Happy New Year!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas as you celebrated the birth of our Savior!  

May the Lord draw you near during 2011!  

Happy New Year!  

Return of the Gingerbread Houses!

by Amy

Two years ago, Brad went out of town for a week in December.  So, in an effort to distract us from missing the daddy all week, I decided to make a gingerbread house with my kids.  It was hard and my kids were little, so that meant I did all of the baking, cutting, and building and most of the decorating.  But, my kids loved it, so we did it again last year as well.  In November, my kids began asking if we could build houses again this year. And, with Brad's promise to handle the actual building of the houses, I cheerfully agreed!  I had learned a few things not to do over the last few years, so I had had high hopes that this would be the best year yet -- and it was!

In our house we have a rule - No School on Birthdays - so, I decided my birthday would be a fun day to decorate our houses.  (Little did I know, that this would be just the beginning of our three week Homeschool Christmas Vacation!  We haven't homeschooled since!  Jan 3, we're starting back up again!)  That meant on the Monday before, I needed to bake the pieces and have have Brad build the houses.  My engineer husband is awesome!  He took his responsibilities very seriously!

 
Clearly his creativity is coming out as he used can goods, boxes of soup mix, and tape dispensers to hold the pieces in place as the icing hardened.  For last year's houses I asked my dad to mail me some meringue powder for making royal icing.  It is great!  Royal icing is usually not edible since it requires raw egg whites to make the icing dry hard and fast.  When you use meringue powder, though, you get the hard and fast effect, but can still eat it.  So, last year we used royal icing to make the houses, and just thick sugar cookie icing for decorating.  But that icing took too long to dry and would run easily.  So, this year we used royal icing for everything!  It was fantastic!  I also used a new gingerbread recipe that worked really well and didn't break my kids' teeth when they ate it!  (I used light corn syrup and added brown food coloring.)  I only ate a few bites, when it came out of the oven, but I think it tasted better than anything I had made in the past.

And, although I was busy the whole time helping Peter and Alex squeeze icing, we were done with all three houses in 2.5 hours -- in time for Brad to take me out for a birthday lunch at our new Starbucks!  Here are the final results!

Aren't they great!?!  Although these houses have gotten easier and easier every year, I will say, I’m honestly looking forward to be in the States next Christmas where we can buy a kit with everything already baked, cut and made!

Christmas Reflections

by Amy

I never got around to posting any Christmas pics last week....  Sorry!  So, three parties and 500 Christmas cookies later, I thought I'd take advantage of the couple of hours I have while my kids are at school this morning to share a few pictures and thoughts....

Since mid-October, I have been teaching a class in my home every Saturday.  The class is geared towards young, single women, and it's purpose is to encourage these women to take advantage of their singleness to develop or grow in their relationship with our Father as they wait for Him to provide a husband.  And, since I'm teaching this class in the local language, it requires anywhere from 8-12 hours of prep each week!  So, while my kids are in school four mornings a week, I prepare for my class.  That means many of the optional activities in my world (i.e. blogging)  have been put on hold for a while.  That being said, with both Christmas and New Year's Day falling on a Saturday, I'm in the mist of a three-week-teaching-break!  Hence this blog post being written now.

Anyway....  my first Christmas party of the year was with the ladies in my class.  When I first began teaching this class I had 20 women attending, but as the semester wore on, the numbers began dwindle.  I had about 10- 12 women who wanted to come every week, but often something would happen to prevent them from making it (work, exams, etc.).  So, in November and December I averaged about 8 women each week.  On December 10, I encouraged these women to invite their friends to our party the following week to learn why we celebrate Christmas.  I expected about 15-20 people to come.  Twenty people in my living room is crowded, but doable.  So, the week before, the kids and I baked cookies and  made 'easy candy' to prepare. (Cookie baking pictures below!)  On Saturday morning, Brad and the kids helped pull extra chairs in the living room, light candles, and set out snacks.  Then, Brad went to work.  My first guest arrived 40 minutes early, with four more arriving 10 minutes later.  By 2:30, when the party was actually supposed to begin, we already had over 20 people in my home!  And, the door bell kept on ringing!  By 3:00, we had 33 locals, plus me and my three kids!  Crazy!!

I will say, though, I was super encouraged!  I did not know over half the people that came, and the majority of them had never heard the Christmas Story.  So, we were able to share completely and boldly, on several different levels (reading the Word, a testimony shared, singing songs, explaining why we have certain Christmas traditions, etc.).  Then, while people were mingling, so many of my local believing friends were engaged in good, meaningful conversations.  What a sweet thing to see happening in my home!!

My kids were WONDERFUL as well!  They were still and not distracting while people were sharing or reading; they were quick to help by uncovering the food, taking coats, and answering the door.  They also didn't eat anything since I was concerned about not having enough food!  They helped with our game and were just a delight to have around!  And, since Brad was gone, I really needed their help with a number of things!  I'm so thankful for my sweet kiddos.  
  
When my last guests left about 6:45, I was wiped, but so thankful for the many new friends I met, the many Books we were able to give away, and the sweet memories that were made.  Unfortunately, I didn't take one picture, so the memories will have to live on in my head!  (That's what happens when Brad's not around for the party!)  And, for the first time ever, ALL the food I put out was eaten, even the cucumbers and cherry tomatoes!  (They think eatting raw veggies is strange!)

So, as promised, here are some pictures from our cookie baking and decorating....  This year, all of the cookies I served at parties were just round (read: easy!), but the kids and I had fun rolling out dough and making shaped cookies for our eating enjoyment!

Obviously, Peter had been sneaking a few licks of icing, and missed his mouth!

 
Mmmm!  Those cookies were good!  We and fun making the dough, rolling them out, cutting them, and eating them!  Savannah was quite a cookie helper this year!  One day, while the kids were at school I made some dough, but didn't have time to bake them.  So, after lunch, Savannah assured me she could handle the baking on her own.  She did great!  She baked over 100 cookies, all by herself!  Leigh and I weren't even near the kitchen to offer a word of advice!  She rocks!

Well, I have many more stories of Christmas fun to share, but they'll have to wait for another post.  I need to pick the kids up from school!

Crazy Christmas Hats

by Amy

It’s December!  Life is a little crazy!  Why not have crazy hats to go along with it? 

A sweet friend mailed these hats to us from the Capital city.  My kids love them! Aren't they cute?!?!

We’ve had lots of fun these past few weeks and are looking forward to this next week of baking and parties.  I hope to have a few spare minutes this week to post more fun pics.  Until then....Merry Christmas!