Merry Christmas!

"And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.' "

Luke 2:8-11

On the Ninth Day of Christmas -- Ten Nativity Sets!

Hello everyone! I hadn't gotten around to finishing this project before, so here are all the nativity sets! The second one is from Ten Thousand Villages ( made somewhere in asia?) the sixth one is from Mexico, and the seventh one is from Guatamala. And these don't include the ones that belong to us kids! 

Another Nativity

Hello everyone! This nativity is from Guatamala. Isn't it cool?

Advent Has Begun!

Hello everyone! I decided that for Christmas I would do something special for my blog. I am going to post a pictures of the different nativity sets that our family owns and, if they come from a different country, where they come from. I will try and do this twice a week. The one for today is from Mexico, I think. Feliz Navidad!

Soaring

Pic monkey!

This website, picmonkey.com , is amazing! You can change photos and write on them, for free!

Muffins and Leaves

Today I have a very odd collaboration of topics. I had made muffins yesterday with a recipe from a weekly magazine that comes with our newspaper, and I would like to share the recipe with you.

Cranberry Almond Muffins

(makes 1 dozen)

2 cups four

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup canola oil

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

(1 cup cranberries

1/2 cup chopped almonds)


1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray or line with muffin cups ar paper liners. 2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. In a large bowl, beat eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla for 1 minute on medium. Add flour mixture. ( I would add cranberries and almonds here.) Beat just until no streaks of flour remaim -- do not overmix! 3. Spoon batter into  muffin cups. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until tops of muffins spring back when pressed lightly. Transfer muffins to a rack to cool slightly.
(If you want, you could also add chocolate chips.) 

I also want to share some pictures I took outside. Daniel very bluntly suggested that I take pictures when the leaves were on the trees. I think I managed to capture some very pretty things.

  

Nothing and Lots to Say

I haven't been on my blog in a while, and you mw have been wondering when I would get back to blogging. Well, even now that I'm back, I really don't have anything to say. So I think I'll tell you about an experience that happened to me earlier this year that most of you know about already. I told you that I got a dog named Lizzy. Well, sometime this summer, just after we got her, we went on a camping trip. It was relaxing, and the campground had quiet little trails winding through the woods, which extended for miles. Well, one afternoon I had just run back to the camper after a shower when a thunderstorm whipped up. Mom had just finished
braiding my hair when a deafining crack of thunder drove Hannah to scream, Daniel to dive under the table--and a dog to fly out the screen door. At first, I thought it was Danner. But he was right beside us. So Mom and I went out into the storm looking for Lizzy, calling and calling around the campground. Mind you, the thunder had by no means diminished and it was pooring. Dad got back from work, it was a work trip for him, and we went driving around in his truck calling for Lizzy. Nothing. Now, with help from some very kind people from the campground, we searched the trails that had previously delighted us. We couldn't find her. We ate a very gloomy supper and went to bed, me hoping, all of us praying, and Mom and Dad nearly dispairing for Lizzy's return. I was too nieve to realize the seriousness of the situation.The next morning, Mom and I and the kids and Danner went out calling for Lizzy. We came back dejected. Then, one of the campground workers who had helped us before saw us on our way to the campsite and said, "There you are! I tied your dog up at your campsite." (or something like that) We ran all the way back, calling thankyous over our shoulders. It turns out that, of all the miles of woods that she could have been lost in, she had been found curled up asleep at a tree farm that neighboored the campground, and that the owner of the farm had wondered if she belonged to someone over there and brought her over.
The whole point of the story is to show you that God does indeed answer prayers. However, it isn't always right to ask God to heal this person or not let this one die and so forth. Sometimes the right thing to do is to just rend the person or issue to God. It belongs to him anyhow.

Lizzy helping me do laundary.

Longwood Gardens

On Friday night I went with my friend Liza and her family to longwood Gardens, a huge garden with every imaginable kind of flower and plant. This year, they had lights after dark in the gardens. Some went as far as you can see in the woods, others were old water bottles stacked in collums. Most of the pictures of the lights Liza took, my camera didn't like taking pictures of them. The flowers, however, are all my pictures.