Have Yourself A Merry Everything! Part two.... There for each other

 

It's been a busy time for me...but then isn't that the way this season is?

And it's over in what seems like a minute! All the preparation, wrapping, shopping,

cards, visits, lists, shipping, baking, cooking - POOF!

Big trash bags of garbage ready to go out filled with balled up wrapping paper and loads of tissue paper. Stacks of washed dishes for meals that were made with love and memory filled. Coffee ready, pies laid out on the table, kids playing with their new toys.

My family holiday is a little different but different can be totally cool too!

My son Matt and his girlfriend Connie are on vacation in Thailand . They've taught kindergarten in a private school in Korea for two years and are finally coming home in Feb.. My older son Todd and his wife Ravy live in Annapolis. Her parents, from Cambodia, just moved here too. My parents are in Florida. Cousins at the Jersey shore.

Here is a photo list of our little family holiday...

the National Christmas tree in Washing D.C.

 

Annapolis Holiday Lights on the Bay

downtown Annapolis stores decked out

home-made stromboli for Christmas eve

smoked salmon and trout 

caught and wood smoke by a friend  

Spinach and cheese stuffed pork loin 

my son Todd made potato pancakes 

Ravy's fav Black Forest Chocolate Torte

So we have a small, scattered family, 

but boy can we cook!

****

Oh, Come All Ye Faithful!

Happy Holidays!

12/27/11

update....ready to drive home from my son's in Annapolis

have eaten Cambodian food, snacks, cookies, pistachios, a roast,

cakes, cereal, treats, slept, napped, watched videos and shows,

visited and called friends and family

a chill and overindulgent holiday

best kind

get a call from my son that his mother in law's been in a car accident

I'm home with her father in law who doesn't speak English...

we meet everyone in the ER -

minor injuries thank God -

lots of translating, green cards, passports...

I'm staying over again....

a must have for post stress relief....

Yummo = stress relievers

Todd and Ravy

see...it worked...we're distressed

The Greatest Of These Is Love... Easter Greetings

Easter Greetings....

the eggs, the bunnies

coloring eggs, pretty baskets

peeps, chicks, bows and bonnets

creams, pastels, Sunday best

but the greatest of these is....

Love.

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.

In my father's house there are many rooms; if it were not so I would have told you.

I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you,

 I will come back and take you to be with me that you may also be where I am.

You know the place to where I am going." John 14:1-4

There's No Cross That Love Can't Bear...Holiday Caring

Love Bears All..

Once a mother stood on a corner
Tears betrayed her painted smile
She was trading in her halo
For just enough to feed her child


Then an old man, cold and hungry
Saw her crying, so he stopped

And he gave her his one possession
A shining silver pocket watch

There's no cross that love won't bear
And when you're down to your last prayer

It will be the saving grace
In the depths of your despair

There's no cross that love won't bear

So the old man found a park bench

Crawled inside and went to sleep
He lay down and went to sleep
As he drifted into slumber
He prayed the Lord his soul to keep

Then the mother with her halo
Came to him in a dream

And he woke up in a mansion
His silver watch there on it's chain

There's no cross that love won't bear

And when you're down to your last prayer

It will be the saving grace

In the depths of your despair

There's no cross that love won't bear

No, there's no cross that love won't bear

by John Berry

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
—John 13:34-35

Entering Through The Door Of Thankfulness

dear Lord,
i just want to say i'm so very thankful for...

your son

nature(by my house the other night)

friendship

gentleness

motherhood

healing

life

energy

May there be abundance of grain in the land; on the tops of the mountains may it wave; may its fruit be like Lebanon; and may people blossom in the cities like the grass of the field! Psalms 72:16

Thank you Lord for each blessing we receive, Amen. 

Down In My Heart!

I've Got the Joy In My Heart

I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart

Where?
Down in my heart!

Where?

Down in my heart!
I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart
Down in my heart to stay

And I'm so happy
So very happy
I've got the love of Jesus in my heart
Down in my heart

And I'm so happy
So very happy
I've got the love of Jesus in my heart.

I've got the love of Jesus, love of Jesus
Down in my heart
Where?
Down in my heart!
Where?
Down in my heart!

I've got the love of Jesus, love of Jesus
Down in my heart
Where?
Down in my heart to stay.
happy, happy, joy, joy
bless you!