a new day and a new year

hello..and happpy new year!!! i can not believe it is already 2010.. where did 2009 go??? chris and i hope 2010 brings you lots of happiness, and blessings from the LORD.. we have been so blessed this year and looking forward to what GOD has in store for us this new year!!!!

everyday CHRISTmas???

i want to share with you 10 ways to make everyday CHRISTMAS!!!

1. GIVE SOMETHING AWAY.

2.DO SOMETHING FOR SOMEONE ELSE AND FORGET ABOUT IT.

3.SPEND A LITTLE TIME WITH THE ELDERLY. THEIR EXPERIENCES IS PRICELESS GUIDENCE..

4. LOOK INTO THE EYES OF A CHILD.

5.LAUGH OFTEN.

6.SAY THANK YOU..TWO MANY TIMES IS STILL NOT ENOUGH.

7.PRAY.

8.WORK..ONE DAY U MIGHT NOT BE ABLE..

9.PLAN AS THOUGH YOU WILL LIVE FOREVER..IF YOU ARE SAVED, THEN THIS WILL DEFINATELY BE TRUE..

10.LIVE AS THOUGH YOU'LL DIE TOMMORROW, BECAUSE YOU WILL ON SOME TOMMORROW..

THE MOST IMPORTANT WAY TO HAVE CHRISTMAS EVERYDAY:

YOU CAN HAVE CHRISTMAS EVERYDAY OF THE YEAR, NOT JUST DECEMBER 25TH..WE HAVE THE BEST GIFT OF ALL...JESUS.. HE GAVE HIS SON FOR US, SO WE WOULD HAVE THE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE.. DON'T TURN AWAY THIS GIFT, IT IS THE BEST ONE YOU WILL EVER RECIEVE.. JAMES 1:17

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!! WE WISH YOU SAFE AND HAPPY TIMES WITH YOUR FAMILIES AND REMEMBER THE TRUE MEANING OF THE SEASON..

MAY YOUR DAYS BE MERRY AND BRIGHT, MAKING CHRIST , OUR SAVIOR, AS YOUR LIGHT!!!!

a little reminiscing on Christmas memories

Everyone has special childhood Christmas memories.. i know i do. One for example, i have meantioned on here before is when me and my sis saw santa...and his sleigh toward our house one Christmas eve night..lol..i will never forget that. i have so many dear memories, but these are some of my favorites, and i will share them, so enjoy...

I will always remember my whole family spending the night at my house.. at the time,all 9 of us.. under one roof.. sleeping on pallots in the floor, all snuggled together, anticipating Christmas morning.. with a time of giftgiving and enjoying santa and what he brought, followed by a hearty breakfast.. that was when my niece and nephew were just toddlers, wow, where has the time gone???

i loved going to my grandmother's at Christmas time also..she had this tree.. it was a ceramic, handpainted tree with these beautiful , small, lights.. they were awesome to squeeze, and break..lol,lol....don't tell!!!! i loved this tree and the special thoughts and memories that it gave me as a child. i will never forget that.

this is the tree, not lit up.you can see how beautifully painted it is..

this is the tree, all lit up..see the little lights and why i loved them so much!!..lol it is so bright and magical!!!

around Christmas time every year, my mother and my sisters would put the tree up and decorate it.. despite many, many arguments, and arranging the lights about 50 times, we always had that perfect tree.. oh, it was so pretty.. and we had special ornaments on our tree.. most, we have had since we were little..minewas this sweet, little, santa.. he waved at me every time i looked at him..and my parents had my name engraved on it... it was so special every year, to reach in that ornament box, and find my special ornament, and put it on that special place i had on the tree.. now, that i am married, and have a home of my own, i still have this special ornament, and still find that special place on my own tree to put it every year.. and he is missing some things, my name, you can no longer see, and his arm is missing a piece of the stained glass, but it is still just as special as ever, and he still brings back such sweet, childhood memories, that i hold very dear to my heart... and memories with me and my family that i will cherish not onlyat Christmas time, but for a lifetime..

december days

it has been a great month so far.. we have been steady busy with just every day living, and enjoying life. my great aunt died last week, and we had her service lasst monday. boy, was it a great one!!! we have not had a lot of Christmas get togethers yet, some have already happened, and did not know anything about, but you know how that goes...we attended the annual downtown Christmas on Limestone. it was good and seems to get bigger and better every year.. next sunday, at church willl be our annual Christmas play.we are looking forward to that, and seeing what GOD has in store. i know we will get a blessing. we are having chris' family next monday night, for our Christmas family get together. we are looking forward to that also. so, you see, these december days are just flying by, and it won't be long till Christmas day... now, if i only had all of my shopping done!!!!!! i still have quite a bit to accomplish!!!! enjoy your week and remember the reason for the season!!!!!!

yummy desserts

A few posts ago, i was posting about thanksgiving, and what would i cook for our thanksgiving meals.. i had to work on thanksgiving day, and my mother just asked me to prepare a dessert for our meal there. so, i made this delicious strawberry pretzel salad.. it is called a salad, but really, it is a sweet dessert. it was so good, and we have had this recipe in our family for a long time..

chris had to work also, and he asked me to make a dessert for their thanksgiving meal there, so, i made my yummy butterfinger cake.. it was a big hit.. i enjoyed our meals, they were very good, and i enjoyed the time with my family, and i hate i missed our annual hayride, but my daddy has promised to make it up to me!!!!!

o CHRISTMAS tree

we have had our decor up for a week now.. i am just now getting to post the pics we have taken so far. hope you take the time this wonderful holiday season to spend some wonderful time with your loved ones, and see the magic of CHRISTMAS through the eyes of a child, and remember the true meaning of the season...JESUS......!!!!!! CHRISTMAS times a comin!!!!!

I made it!!!!

my mother called the other day and said that grandmaw had given her some muscadines.. she asked me if i wanted them to make jelly.. well, you know it!!!! so, i spent one whole afternoon last week making this scrumptious stuff.. it was real tart and tasty.. i loved it.. and it makes you feel good to know you made it!!!! thanks mother for the fruit!!!!!! i always love canning and preserving when i have the time to do it!!!!!!!

what will i cook??

next week is Thanksgiving.. this year, i will be working:((.. my holidays this year are thanksgiving and Christmas eve.. but i still will be preparing something for our annual feast.., but i am not sure yet, what that will be.. last year, i made deviled eggs and a krispy kreme bread pudding, and boy, was it yummy!!!!! some of my family will not be there this year, they will be out of town, but we will still have a good time, and i am sure they will too..

i look forward to my grandmother's homemade cakes and her homemade biscuits.. they are always a big hit. i really wish i had the day off, but i will join them when i get off at seven..after that, i, along with other family, will hit the malls for some great shopping. i always look forward to that, even if i do not buy anything, just being there in the middle of it, and sharing in all of the excitement, it is really something.now, i am hungry thinking about all of the good food i know we will have!!!!!!

seasons change

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.. Ecclesiastes 3:1

i love the fall of the year.. i love the sights, smells, and the things that i feel in my heart, especially this time of year. i always try to be thankful, but sometimes, i am not thankful enough.. i take so many things for granted, everyday. i love to see the beautiful array of colors the LORD has given us this year.. and they are right all around us.. we don't even have to go the mountains to see it. this time reminds me also of all of the wonderful family traditions.. things i hold dear to my heart.. like going on our annual thanksgiving morning hayride, going down to the parker house, having a wonderful meal at my grandmas, and our annual thanksgiving praise service at church every year.. we have been blessed so much, and i thank the LORD for HIS blessings on me and CHRIS everyday.. we can't thank HIM enough. He has been so good. i am thankful we have different seasons..it , to me, is GOD'S WAY of displaying all of HIS beauty to us.. sometimes snow in the winter, beautiful flowers and budding in the spring, beautiful ocean in the summer, and awesome leaves and colors in the fall.. and even though the seasons do change..i am so glad to know my GOD NEVER CHANGES...!!!!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!!!

a beautiful day on the lake

today, chris and i decided to go out on the lake today, and see if he could beat me, fishing today. we went last week, and i left him in the dust.. i caught 8, we lost 2, so, we ended up with 6. i caught them all but 2.. so , today, we wanted to try and see if we could catch that much, if not more.

we were unfortunate.. i caught one small bream, and one catfish..the catfish weighed about 3 pounds. i was a little dissapointed, but i was just glad to be outside today. it was beautiful. it was like an indian summer. the sky was blue,and the clouds were huge.. it was gorgeous..the water was a cool 68 degrees, but the air temperature was 76 degrees.

we left around 5 pm, and went to a nearby resturant for supper.. we love this place, it is right on the water.. our food was good too.. enjoy the fall colors in the pics, along with the beautiful , blue, sky.

back from vacation

hey yall..we have been gone for awhile, but we are back.. and it's back to reality for both of us.. this was our first week back to work, after being gone on the cruise..we had tons of fun, and it was a much enjoyable trip. we got to see some fabulous places, and of course, the dining was great too.. we took ALOT of pics..these are just a few that we downloaded on here.. we hope everyone is having a great week!!!!!!

it's fair time

it is beautiful here today. fall is definately in the air.. it is starting to look more and more like fall too. this week, our annual county fair starts... i always love the fair.. i have many fond memories from childhood, that was made at the fair... we would always go as a family every year, and my daddy would always get a ham biscuit, and i always, had to have a cotton candy and candy apple to have to eat several days later...i still do have to have those things, along with elephant ears, and i can't forget those vinegar fries...yummm.. i can taste them now!!!!!! i would always get to invite a friend, and we would ride the rides, eat, and enjoy all of the animals and exhibits.. fun times!!!

i am looking forward to the leaves changing.. it is always so pretty to see the different shades of orange, gold, browns, and reds...every year. i always take pics of the trees here in our yard... we have had a great weekend. we will be celebrating my sister's birthday this weekend.. looking forward to that.. and chris and i will be leaving for vacation this week, so pray for our safety in traveling....

butter,butter

apple butter,that is..!!!! i love this time of the year..i love to make apple butter..we enjoy it all year long.it is so good with toast, or my fav, a hot, buttered, biscuit with it spreaded on it..yumm..it takes a little time, but when you see the fruits of your labour, it is all worth it..the apples this time were much bigger, and a little more red than usual..they were very pretty, i thought. i will be making more, this one run made 16 jars..i had a good time doing this..

apple time!!!!!!

it's hard to believe it is that time of year, again..my apples are almost ready!!!! i will be busy as a bee soon, making my family's favorite, apple butter.. and apple jelly,fried apple pies,yumm!!!! summer will be coming to a close this weekend..:((.. this summer just flew by to me.. there were a few things that i wanted to do, that we never seemed to have the time to get to, oh well, next summer, i guess?? i love fall, it is one of my favorite times of the year!!!this time of the year brings fun things, the annual county fair,football,(GO COWBOYS!!!), and lots of yummy soups,haha!!!!!, fall festivals,punkins,haha..love it, love it!!!!

chris and i have both been really busy these past few weeks.. our jobs have been keeping us really busy, and we have not had a lot of extra time together..i am especially ready for our yearly anniversary trip coming up in october, i can't wait!!! i am off now for a few days.. this friday,we are going to be celebrating my niece's 2oth birthday with the family.we have something special planned as a surprise for my family on monday.. we are going to have a blast!!! have a safe labor day weekend, and spend time with your loved ones!!!!

a little R AND R

chris and i just returned from a three day '' staycation''.... have you heard of the new trend this year?? to save money and because of our failed economy, families are taking small, afordable, vacations closer to home, some without leaving their town. we had already been on a trip to the beach with the family last month, but just needed a few days for some rest and relaxation.. in our case, we went about 30 minutes away..haha.. but i have to say, we had some much needed relaxation. we had both been working extra hard, and chris had worked some overtime, so, i know he was ready for some time off. we bought a new tent last year, but had never used it yet, so, we went out , got a few groceries, packed up most of our camping gear, and headed out to a nearby state park. i had never been to their campground. it was nice, we had a campsite right near the bathhouse...yes!!! the first day we arrived, we had bought this new screened in gazebo, we took with us, chris was furious with it.. it took forever to put together. after many times of saying'' this thing is about to go back in the box for good''.. i knew his patience was running real thin!!!!! BUT we finally got it put up, and set up our camp for the next few days..we had so much fun, we cooked some real good food, roasted marshmellows, grilled some fresh corn, swung on the swingsets,haha, visited this nearby lake, and also went to a nearby ''living'' farm and state military park.. it was rather interesting. i am ready to do it again really soon. i hope you enjoy our pictures..!!!

some beach photos

here they are : finally, some beach photos...i have had some time today to update the blog.. it seems that i never have enough time... oh, well, anyway, here are some of our family vacation pictures.. now, i am just counting down the days again.. until chris and i go on our yearly anniversary vacation trip... can't wait.. enjoy the pics:))