Merry Christmas

What a beautiful time of year to remember our Savior's birth. The King left the throne room of heaven, angels who sang His praise, and He gave it up willingly to come down to this lowly earth and be born in a dirty, stinky manager. He did this for you and me. He became man and took on our sins so we could live in eternity with Him. His name is JESUS!


Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Blessings,
Hansina

A Baking Day

Today was our baking day for Christmas. The kids paired off with each other. It was Madison and Andrew, and Morgan with Zach. Millie and Nate helped me.




Don't you love the apron? I do! He is a good sport for wearing it!
















Then Santa showed up at the front door with goodies for all the kids!




Zachary got some cologne from Santa. He loves to smell good!




Andrew got some markers which he has been wanting! He was so excited!




Nate got a new coloring book! Another excited kid in the house!




Madison and Morgan each got a pair of beautiful earrings!








After baking and the visit from Santa, it was time for some dancing with Michael Jackson on the wii! Love the apron, Andrew!




Here are some of my favorite pictures of the day. This is John-David with his, "I love girls" face.




This is him with his very happy, I feel good face!




And this is my favorite....."stop taking pictures of me" face!




Santa brought Mackenzie and John-David each a book, Millie a little Cinderella and the mom a box of See's Candies, just what I needed!

Blessings,
Hansina

San Francisco

It was a cold, rainy day in San Francisco, but we had a great time!  Andrew flew into SFO, but has never been to the city.

                           Seeing the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time.

                                           Going down Lombard Street.

                                         Our view at lunch of Alcatraz.

                                Checking out all the decorations at Pier 39.

                                         Watching the Sea Lions.

                                  Union Square at night when it is lit up.

If you haven't been to Union Square during the holidays, every window at Macy's has a giant wreath in it all lit up.  It is so beautiful!

Christmas music was playing from the outdoor ice rink, the rain was falling and the hot chocolate tasted even better!

So thankful and blessed this holiday season to be surrounded by my family.  Remembering and praying for those precious families in Newtown, Connecticut who lost their beautiful children this last week. I can't imagine the heartache they are feeling. Thankful for my Savior who came into this fallen world.

Learning to tie a tie

Andrew has a thing about ties. Mark was cleaning his out and gave some to Andrew. He was so excited, but he didn't know how to tie a tie.


A quick lesson in how to tie a tie! It goes this way........


And then it goes this way and tuck it in right here......


Finished! Not too bad, Andrew! That's all he's doing tonight....practicing tying his ties!


It's the little things in life that are big deals to this son of mine. Like tying a tie for the first time! What a joy to watch him with his dad!

Blessings,
Hansina

Christmas in Coloma

For the last several years we have gone to Christmas in Coloma. It's about a 45 minute drive from our home, heading up into the foothills.


We have a good time making a wreath. We all work together so it's a family thing.


The guys are starting it off by building it with twigs.


We pick a table close to the fire to keep warm. Ambiance is always a plus!





Now, we are cutting the branches, gathering them together and wiring them on the wreath.





Our finished product! I thought they all did great a great job!


Now on to making Christmas tree ornaments.








Then it's snack time! Do you think the kettle corn bag is big enough? Andrew sure loved it!


Christmas in Coloma isn't complete without a wagon ride!













It was a beautiful day! Andrew thanked us over and over again on the ride home.

It's about being with family. You don't have to spend a lot of money. Doing projects together (like the wreath), making ornaments, eating kettle corn and going for a wagon ride, those are memories not to be forgotten.

Andrew's first Christmas with his family...memories for all of us to share. A true blessing from the Lord! Better than an orphanage any day!

Blessings,
Hansina

Decorating the Tree

We had an interesting time with the tree this year. The lights kept going out. Oh my goodness, we'd get it all lit, the kids would start putting ornaments on and the whole middle section would go black.

Morgan and I took off all the lights the next day and started again. If there are any spots with no lights on, oh well. At least the tree got decorated!











Blessings,
Hansina

Santa!

Andrew is turning 17 this next month. He has missed out on a lot of the childhood things my other kids have grown up with that I take for granted. Like getting on our jackets on a cold, windy, rainy day and heading to the mall to see Santa!


All the firsts that we are able to do with him. To watch his expression coming into the mall and seeing Santa for the first time.

To see his eyes when we entered the food court! All my kids like to pick where they want to eat. So if one wants Chinese food, they can have it and someone else wants a hamburger, they can have that. So I told Andrew to pick anywhere he wants to eat. He was so excited! He turned and said, "Mom, you pick for me. You do good."

Next we are going to decorate the Christmas tree!

Blessings,
Hansina