Scenes from Christmas 2011

We had a lovely Christmas! A wonderful blend of church and home. Here are the highlights:

We baked together.

We put sprinkles on cookies.

We decorated the house.

We acted in the church pageant.

We played harp at church on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

We ran downstairs on Christmas Morning!

We opened packages.

We got a fish tank!

And a dinosaur to go inside.

We ate an awful lot of chocolate!

"There shall a star come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel" from one of the hymns our choir sang. It was a lovely time all around.

Making a Gingerbread Man

To begin our Advent season, Paul got a Gingerbread Man kit for Tyler. He waited excitedly for a day when we all could get together and decorate him.

Planning his design with mama. We ended up buying white frosting separately from the grocery, as the icing with the kit was not yummy or easy to work with.

Finished! (Mama and Da helped.)

Yum!

Paul Saves the Day!

Our oven suddenly stopped working. We did all the trouble shooting the manual said. We weren't sure what it was, but most internet searches mentioned ignitors needing to be replaced under these circumstances. We were afraid to buy the new part and have it not be that, as the ignitors cost around $75. What if it was something else?! We called to arranged for the appliance store to come fix it, but they would take a week to get here. And they would charge $150, not including parts. So Paul rolled up his sleeves and got to work. He opened it up, took a look at everything, determined it would be a safe bet to try a new ignitor. Voilà! We have an oven! We also gave it a super cleaning. I love having a handy husband. He is a blessing!