pirouetting in on silvery-toed slippers

winter came down to our home one night, 

quietly pirouetting in on silvery-toed slippers of snow,

 and we, we were children once again. 

 - bill morgan jr.

saturday afternoon found me trailing through the woods, snapping pictures here and there.  the sun was beautiful, and was what caused me to run back into the house to grab the camera.  these pictures i took don't do our beautiful woods justice.


even though saturday was beautiful - tramping through the snow, and feeling like i just stepped into narnia - sunday morning brought frosty, glistening weeds and trees and with it, the sun. it was so beautiful, i knew the camera could never capture it's true beauty, so all i could do was sit there and stare.

christmas coke - invitations - guamcamole - snow

i would consider this one of my rare and random posts.  probably because i haven't been taking many pictures lately (shame on me, i know) so i've  combined them together.


first i'd like to mention that we bought some really sweet coke bottles for Christmas eve.  this is a pretty big deal because we only buy pop when we are having a party.

second, wedding invitations are finished and sent out, and most of them have arrived at their new homes. we kind of, pretty much, made the invitations by hand, so it took some time to work on, but they turned out beautifully. :) the wedding is coming up sooo soon.

 

 i made guacamole the evening we worked on invitations.  have you ever made it? do you like it? i would say that it's pretty fun to make (mash up two avocados, press a clove or two of garlic, cut up some tomatoes, maybe some onions, add a pinch of salt, and a tsp of lemon juice - mix it all together) but i don't care for the taste...

oh, and last night the weather finally decided to be winter. we now have a decent amount of snow (6 in?) and still plenty of it coming down. :) i went out to make a snowman...that's when i found out the snow was awful for packing...and instead made a snow angle and wrote out "welcome".

it comes and goes

i was delightfully surprised to find that we had snow this morning. i wasn't expecting it at all, so it was extra special. after lunch we went caroling with our church family, and now the snow is melting off. 

enjoy your christmas break everyone!

i'm dreaming...

 

 

all photos via pinterest.com

...of a white Christmas.  it seems the weather has gotten confused - it shouldn't be 50 degrees and raining in december, much less on december 15. 

now, with only ten days till Christmas, i really am hoping - praying - for a white Christmas. i never wanted to have to say that - we live in the north for crying out loud - but alas it has been done.  

i find myself gazing at these pinterest photos with a longing to have it for myself. knowing we will have snow sometime this winter doesn't help much unless i know for certain that it'll be here for Christmas.

Christmas just isn't the same without it. wouldn't you agree? but maybe that is my downfall.  maybe i'm focusing on snow more than on Jesus.  and i suppose i need to learn that Christmas is just as amazing without snow, because we are still celebrating the same thing - Christ's birth.

what about you? are you dreaming of a white Christmas, or have you been blessed with an abundance of sparkly snow?

yesterday

my day started with the wonderful acknowledgment that we had snow.
then i lit a candle and made some hot chocolate to go with my devos.
then i dove into my school and violin.
finishing with that, i made 6 dozen mexican wedding cookies.
and to top of the day, dad and i watched some Bethel basketball. 



isn't the snow the most beautiful stuff?

Weekend at the Cottage

As I already mentioned, we stayed at the cottage at Life Action this past weekend.  We did all that I said we would except walking on the lake (this wasn't permitted).  It was tons of fun!  I had about 6 cups of hot chocolate in the two days that we were there, and handfuls of cookies and whip cream (literally!).  We played many games, round robin, ping pong, foosball, went sledding, walking, talking, laughing, snapping pictures...etc.

So, shall we start?  First we have a few pictures of the cottage.

This is the overview of the main floor.  I am standing where the stairs are to the basement.  Isn't it beautiful?

The living area and dining room table

This is the main floor bedroom.  There are 2 more bedrooms in the basement.  The bed was made by someone who used to live/work at the camp.

Just outside of the cottage.  

The lake is on the very right of the picture behind the trees...you can only see what looks like a  field of snow.

Emily and my shadows in front of the cottage and the turtle that Ben and Christa made of snow.  The turtle was quite impressive!

When we first got there and got unpacked, Sarah, Christa and I went sledding.

So, of course we had to get a picture of each of us.

Sarah and Christa

I thought I'd go about using different color tones - to make things a bit more interesting. This one is one is a favorite!

Looking up at the sledding hill

Mrs. C, Mom, Dad, Mr. H, Mrs. H

Later that evening some more friends and family came over for the evening for dinner and games.

Nate and Ollyce

Megan and Sarah

 Ollyce and I playing card monopoly

Another overview - but this time with people! 

Scrabble and half full root beer floats

Saturday morning us three girls went sledding with dad while a group went cross - country skiing.  This is in front of the cottage.

 We all had a very good time - a nice get away for the weekend. :)

My Weekend - Cottage

I'm ready.

I'm waiting.

I'm trying to be patient.

I thought I'd write [*gasp*].

This weekend we are going to Life Action Camp.

We're going to stay in the cottage (that is oh so pretty!) with two other families.

We're planning on sledding, cross country skiing, building a snow man :D, ping pong, foosball, board games, walking on the frozen lake (well, I'm not sure if anyone else is planing on this, but I am), probably a snowball  fight or two, laughing and having fun.  

I've packed, I've made yummy foods, I've prepared foods, I've packed, I've gotten things together, I've cleaned...

...I'm ready to get on over there!

But, I must be patient.

 

"For ye have need of patience" - Hebrews 10:36a

This verse has nothing to do with this situation, but I do need patience!

Now, I shall leave you with a picture or two from Wednesday after that "huge" storm. 

We shoveled the end of the drive where the road plow had built up the snow.  

Lying in the road...

Winter

Yesterday I found myself walking around our property (and off our property) looking for anything to take a picture of.  This is what I came up with. 

I almost laughed when I saw this - I guess the snow got a little too heavy

Sammy is always faithful about following you wherever you go (into the woods, down the road etc.), so I had to snap a few of her.

Here she is sitting on top of the chicken coop door.

Winter wreath that hangs on the chicken coop door

She seemed quite fascinated with...something.  I quickly took a picture and was pleased to have found that it actually turned out. 

On the railroad bed 

Does anyone know what these are called?  I've always liked them, but never knew what they are called.