The Feast of Stephen

  Happy Feast of Stephen Day!

   Wait. . . WHAT???

You heard me right! Today, is the Feast of Stephen! Have you ever sang the song 'Good King Wenceslas'?
                              You know. . .

Good King Wenceslas looked out

On the feast of Stephen

When the snow lay round about

Deep and crisp and even

Well, today is the feast of Stephen that the song is referring to. And the Stephen that the feast celebrates, is the Stephen in the Bible who was stoned as the first martyr for Christ. So take a moment today to remember those who have suffered for their faith, and to pray for those who are suffering for their faith.

Today also happens to be Boxing Day. And this does NOT refer to a boxing fight. Instead, it refers to the day when you take boxes of food and necessities to the poor and needy.

Tis the Week Before Christmas. . .

Since some of my married siblings are going to be out of the area for Christmas, we did our family Christmas with them early this year. :) 

It was a great day celebrating the birth of Christ with my family.

You're probably sick of Christmas baking pictures, but we put together some plates for the neighbors with gospel tracts. I took the picture too soon, because after I took it, Hosanna wrapped them up with a pretty bow.

Since we opened some of our presents early with the married kids, I got this! I keep calling it a Fitbit, but it's not the Fitbit brand, so I'm really not sure what to call it . . . Whatever it's called, I'm enjoying it!!!

One year, Mom got these three angels in a white elephant thing and I always put them in the window. Since there are three of us single aunties. . . can you guess which one the nieces and nephews think is me?

I LOVE this picture the married kids got for Dad and Mom. It's missing the newest grandson, but besides that, they're all there! 

Tomorrow, is our church's Christmas Eve program at 7:00 p.m. and we'd love it if you could stop by! The birth of Christ is worth celebrating! Without Jesus, we have no salvation. So PRAISE GOD for His Son!!!!!

Christmas Baking

We usually always put together several plates of Christmas goodies and give them to neighbors, bring them to church, family get-togethers, and anything else we can think of, so we do a lot Christmas baking!

Some years, I don't do as much of the baking as I did this year, but after not baking all summer, I've REALLY been enjoying the kitchen!

Yes, this is fruitcake. No, I've never made it before. No, it wasn't as horrible as everyone seems to think it is! No, I didn't use brandy even though the recipe called for it! I should have taken the picture later, because I ended up drizzling it with white chocolate. (That was the best part:)

These are peppermint cream cheese mints. We weren't done drizzling them when I took the picture, but you get the basic idea.

And of course, we usually dip hundreds of these little pretzels. I was REALLY glad that Miriam did most of the pretzel dipping this year because after dipping all of the maze ones, I was tired of pretzels! But not so tired of them that I didn't want to eat them . . .

I'll try to post pictures of other things we made later.

I LOVE CHRISTmas. I really enjoy all the family get-togethers, but the thing I love the most about Christmas, is my dad's favorite Christmas verse. 1 Timothy 1:15 ". . .Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. . . "  As you go about the season, don't overlook the reason for the manger. The baking, the decorating, the lights, the family, they're all things to be thankful for, but don't forget why He came! We NEED a savior, and Jesus is that Savior! What amazing love!!!!!

Impromptu Photo Shoot

Today, we went to Grandpa and Grandma Krahn's for lunch, and on the walk home, we couldn't help but notice the snow covered trees. My sister Hosanna grabbed the camera and we did a quick photo shoot! We've had a lot of light snows lately that make me feel like I'm living in a snow globe!

So, this beef heifer wasn't being very cooperative and walked off, but I do live on a farm!!!

Okay, so when I'm walking through the woods with other people, I DON'T normally grab trees! However, when you know the person behind you has a camera . . . you do things a little different! When I'm by myself, I've been known to rip holes in clothes from climbing trees . . . 

And, of course, Dad's dog, Mike, felt left out so he had to come see what we were doing!

Does anyone else have trouble smiling naturally while looking at a camera? 

I tried throwing some snowballs, but the snow was too cold to stick together.

As you can see, we do still have some flax straw if you need to buy some!:) 

I found this on my phone the other day! Mom sent it to me a while ago. . . Apparently it makes everyone think of me!?!?!? :) :)

A huge thank you to everyone who stopped by the craft show! I had a lot of fun!!! A special thank you to two of my AMAZING friends who helped me out!

We ended up babysitting some of the grandkids all day, so Mom invited some of the others over and we had a Christmas party! They decorated cookies, had a treasure hunt, and heard some stories.

I hadn't done these iron on bead things in forever, but when the nieces wanted me to do something with them, I pulled them out! It was a lot of fun to see them enjoying it so much. I used to spend hours doing this kind of thing. 

Then, this morning, I made another latte. This one was a white chocolate, peppermint latte, and although it wasn't quite what I was expecting, it was still delicious! 

Sometime, in the next few weeks, I'll be posting an excerpt from my current work-in-progress, but I'd like to wait till I finish the cover. Since the program I was using to design the cover is having trouble, it may be a little while. Until next time, this is Priscilla J. Krahn, reminding you to enjoy your family and have a merry Christmas!!!!

December 1st

     Since my dad doesn't like Christmas overrunning Thanksgiving, we always wait to decorate the house till December 1st. It's one of my favorite days of the year! My mom posted pictures on the family blog, so I don't need to re-post them here, but as the Christmas season draws near, I want to encourage you all to remember WHY we celebrate Christmas. Last Christmas, I wrote about Eight Reasons Why I Celebrate Christmas, and today, I just want to remind you of point three. CHRISTMAS IS A GREAT TIME TO SHARE CHRIST!!! As you go about Christmas shopping this year, make sure you take the time to share the gospel. Give a gospel tract, and brighten the world by letting your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father, which is in Heaven.