A nice visit

Some of you will recognize this picture from Dunja's blog. (I am using it with permission) I went to her house this afternoon for coffee and visit. We really had a nice time together. Her 'Apfel Kuchen' was delicious too. Of course the best part one another's company.

I'm looking forward to having coffee again with her some time.

Stepping out

I've decided to step out of my comfort zone and allow people to read my Princess Prayers. It is a blog that I have kept my own since earlier this year. Maybe it will encourage others to knw what I struggle with.

yesterday's surprises

I had a fun day yesterday and the Lord brought some surprises my way. We took the kids to the Rochester Museum and Science Ceneter as a surprise. I took a lot of great pictures, which I can't put on my blog right yet. Oh well.

We walked in to RMSC and there stood a very familiar face. An old friend whom I had not seen in about 14 years. Craig and I met when we were 12. We sat next to each other in math class in 7th grade and used to make each other laugh. We became such good friends (but never romantically). A few years later we found we had a other bond. Christianity! In high school there was a group of us who would get together through a group called Young Life and we studied the Word of God on Saturday mornings. Later on we lost contact because we went to different colleges. After college we met up with one another by both becoming Young Life leaders in the Rochester area. My husband Jamie also was a leader, so he met Craig too. Craig became engaged to a girl he met in college (T) and I got engaged to Jamie. J and I married in Oct 1992 and C and T got married in Nov 1992. That was the last I saw of him, because he and T moved to North Carolina. I figured I'd never see him again, but often wondered what ever became of him. Once in a while curiosity would get the best of me and I would google his name to see where he was.

The Lord brought me a surprise because there he was! I recognised him immediately and he recognised me too! We were able to pick up right where we left off, and talked about the Lord too. He said, "Wait a few minutes because Sarah (another girl from our YL study in high school) will be here shortly." She walked in. I hadn't seen her in 21 years. She always was a very sweet girl, although I never got to be close friends with her. However, with believers there is a bond. We gave each other a hug, introduced our children and husbands to one another and had a nice conversation.

I felt such a joy at seeing these two. I am quite sure that the joy would not have been the same if we did not share our relationship with the Lord with one another. It makes me think how wonderful Heaven will be. There are so many people that I will get to see some day! Sometimes I just can't wait!

Good news...and some bad.

The good news is, I recieved a digital camera for Christmas! Yeh!!! I got a Kodak Easy Share C875. That means that I potentially have the ability to blog much more interestingly for all my readers. Woo Hoot!

The bad news...my computer is so hopelessly obsolete that I couldn't download the program disc onto it...so I still can't put interesting pictures up yet! There is a possibility of using my husband's laptop to do that...but he has to see if it can be done.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! This is the Christmas video that my hubby's work sent out to their clients. Just so you know, my hubby is sitting at the desk while everyone is bustling around and his is the first head to pop up on the roof.

Click right here .

My hubby works for a small company that makes videos/dvd's for other companies, organizations, etc. They've made a few local comercials, documentaries, training videos, wedding videos...you name it!

Introducing...

Hello. I wanted to introduce to you some missionary friends who are serving in Thailand. Ruth and Colin hail from Australia, but spent a year and a half interning at our church here in the states. They have served the Lord in Cairns and then more recently in Melbourne. The Lord has now sent them to Thailand. Check out their blog on my links.

Where is the white stuff?

It is a little odd here for this time of year. No snow. Usually by this time there is atleast some. I think we will have a green/brown Christmas this year. At least we don't have to drive in it!

Christmas Cookies

Every year we cut and decorate Christmas cookies. This has been a tradition in my home all through my growing up years and into adulthood.

The kids always enjoy it and it makes such good memories. The kid in me still enjoys it as well.

And of course, we all enjoy eating them!

little miss santa

My husband took this picture of our darling daughter sleeping with this santa hat on.

Home

This picture probably was not taken near Christmas...but it's a snowy picture, so it's allowed in my "Christmas Series." (because I said so, that's why)

This is the house I grew up in. There's the old blue station wagon...which gives us a clue as to when it was taken. Late 60's is my guess. But really, it doesn't look all that different from how it often looked in winter during all my growing up years...(until I was in about 11th grade when my parents decided to make it a light brown house). This is home. It evoked all sorts of sentimental memories for me. I've been thinking a lot about this lately.

Home is powerful. It is where I felt the most nurturing and a place of love and safetly. I feel thankful for the home I grew up in. As Dorothy said in The Wizard of Oz, "There's no place like home."

Anyway...I thought it would be fun to hear what "home" was for you and one of it's best memories.

Ok. I go first. One of my best memories was sitting on my father's lap. He would be sitting in his favorite rocking chair in the living room and I would climb up onto his lap. Sometimes I wish I could go back in time just to do that once again. Eventually I got too big to do that.

This is a pathetic picture of me and Tigger with Dad in about 1976. Martha and I shared a bedroom. I wasn't sitting on his lap...but it's the best I can do.

Ok...so let's hear from you now.

Christmas 1966

I know. You're thinking, "Where's the tree? Where are the Christmas trimmings?" They're not in this picture, but I am certain that somewhere in the vicinity of this small child there is a tree and probably some presents.

This is me. I was born a week and 2 days before Christmas. So I guess you could say that I am the present this year. Notice the glass bottle. No plastic ones back then. My mother nursed all the children in our family except for me (and my brother who was adopted). I was not adopted (atleast that's what I've been told)...but for some reason, my mother's body refused to produce milk. She was under great stress and grieving at the time of my birth and I guess the result was having no milk. My second brother Tim was 8 at the time. He was put into a special home because he had severe autism. During this time in history not much was done to help children who had autism. Luckily today much more can be done. Anyway...my mother tells me that I came along as a gift from the Lord and was a big help in distracting her from her distress. You can read a story about a visit with Tim here. I don't know who the bear is next to me. It was probably placed there by my older sister, Martha. She was 2 at the time. I vaguely remember this bear. I think it talked if you pulled a string with a little plastic loop out of his back-side...but I'm not sure about this. Am I right, Mart?

Memory is a funny thing sometimes.