter ( my preference ) or margarine 1 /3 cup shortening 3/4 cup sugar 1 egg 1 tablespoon milk 1 tablespoon vanilla ~ Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat butter and shortening with mixer for 30 seconds. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk, and vanilla; beat well. Add dry ingredients; beat well. Divide dough in half; cover and chill about 3 hours. Working with half the dough at a time, on a lightly floured surface, roll to 1/8 " thickness. Cut into desired shapes. Place on un-greased cookie sheet. Bake 375 degrees for 7 to 8 minutes or until done. Cool on wire rack and then decorate as desired. Makes 36 to 48 cookies.

~ I don't know about you, but I think this Santa has a slightly sly look on his face. Maybe he has visions of eating the cookies we made after we go to bed. "There is no ideal Christmas, only the one you decide to make as a reflection of your values, desires,affections and traditions." Bill Mckibben