Our family gave our Aunt Eleanor a shiny new mailbox for Christmas because her old one was about 30 years old or more and was beginning to leak. When she opened it Madison wanted to play with it, so we put her inside and snapped this picture. As you can see she just wasn’t as pleased as we thought she would be, but it made for a cute picture.
This past weekend we got the biggest and best snowfall that we have had in ten years and it left this area looking like a winter wonderland. The kids decided it was time for some sledding, and you can see the result.
Olivia and Madison had a great time in our back yard, and as you can see, Rick managed to stay on his feet while I just had fun watching them. I don’t want any broken bones and I’m certain if I had tried sledding I would have managed to break something.
Earlier you saw the pictures that I took when our beautiful snow had just begun falling and also Madison playing in the snow at her house. Well…these were taken the next morning. Rick measured 8 inches of the snowy white stuff underneath our big sycamore tree.
He then took Houdini for his regular morning walk and you would think it would have been an enjoyable experience, but Houdini was not impressed at all. He just wanted back inside where it was warm and seemed to be saying “Can I come back in now?”
Madison is experiencing her first ‘real’ snow because in years past she was not old enough to really enjoy the snow and this is the first ‘big’ snow that we have had in a long while. As you can see, she is having a great time playing. Her mom snapped this picture with her phone camera and I think it turned out just great. Have fun Madison….love ya lots.
Yesterday the weather channel began letting us know that we were in for a big snow beginning around noon today. You know sometimes they get it right and sometimes they just seem to miss the forecast completely. Well….this is one time I do believe they hit it just about right, because when I left work this morning at 1130 a.m. it had just began to sprinkle just a bit of rain. I went home and Rick informed me that we needed to go to the store and purchase some food for Houdini.
We bundled up Madison and went in search of some dog food and by that time the rain was getting a little more than just a sprinkle and it was turning colder. In just a short time it had begun to spit some snow and within 30 minutes of the beginning the first picture was taken. I just took the swingset picture a few hours later. I do believe it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas and I love it. Just wish it didn’t have to be so cold to be so pretty.
Olivia has been a member of the Chorus at her local school for several years and they always have a great Christmas program, and another program again in the spring. Tuesday night they presented “I’ll Aways Love Christmas” and Olivia was featured in one of the scenes as a housewife begging money from her husband so that she could go Christmas shopping (first picture). The second picture shows most of the rest of the chorus members and Olivia happy to have the money.
As usual the chorus was fantastic and we wish Olivia and her fellow chorus members at EB Stanley Middle School a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We love you Olivia!!!
Merry Christmas to all our family and friends who visit and read all my ‘chatter’. I have enjoyed writing and sharing just a little bit of my life with you. May God bless each of you during this Christmas season and in the coming New Year.
Rick and I got dressed up a little and had a great time at our church Christmas Banquet last Friday night and when we came home we snapped each other’s picture and this is the result.
As you already know we had very high winds in our area which resulted with us having pine trees destroyed in our yard. In addition, we also lost our electric power for three days, along with cable television and phone service. Madison was here when we first lost those services and she just could not understand why the TV wouldn’t work. She kept wanting to ‘fix the tv with the remote (‘mote as she calls it). She didn’t have to stay here very long because we took her home to stay with her sissy Olivia.
I happened to be on the phone when I noticed that the trees were laying across the road and not standing upright as they should have been. My mouth popped open with some words that I don’t even recall according to my sister-in-law Tonnie. It didn’t take long for the cable to go off and because my phone is connected to the cable we also lost phone service. Next the electric power went down because of trees and a ‘power pole’ that had broken just a short distance from our house.
From 11:30 a.m. Wednesday until 11 a.m. Friday we survived without TV, phone and electricity and as a result our house which is normally heated with a heat pump began to get really chilly. Actually it got rather cold…normal temperature is set on 70 degrees and it got down to 50 degrees. I suppose that wasn’t so bad considering that the outside temperature for two nights was 13 degrees.
Rick decided that we needed to use the fireplace insert and so he went outside in the cold and found several logs to use and we also used a couple of logs that I had gotten to use just for show from my Aunt Eleanor. And…noooo… he did not use the pine wood because it was too wet. We did have a problem however, because I wanted to watch the fire (I’m still a kid at heart), and the house filled with smoke really fast. We ended up having to go to the bedroom and shut the door just to be able to breath. Had we stayed in the room with the fire we probably would have been singing in that ‘angle chorus’ by the next morning.
It was an interesting three days for sure. We did have water, but we visited Tami each day for our showers because a cold shower just was not appealing. We hope and pray that we don’t have to experience this type of situation again any time soon, but if we do, there will be no more watching the fire. The doors will be kept shut and we will just enjoy the warmth.
Title: The Sacred Meal
Author: Nora Gallagher
ISBN: 978-0-8499-0092-1
Pages: 143
When I received my copy of The Sacred Meal in the mail I couldn’t wait to get started reading it. After all, I have always held a deep reverence for the Communion service and I was hoping this book would give me a more thorough understanding of the historical context of the Last Supper and why we Christians honor it by taking Communion. In the end, I was a bit disappointed.
The author is an engaging writer, and she tells the story of why she personally enjoys taking Communion extremely well. While that topic does indeed make for an interesting and entertaining read, it is a far cry from what the reader is led to expect when deciding whether to purchase the book or not.
I opened The Sacred Meal expecting to find plenty of Biblical references and commentary on the Last Supper, but what I found instead was how the Communion service seems like an evening at the country club for the author. There is plenty of talk about the “togetherness” one feels when taking part in the service, but precious little substance about the history and meaning of the service itself.
This review is in no way meant to be a slam against Mrs. Gallagher personally. In fact, I believe her intentions were good when she sat down to write the book. And as stated before, it is indeed interesting and rather entertaining. But for it’s implied purpose, it really misses the mark in my opinion.
My recommendation: If you’re looking for a good read filled with insight into one person’s love for the Communion service, this book will certainly fit the bill. But if you’re desiring a thorough discussion on the historical and Biblical significance of The Lord’s Supper, you’ll be better served by looking elsewhere.
Note: I would like to thank Thomas Nelson Publishers for sending me a copy of this book for review.
This has not been the best week of our lives, but I suppose it could have been worse. When I went to work Wednesday morning the wind was really kicking up a mess. I had a real hard time getting pictures done at work because of the wind, but I enjoyed my few hours there anyway.
I arrived back home around noon and went inside and was on the phone with my dear sister-in-law when I noticed that a truck was passing our house, but pulled into our driveway. When I looked out the window to see why he was stopping I was greeted with this sight. We had three beautiful pine trees just next to our driveway and our dog Houdini loved to use them at times for his stopping place (if you get what I mean?).
Well, the top half of one of the trees along with the entire middle tree landed across the road. On their way down they also hooked onto the cable and phone lines. About the same time further down the road trees had fallen on the power lines, so from Wednesday until 11 a.m. on Friday, the whole neighborhood was without phone, cable and electric power. I certainly hope we don’t get anymore winds like that any time soon…if ever. (more to follow another time)
