it's beginning to look a lot like ...

C*h*R*i*S*t*M*a*S ....

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland 

...and the stockings were hung by the kitchen sink w/ care
 (my makeshift Christmas curtains : )

Sunday afternoon father/mother/daughter project

 

Festive table to usher in the tree trimming to follow.

The most appropriate attire for this particular party just so happened to be brand new P.J.'s
 I'm thinkin' this may become a new tradition -  as  I have visions of adorable grandbabies years from now  pitter-pattering around in pj's for just such a party as this! :) 

IBC Reinbeer  has a  jolly happy soul effect on all who sip it.

We had a BIG helper for tree trimming :) 

This year our entire tree is simply covered in sparkling snowflakes and stars ...

...with the exception of one special ornament I found in our mailbox recently.  I placed it in plain view bc it whisks me back to the warm Arizona sunshine where I  grew up in the desert with my friend who made it.  She has a rather unique way of warming me up from the inside out w/  her melted glass he-artwork.  After Christmas I'm adding this to my collection of ReAlLy warm stuff! :)

This fella emptied the dishwasher for me the other day! 

Santa's Workshop ...
sleighs & canedeer here on the assembly line
and more reinbeer to be manufactured momentarily

Ugly Sweater Shopping
We searched high & low & I don't think there's a sweater out there that would look ugly
 on either one of these two beautiful girls :)

and

 judging by the crowd of cars at the Salvation Army ...

I can't help but wonder if  the person who invented the ugly sweater party had any idea
what a huge revenue generator it would become for charity thrift stores?! 

snapshots of the season (Winter)

Yesterday pretty much eVeRyThIng outdoors was encased in an icy crust.  For anyone who stopped even a second to see past the stress from slow traffic, slick roads & slippery parking lots, the sheer beauty was simply stunning.  Just imagine how it would have sparkled if the sun were shining :) 

Our lawn

treasuring & pondering privately but with great joy

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 

Matthew 2:9

When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

Matthew 2:10 

It's early in the morning as I begin this post snuggled on the sofa with the star lit overhead and barely illuminating the Nativity scene Justine, her daddy and I enjoyed making together yesterday. And here and now I find myself, on some miniscule level, closely relating to Mary in the wa-ay back there and then setting these carvings attempt to convey.

A week ago yesterday (Sunday) my husband and I ventured out to the ocean's edge in the wee hours of morning to watch the star at the center of our solar system rise at dawn above the defining line where the vast expanse of heavens above unites with the earth below.  

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.

Psalm 19:1 - 4a 

Little did we know how timely and almost prophetic the "speech" the heavens proclaimed would be for us personally. Just hours later and only a little further up the seashore our daughter's utterance of the word "y-e-s", in response to a question proposed to her, transformed her best friend into her fiance' right before her eyes.  

In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises  at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of it's warmth.

Psalm 19: 4b - 6

The two shared their news that evening with those they wanted to tell personally and followed that up with brief status updates on facebook - and, well ... good news travels f-a-ast!  

When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

Luke 2:17-18 

I'm so very pleased at what we've seen and been told in this regard. Yet these past several days I've withdrawn to some degree from social circles in order to ponder these good tidings of great joy privately and to treasure this time when Alexis' dreams are becoming reality and she begins to plan and prepare for the future. 

And I can't help but wonder,  ... should I be surprised at how this child of mine came to me at dawn of this very day (even as I was writing this post) and, at such a time as this, ...

The end of a matter is better than its beginning and patience is better than pride.

Ecclesiastes 7:8

shared her desire to unite her hand in marriage with that of her groom during a sunrise ceremony?!

But Mary treasured up all these things
 and pondered them in her heart.

Luke 2:19