It began at the Bistro: January 2018

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Kids Christmas Party

The company that Matt works at had a lovely Christmas party for the adults on a weekend before Christmas. What I did not expect was that on a Tuesday night, they would also have a lovely party for the children.

We drove to his work place (an hour away) on Tuesday and when we got there we saw many parents, lots of kids, snacks, juice, and just fun chaos all around.

Santa came and all of the kids got excited but soon settled down because Santa began to call each child by name and give them the gift that was previously chosen for them. Grace got a doll type thing where the hair can be styled. Glen got a Matchbox car set where a set of three trucks run over ramps.

They met a lot of new kids (which we will probably not see much of since we are an hour away) and they had a great time with Santa and their presents.

I am so thankful that Matt's company thinks of and cares for families as much as they do.

Merry Christmas!

Lindale Christmas Program 2017

This year the play was "Wise Guys and Starry Skys" It was about the wise men that came to find Jesus.

Grace was an Angel and Glen was a cook's helper (because the wise men needed cooks to come with them...right?)

They both loved listening to the CD this year and they were singing the songs tot he play over and over and over.

It made me happy because it was the first year that both of them were so interested and involved in the play.

Our church does such a great job with these plays.

Oh, and the angels had a "solo" with Mary. So Grace got to sing a special part as one of the 8 angels. They did a great job.

You guys did a great job. I hope it helped you learn about the "Wise Guys" that look for Jesus.

Monday, January 8, 2018

Gingerbread House

While Matt was working at Mercy House he found a cast iron gingerbread house mold. It looked pretty neat, but to actually use it, I wondered how that would go.

Well on December 10th, Glen woke up with a fever so we decided to stay home from church. While the kids were in the house and feeling pretty good, I decided to try out the gingerbread house mold.

So Grace and I got the dough ready. Glen chose what kind of house we made. I baked the house pieces. After the cooled, the fun began. Lots of icing, tons of candy, and much creative decorations.

And we had our house.

A different view.

The kids did a great job. I was very impressed. First of all I was impressed I was able to do this from scratch. But I loved how the kids worked together so well and were able to put it together and decorate it so well!

Saturday, January 6, 2018

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from all of us!

Christmas Parade

December 1st was the Harrisonburg downtown Christmas parade. It is a fun event to go to each year but this year was even more special.

Matt had to work till late so Mamaw, Amy, Glen and I went to the parade to see the events. One of which was Grace marching in the parade with the other Girl Scout troops in the area.

We had a great time seeing the bands, and our favorite thing was when a man on stilts came to blow bubbles on us.

Here was Grace. She (and all of the other girl scouts) were dressed up as elves. She was given the green shirt and the hat and during one meeting they got creative with some felt and made the elf decorations. I thought she looked great!

She had a blast and was so proud to see her friends as she marched down main street.

Thanksgiving (Day 4)

As with all good things, they must come to an end. So on this fourth day of Thanksgiving Grandpa Steve and Grandma Sue needed to say goodbye and go back to Iowa.

But not before we got a couple of pictures.

Thank you for coming and spending the holiday with us. Hope to see you again soon!

Thanksgiving (Day 3)

Since Grandpa Steve and Grandma Sue are not able to be with us for Christmas, we thought it would be nice to at least decorate for Christmas with them. The tree turned out beautiful with the help of my cute little helpers.

Grace, under the supervision of her father and her grandfather helped hang up the outside lights. She is my little daredevil!

There is always time for cuddles from Grandma and Grandma.

Grace had been working on playing We Three Kings to show Grandma Sue that she is starting to play. Grandma Sue gave her a few lessons on how to play. Now she is one month into her lessons with a teacher who is not her mom and she is doing great! Thanks for helping us along with way Grandma Sue.

Thanksgiving (Day 2)

Thanksgiving Thursday started out with a very cold race downtown. Grace ran the Gobble Gobble Kids Dash which was a half a mile around court square. She did a great job. She was a little mad at me that I signed her up for only a half a mile rather than the 4 miles that Matt and I ran.

I am so glad that Gradma Sue was able to keep Glen at home and Grandpa Steve was able to take Grace home right after the race, because it was VERY COLD!

Grandma Sue did a craft with the kids where they made turkeys to decorate the holiday table. They painted paper bags and construction paper. Then it was put together to make these adorable turkeys! They did a great job.

Grace and Grandma Sue used the nature around our house to decorate the table. Grandma Sue certainly has an eye for beautiful table decorations.

This one is looking at Glen's turkey.

And this one is looking at Grace's turkey.

It was the perfect centerpiece and decorations for Thanksgiving dinner. We had ham, mashed potatoes, butternut squash and brussle sprouts, stuffing, rolls, apple pie, and lots of other food! It was once again, a great time together.

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Thanksgiving (Day 1)

This Thanksgiving we were so thankful to have Matt's parents visit us. They were able to come on Wednesday and left of Saturday. However, though it was such a short visit it was so much fun and we had a great time together.