MERRY CHRISTMAS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

FROM OUR FAMILY HOMESTEAD TO YOURS!

Jesus is Born - Luke 2:1-20 

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them,

Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

ANOTHER PUPPY!

Yes, another puppy!

Call us crazy, we are!

The other day I was talking with one of my friends and she mentioned, we started with 5 chickens and one dog. Now we have 5 dogs and 300 chickens. I can't argue that one, she is right.

But, anyway lets get to that cute puppy!

Meet Willow!

Willow is a 6 week old full German Shepherd.

Isn't she adorable!

Check out the video below when she first meet Shadow and Scout.

GINGER BREAD HOUSES/BARNS!

Who doesn't enjoy putting gingerbread houses together?
My girls love it!

Kaitlin chose a barn style this year.

Fitting as we live in the country now.

And, Skylar chose a more traditional style to decorate.

Kaitlin is almost done.

Skylar has two mini houses put together and two more to go.

Skylar told Kaitlin she could build one of the houses.

Kaitlin connected her house to her barn.

Did you know....

 The tradition of making decorated gingerbread houses started in Germany in the early 1800s.

Gingerbread is often used to translate the French term pain d'épices (literally “spice bread”) or the German term Lebkuchen or Pfefferkuchen (pepperbread, literally: pepper cake). .... A gingerbread house does not have to be an actual house, although it is the most common.

Check out some other gingerbread houses or shoes or ......

CHRISTMAS BAKING DAYS!

It is that time of year again. Can you believe it? Christmas is just 2 weeks away. The girls and I have it all planned out what we are making. It's gonna take 2 1/2 days to get it all done. The girls already made the BIG batch of chocolate chip cookies. I wasn't home when this was being done. The girls are awesome!

This is day 2 and Kaitlin is making coconut macaroons.


Kaitlin got them all mixed up.
Her plans are to make three batches.


It's helpful this time of year to have two ovens.


Tray after tray was going in the oven.
I didn't get a photo of any done. We set up three stations to get the baking done this year. So we all were working at the same time and I was the only one taking the pictures.

Skylar is making yummy fudge!

Skylar chopped up the chocolate.

Skylar is getting it all melted together before adding the chocolate to the pot.

I got Skylar convinced to add the walnuts to the fudge.

Skylar only agreed to add a little.

She thought this was enough.

Hey, at least we are getting our nuts.

It's a win win for us.

Fudge is done!

I am making the no-bake cookies.

Double batch!

It's all coming together.

Who doesn't like no-bake cookies!

Since it was cooler today I had the girls put the trays in the garage to cool faster. Besides all my refrigerators are full at the moment. So the garage is the next best place.

Moving on...

Kaitlin is working fast today. She already has the peanut butter cookies mixed and ready for me to fork and add the sugar.

Ready for the oven!

Kaitlin is making three batches. Our oven is working over time today.

Wait there is more......

Skylar got the sugar cookie all mixed up.

We/I decided to do packaged cookies this year. We have had a busy summer into the fall with canning. This way just seemed to work for this year. Normally we do from scratch.

Even the dough tastes good.

The girls got out the cookie cutters they want to use.

They rolled,

They cut,

They baked,

Until they were done,

Almost......

It was time to start the decorating.

The girls designed.

The last two cookies.

 

Finally by 10:30 pm, We were done!

Barely any frosting left.

Skylar and Kaitlin did a great job with the cookie decorating!

Thanks Girls!