Happy New Year!!

Today is unique! It has never occurred before and it will never be repeated. At midnight it will end, quietly, suddenly, totally. Forever. But the hours between now and then are opportunities with eternal possibilities.

Charles Swindoll

Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin

Irvine Park, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.

Irvine celebrated it 24th year of the Illuminated Christmas Village.

Nutcrackers stand guard!

Our favorite display this year.

The boys heading to school.

Sam and Atticus joining in the fun of caroling.

Jeremy and I take this photo yearly. :-)       Kissing in the gazebo!!            Happy New Year!

 

 

Our Christmas Village

Each Christmas we receive a new village piece from my Mom. This year we received the Pub. The boys thought of Tristan and James at the Drovers in All Creatures Great and Small. Thank you, Mom for the great piece. (she paints each one with love) :-)

Swedish Carol

We light a thousand candles bright around the earth today. And all the beams will shine across the heaven's grand display. Dear brightest star o'er Bethlehem, O let your precious light Shine in with hope and peace toward men in every home tonight.

Swedish Carol

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

I am leaving today to visit my parents. I will be out of reach of Internet access! Is that great or what?? I say yes, we still have places that do not receive cell phone coverage or other coverage! I say this because it makes us stop. We can stop and be with family and friends without the distractions of the world. 

The coming of Jesus at Bethlehem brought joy to the world and to every human heart. May his coming this Christmas bring to each one of us that peace and joy that He desires to give.

Mother Teresa  

Bentleyville Tour of Lights

Bentleyville Tour of Lights...Duluth's Bayfront Festival Park

Jeremy and I got to tour Bentleyville after our night out in Duluth, MN. It is amazing! All the work that is put into this simply amazes me! The spectacular display features a warming place, treats and 3 million lights! 

Time to play golf.

Dinosaur Land was so creative!

Stop at the Post Office to mail your Christmas cards.

Yum, Polar Popcorn!

A big freighter coming in to port.

Santa taking time for some fishing.

That was fun! We should do this next year!

Merry Christmas!!

In need of a quick Christmas Dessert?

I am posting this recipe again for you all. Just in case you are in need of a quick dessert for that Christmas gathering.

Peppermint Chocolate Fudge

2 cups (12 ounces) milk chocolate chips

1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

1 (14 ounce) can EAGLE BRAND Sweetened Condensed Milk

Dash of Salt

1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract

1/4 cup crushed hard peppermint candy

In a heavy saucepan over low heat, melt milk and semisweet chocolate chips with EAGLE BRAND Sweetened Condensed Milk and salt. Remove from heat, stir in peppermint extract. Spread evenly in wax paper lined 8 or 9 inch square pan. Sprinkle with peppermint candy.

Chill 2 hours or until firm. Turn fudge onto cutting board, peel off paper and cut into squares. Store covered in the refrigerator.

My friend Bobby Jean gave me this fun recipe. It is amazing fudge! It turns out so nice and smooth. I used Andes peppermint crunch baking chips for my top decorations. I used tin foil to line my pan, instead of the wax paper. It worked really well. Enjoy! Let me know how you liked it.

Merry Christmas!

 

Duluth in December

We arrived in Duluth a little early for our show. It was warm for December in Duluth. We took a walk down to Canal Park. Oh My, look at the Gulls...this was on Sunday, so maybe this is Gull Church?

Then we noticed all of these folks. One of the Gulls out and about must be famous or visiting from out of town!

But which one? Jeremy and I think the famous ones are gray?

More action!

The folks bird watching would toss bread in the water. Look at the Gulls dive for it.

And now it is time for our show.

Our America Tree

God Bless America

Starting after 9/11 we began to decorate an America tree. This was to honor our many friends who went away to fight in the war. It was a great way to show guests into our home the importance of remembering all of United States Military, men and women, who were far away from family defending our freedom. We received many ornaments as gifts to add to our America tree.

  This year I found this one for us to add. May we never forget! God guide our leaders, military and citizens. May we always stand for freedom and be that One Nation Under God!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday 

I have always wanted to see the Nutcracker. My sweetheart of 14 1/2 years treated me for my birthday to see the Nutcracker. We traveled to Duluth, MN and saw the Minnesota Ballet present The Manhattan Nutcracker. It was our first ballet. We had a wonderful time in Duluth. It was warm for December. We strolled Canal Park, stopped at the Chocolate Factory and visited Bentleyville Tour of Lights. It was a special treat for both of us.

Thank You, Jeremy...I love you!

Sisters! and White Christmas

White Christmas is a favorite Christmas movie of ours. I love this song and the routine the boys do for the girls so they can get out of town.

If you have time this December. Get cozy with this fun movie playing.

White Christmas

Starring

Bing Crosby

Danny Kaye

Rosemary Clooney

Vera Ellen

Come.

Come. Thou long - expected Jesus, Born to set Thy people free; From our fears and sins release us; Let us find our rest in Thee.

 Charles Wesley

Family Memories

My grandpa was my best friend growing up. We enjoyed great times together. One of his recipes that he passed down to us from his old country was Goulash. This is his very own Goulash recipe. We always enjoyed it together.

Grandpa's Goulash

Bacon

Cabbage

Dumplings

I cook the bacon in the oven, in the cake pan. In the mean time I boil my cabbage and make my dumplings. I put it all together and put it in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

Family Favorite

 A Charlie Brown Christmas! 

This is one of our favorites. As we start to get into the swing of the busy Christmas season, take time to remember what Christmas is all about!

December

December is my favorite month. I love December because my birthday is in December. Christmas is in December. December is pretty!! It snows in December. You see family and friends in December. On cold winter nights in December, you can have the tree light, the fire place blazing and a Christmas movie playing. 

Making December Pretty...

We have attended the Rice Lake Christmas Parade for 14 years! I love the creativity that they all put into it!

Christmas lights are so much fun. We usually go for a drive to look at lights with the boys. We also go to Irvine Park in Chippewa Falls and walk the park. It is amazing! I will post the photo's after our night out.

The following photos are from this years Rice Lake Christmas Parade.

Snow! Usually December brings the first snow fall. We received ours last night!

Happy December to you!

my birthday is December 12th! 12/12.....yes, next year 12/12//12!  I just can not help but be excited about it!

Remembering

Remembering

We lost a dear friend Sunday night. We will be attending his funeral tomorrow. Mike Kramer was one of our firsts friends when we moved here to Barron County. He had the gift of making you laugh and could talk to anybody!!  We walked in several parades with him. Each parade we would notice Mike was missing. He got caught up talking to someone, he was walking along another float. He always played jokes on the boys. He had the best laugh! We will miss him.

Atticus and what does he smell?

Last night we asked Atticus to let our dog, Molly out. He opened the door to let Molly out, then he stepped outside and took a big breath (smell he says). He came over to me and Jeremy and announces"It smells like snow!" This was music to my ears. I love winter and can not wait for snow. I love to cross country ski. My nine year old smells snow! YES!!! We woke this morning to a beautiful sparkling frost. I woke Atticus up for school and told him about the frost. He told me again, "I smell snow."  I answer back, "I hope you do, Honey, I hope you do!"

After a fresh snow everything looks so clean, far fewer people are out and about. Animals seem to be less wary in winter. Probably because they are conserving energy. But they do seem to be less shy. One time out on a ski, I skied right next to a snowshoe hare! My advice is to dress warm and get out in the snow. The book, hot chocolate and fireplace will be waiting when you get back!

I smell snow!

Stille Nacht

The boys and I started to learn German this fall. We took a course at UW-Barron County. It was fun. During our last class for 2011 we learned Stille Nacht. Our instructor had us sing along with You Tube!! He said we were amazing. :-) I wish I could sing like this...listen and enjoy. We think it is beautiful.

Merry Christmas!!

Wisconsin Cranberries Pt 3

Cranberry Cake

3 eggs

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup butter 

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 cups of fresh or frozen cranberries

Whipped cream, optional

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs with sugar until slightly thickened and light in color, about 5 minutes. Add butter and extract ;beat 2 minutes. Stir in flour just until combined. Stir in the cranberries. Spread in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted near the center comes out clean. Serve with whipped cream if desired.

  Enjoy!

Atticus loves this cake! He asks me to make it every week! It is a great breakfast cake, dessert or after school snack!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving

The wonder of our Lord is that He is so accessible to us in the common things of our lives: the cup of water....breaking of the bread...welcoming children into our arms...fellowship over a meal...giving thanks.

Nancie Carmichael

Ouch!

Ouch!

Sam is now sporting a new look, a mouth full of braces! It is not all smiles (hurts big time and Sam is afraid to eat anything but pudding!) but will be in the end. Do you notice the red and green in his mouth. You are able to pick any color you want as your bands. You are able to change color at each appointment, which is once a month. Sam picked out red and green to get decorated for Christmas!

 

Cookies, Cookies, Cookies

Cookie Time

This year my mom and I started a new tradition, Cookie Weekend! The boys and I went to visit Friday through Monday. We had a great time baking!

Jeremy's favorite!

 Helping Grandma with the recipe.

 Time to decorate!

 Oh, Oh, an interruption! My sister comes to visit....she got a deer! So did her father in law! He got the big, big one, with the drop tine.

Clover and her deer!

Yes! It is snowing big time!! We were so excited! Get the Christmas music playing!

Back to work!

Have to sample!

The finished product.

Yum! The freezer is full! We are ready for Thanksgiving, Christmas and anytime company! Come on over, we have lots of cookies to share!

Happy Thanksgiving!