Holiday Pictures

A present from Grandma and PaPa.


Shane was so happy to receive gifts.

Carissa was so ecstatic to receive the second season of Little House on the Prairie DVDs from

GMA "T".

Nathan with some presents from Grandma Lillian.

Jarrett playing with Santa Potato Head.

Here are some gifts the kids received from their Uncle and Aunt in California. Shane really loves the game on CD. Brian is singing Christmas carols with the kids.

Well I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We had a nice and different Christmas. Every year Christmas seems different to me. I mean, maybe I am getting older and I am seeing things differently. I continue to strive to have a simple Christmas. What I mean by that, is not to lavishly give gifts to my children. I have been blessed that my children never complain about what they receive. I just think that they receive to much stuff and that is not what Christmas is all about. I do believe in giving gifts. That is why we are giving our children Christmas trips. I can not wait to go on the first trip. I will let you know about all four trips.

Well we are entering a new year and I wish everyone a Happy New Year and a prosperous year too. I encourage everyone to start something new this year or maybe rediscover something. What of the possibilities? What about the excitement? Life is to short, now that we will all be a year older this year. Don't waste time.

I am going into this year with much anticipation. It's like I am so excited to see what God's going to do. I feel like a child waiting to open a present, with butterflies in my stomach. Do you know what I mean??? All I can say is put your trust in God for everything. Watch and see what God is going to do and write it down so you won't forget. I have a journal and I plan to write everything down so I will never forget. I wish I started this long ago.

This year I will strive to get back the passion and zeal I once had for God. It seems I have lost it with all the daily tasks that my life requires now. Sometimes I wish I was still in the School of Ministry at Cottonwood.

God Bless,

Tina

Winter Wonderland

What can I give Him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd I would
bring a lamb, if I were a Wise Man, I would do my part; yet what
I can give Him, give my heart. ~Christina Rossetti

Nathan and Carissa studied the poetry of this poet last year in poetry class.




I love this Christmas tree!! This is the only decorations I did this year. For some reason I was not in the mood to decorate, maybe it's because we just moved. Christmas is my favorite time of the year so I love all the trimmings and decorations that go with it. I didn't even take the family in to have Christmas pictures taken.

This picture was taken on Monday this week. You can see the ice on the ground. It started to snow Monday night and it snowed all day Tuesday.

Here are some gifts for a neighbor and the employees of our local bank that I made.

Remember I told you that I was going to be making some truffles and Christmas popcorn. My kids love this stuff... but what kid wouldn't. Yummy!

Here are some pictures of the Missouri River that Brian took after church on Sunday. Speaking of Sunday, that night frozen rain came down from the sky. This was a first for us to see. Everything froze in a matter of seconds. You could hear ice falling off the house and sometimes it made a loud sound.

God bless you all.

~Tina

Christmas Goodies

Nathan helping me puree some fresh pumpkin. I need to get a food processor.


I plan on making some oven roasted pumpkin seeds. Do you know that pumpkin seeds are a good source for iron? I need more iron since I am always lacking in iron. I have been battling anemia since I was a child...so bring on the iron.

Jarrett eating breakfast.

Jarrett loves to eat bananas.

Here is a picture of Shane's cut from the pond accident.

I made some Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookies. Yummy!! They are sooooo good.

We went to Starr Pines to get a Christmas tree. I had to stay in the car because Jarrett was sleeping, it was a good thing since it was 27 degrees outside. So Brian took Carissa, Nathan, and Shane out to pick a tree. They took a hayride out to 200 acres of trees.

This is the tree that they picked to chop down. This picture does not do it justice... this tree is really full and stands about 9 feet. Sorry for the bad pictures... Brian had to use my phone camera since I left my camera at home. They did a good job picking a tree. Don't you think so? This tree cost us $36. WOW!! And it's a fresh tree. Last year we paid over $30 for a 6 foot tree from Home Depot and it was not that fresh. I think we got a deal...and we plan to use this tree for firewood too. No more wasting of trees for us.

I will talk to you soon. I still need to make snicker doodles, pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, truffles, and old fashioned oatmeal cookies. Oh, the kids want some pumpkin pancakes. Have you tried pumpkin pancakes? They are delicious.

I am reading another book. The name is, "Don't make me count to three" by Ginger Plowman. It's a good read so far. I will share more on it later.

December Fun

What a cute kid!! Shane fell into an ice cold pond today. This pond is on our property but is a couple of acres away from the house. The pond was frozen but not frozen enough for him to walk on it. He ran all the way home but by the time he got home he was freezing. It was 40 degrees today. He is okay but he did manage to cut his chin on the ice. He told me he will never do that again.

Every night Brian or I will read a story to the kids before they go to bed. This is Nathan's favorite part of the day.

It's time to make some homemade sugar and chocolate cookies. The kids and Brian devour these cookies. Shane calls the yellow cookies banana cookies because the color looks like a banana.

Here are some pictures of the tables of the Christmas banquet. I decorated a table. Can you guess which table I decorated? hm. Yes, I decorated the Victorian angel table. It was fun and I really enjoyed the fellowship with the pastors family.

The kids enjoyed a snack of homemade hot chocolate and cookies today.

Nathan helped me grind up some anise seeds.

I hope you enjoy this blog. I am new to the blog world. I will try to publish something more often.

God Bless,

Tina

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I thought I would share some pictures of our first snow this winter. We woke up and looked out the window to a beautiful blanket of snow all around our home.

On Monday the kids asked if I would make my homemade hot chocolate. This is one of their favorite winter treats beside my homemade Christmas popcorn and cookies.

On Tuesday I decided to throw some items together for dinner. There was about 16ozs of chicken broth in the fridge. Hmm? My creative cooking juices started to flow again. I put the chicken broth, water, peas, carrots, celery, green beans, pasta, salt, pepper, oregano, basil and garlic in a pot. I did not measure anything. I also put some flour in it to thicken it up since I could not put cream it it. None of us should be eating milk right now since we all have a stomach virus. We had some toasted french bread with the meal. Brian is sure thankful I am cooking again. Everyone had seconds. I think it took less then 30 mins. to make everything.

I am going to try to make my first homemade pumpkin pie this week. For some reason I want to cook and bake again. Maybe it's the weather. I will let you now how it turns out.

Talk to you soon.

Tina