Christmas Gift: Outing #12!

Our last outing of the year to celebrate our anniversary!

This is something I have always wanted to visit:

Chestnuts roasting on a open fire!

Victorian charm...

 Festive decorations...

 Decorated store windows...

 And the perfect store for me this year!

I really liked the music

 and carolers!

 Before we left we stopped at a craft fair in this church...

...and then we got home in time to watch a favorite Christmas movie...

...which is based on a true story that takes place in Nevada City!

The church we visited plays a prominent part in the movie which was filmed on location.

Wow, it's been a great year visiting some new places and doing some new things and having lots of fun together!

(I would insert a picture of us together right here and someone offered to take one of us but it came out very blurry! So just look at that couple above and think of us!)

First Piano Recital!

Dan performed in his first piano recital!

Here he is introducing his pieces...

 It was a duet recital so he played with his teacher.  

The first piece...

 The second piece...

 Phew!  He survived and did a great job!

What a great example that you are never too old to try something new...and have a good time doing it!

So proud of him!!!

Sarah's Baptism Day!

It was a day of pictures!

With sisters...

...and the whole family...

...and Jeff's family there too!

And of course Grandma and Grandpa!

She's ready!

 My personal favorite picture of the day!

Heidi had everything prepared so nicely!

  Congratulations, Sarah, on your special day!

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever!

We were so glad our trip to Kansas coincided with a performance of "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" in which Sam, Eleanor and Suzie all had parts!

Here's the scene where the Herdman kids come to the church to try out for the pageant and all the other kids scoot to the other side:

Eleanor was an angel! (Front row on the left)

Sam was a shepherd! (middle shepherd)

The grand finale!

It was so much fun to be there, everyone did a great job, and I love the story!

Happy St. Lucia Day!

 Kathryn wishes everyone a happy St. Lucia Day!

Around Christmas time in Sweden, one of the biggest celebrations is St. Lucia's Day (or St. Lucy's Day) on December 13th. The celebration comes from stories that were told by Monks who first brought Christianity to Sweden.

St Lucia was a young Christian girl who was martyred, killed for her faith, in 304 AD. The most common story told about St Lucia is that she would secretly bring food to the persecuted Christians in Rome, who lived in hiding in the catacombs under the city. She would wear candles on her head so she had both her hands free to carry things. Lucy means 'light' so this is a very appropriate name.

Amelia will be giving a presentation about her Swedish ancestors in school this week!

Making Friends With Camille!

We got to spend some alone time with Camille since her sisters were in school.  It was great to have some fun with this cute girl!

We did selfies while we waited in the car:

She loved being with Grandpa...

...and doing puzzles with him!

We had fun reading Christmas stories.  Her favorite was

"The Night Before Christmas" and she has some of it memorized!

Who needs an elf on the shelf when you have this cute pixie around!

Celebrating Sarah!

Sarah had fun celebrating her 8th birthday!

She decorated her own cake!

The next day she performed in her 2nd grade program!

 

Camille was looking cute too!

Now on to the baptism!