~Family comes home for Christmas...Celebrating Jesus' birth~

 Happy New Year!  Can anyone believe that it is 2026? 

I trust that you had a Very Merry Christmas this year!  We Christians should have a Very Merry Christmas, even in the midst of trials, for our Savior was Born to save us from our sins!! <3

I have a lot of pics to post, but our lives were filled with lots of Christmas activities and wonderful family Time

between Dec. 15th - and Today, Jan. 3rd!  

Enjoy!

Josh, Sarah, & Adelynn got here on Friday, Dec. 19th, and we all went to Abigail and Mary's piano recital. 

The girls both did a beautiful job playing their pieces.  Mary worked especially hard on her 7 page complicated piece and had it memorized...although she used music incase she got nervous and forgot anything. 

We love their dear teacher, which was my dear teacher as well, Martha Miller! 

We came home to a yummy snack, Chili that Kimberly had made for us, and ...

that night, Chris, Kimberly, & Stella moved over to sleep on that retro yellow couch in our garage. 

It was delightful being all together!! 

My nephew Tyler B., from AK, came by the next day, to let us meet his sweet wife Maddie.  

They got married over a year ago, but since their wedding was in AK we could not go to it.  They are expecting a baby girl! It was so fun meeting Maddie and being with them! We were so glad that all of our children were home, and we could be all together! 

Saturday night, Josh, Sarah, & Adelynn had to run back to their church to have Christmas Sunday with their dear people, then came back on Sunday night.

On Monday we enjoyed just hanging out, doing the puzzle, making and decorating treats, etc.

Tuesday night our Strait Creek Church went caroling, and while we were caroling...

Dad & Mom Dickinson arrived at our house for CHRISTMAS!  We were soooo HAPPY to have them.  They haven't been here for years, and we haven't been together on Christmas for years either. 

Then on Christmas night, Michael, Phillip's brother, called and asked if they could come down for Friday and Saturday.  

We said yes, and were so glad that they were coming!  They really surprised Grandpa and Grandma when they walked in! We had a blast being all together.

On Sunday we had a good number in church both services!  We invited several guests over, so there were 21 who ate Sunday dinner at our house. We had an enjoyable afternoon.

This past Monday, we were thrilled to have my bro-in-law Daryl, my sister Laura, and dear niece Darla come for a few days.

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!! 

As usual, I love to decorate every corner to make it cozy and Christmasy! 

Most of these pics do not really need explanation... so let's get started!

~The girls had a piano lesson on Tuesday, Dec. 16th, so we ran to Cinci for that.  While there we found out that my nephew Lucas was at GBS, so we ran and saw him and Tyler for a quick hello.~

~All the donuts you see out In the field came from us.  Elijah drove his Subaru out there and pulled people on sleds.  

Kimberly, Stella, and I rode in the WARM car and cheered and laughed.  It was so fun. 

~While in Cinci for the girls' lessons, what a fun SURPRISE to run into my dear friend Adrian.  She was on campus to take her daughter home for Christmas.~

~We rarely go to malls, but this day we were looking for sales on Christmas jammies for our babies.  Abigail about melted when she saw this play ground.  

She hasn't played at a play place for forever.  So, I let her play for a few minutes.  

You know, You are only little once.~

~I got to wrap gifts the EARLIEST I have ever wrapped gifts!  

There were still some last minute gifts to wrap, but It was so fun to be so early with a lot of them!

~Would you please PRAY for our Dear Mr. Fields?!!!! 

He is ...the dear Faithful man who kept the doors of Strait Creek Church open!!!!

He has Alzheimer's, but also has been suffering from other physical situations which have made him be very confused. :-(  

I took a pic of his cane here on the Church Coat rack, because we miss him so badly.  

He spent Christmas in the hospital and now is in another hospital. His poor wife is really going through it!  Please join me in praying for both of them!

~Mary & Abigail's Piano Recital~

Little Adelynn wore Aunt Abigail's baby shoes.  (They are the cutest little Ralph Lauren Leather shoes that I got for Baby Abigail {nearly 10 years ago at a thrift store somewhere.}  

So fun that Little Adelynn got to wear them too.)

~Sweet Martha Miller~

~Mary~

~Abigail~

~Mary and some friends.~

~Abigail and her 2 nieces and her friend Raegan.~

~Elijah and friends. 

Elijah got mixed up and thought that the recital was at GBS.  

By the time we figured out where he was, he was 30 mins. from where the recital was being held... so he drove there as fast and safely as he could, and never got to change clothes.~

~All of us.~

~Dear Martha Miller, Abigail and Mary!  Love her and them!~

~Martha taught Kimberly and Sarah too...so It was fun for Martha to see them and meet their babies.  

I wanted a pic of all the girls and Martha.  

I did not think that since I was her student, 

I should have jumped in the pic too!~

~BACK HOME FOR A SNACK!!! 

Let the festivities begin ... so Happy to be all together for Christmas!!~ <3

~This is a THROW BACK pic of Abigail that I found the other day...

Baby Abigail playing Hide-and-seek...<3

~The girls helping Abigail do her Gingerbread house.~

So Cute!

~Packing Christmas goody bags for Strait Creek Church.~

~Dear Tyler and Maddie came by.  

So fun to be with them!~

~We took them to see the church and they loved it.~

~Tyler climbed up to see the bell...

and I asked him to snap some pics of it for me.~

~Pretty Neat Bell!~

~Christmas Sunday.~

Cousin Laura sent me these 2 pics.~

~Our Family...minus Josh, Sarah, & Adelynn, 

who were ministering at their own church that AM.~

~The Christmas Treats for Strait Creek turned out so cute!~

~Cousin Laura brought these cute little soft gingerbread men to our snack on Dec. 14th.

So, I decided then and there to buy some for the outside of our Church goody bags.~

~A sweet gift from Cousin Laura.  

Yummy chocolates and a fan for when we need it in church.~

~A sweet HEAVY gift from Josh, Lisa, and their girls.~

~When we got home and opened Josh and Lisa's gift...This is what we found!  

Yummy pancake goodness for several breakfasts!!~ 

~A Christmasy table I put together.~

~A fun pic of our family caroling at GBS years ago...

that Phillip used to advertise our 

Strait Creek Caroling!

~Games!~

~Snacks!~

~My Yummy Gingerbread latte cookies!  Delish!~

~Pozole Soup and it's fixins'~

We love it and have it every Christmas!

Fresh lime, queso fresco, fresh cilantro, and yummy avocados. (We were sad that the avocados we purchased earlier were not ripe yet, so we only had a little to share.)

~YUM!!!~

~Our family loves to PUZZLE!!!~

~One night Kimberly swept and mopped my kitchen, then the next Morning, Kimberly got up and made us yummy pancakes for breakfast!  I told her that she could live in my garage any time she wanted! :-D

~Stella is a climber, and often climbs into Grandpapa's big rocking chair!!!~

~Treats to pass out to those to which we caroled.~

~A neat retro pic of cousins...Cheryl V., Jane A, and my sister Laura.~

~Strait Creek Caroling together. 

This was at the Veterans house in Peebles.~

~Noah playing, "What Child Is This?"

~I was so happy to see all of these jewel T dishes...

which I grew up looking at and using at my GG's house.~

~Caroling to the Peebles house.~

~Ms. Laura sent me these fun pics.~

~Sarah found these matching jammies for the girls at a Goodwill.~

~Dear Abigail faithfully cutting out yummy sugar cookies for the whole family to decorate.~

~We Also went Caroling to Dear Mrs. Fields.~

~Mrs. Fields fed us a yummy snack.~

~And when we got home, Dad and Mom Dickinson were there!  

We were sooo happy to see them!!~

~The Men all visiting in the L.R.~

~Taco Ring for snack.~

~Icing that Kimberly and Mary made to decorate the sugar cookies.  Mary did most of the work making outlining and flooding icings that matched.~

~I caught the little cousins kissing...so cute.~

~Yummy biscuits and Gravy and Our Soppy Chocolate.~ 

~oh, the inspiration these cookies bring out in the kids.  Abigail was making a candy cane...and the cookie cutter broke, so she made a pirate's hook out of that cookie.  :-) ~

~I was happy to capture this fun pic.~

~Stella is "cooking."

~Snacks~

~Both girls enjoying Stella's "Toddler Tower" her Mommy bought her so she can "help her in the kitchen."  

My Kimberly helped me as early as 18 months or soon there after.  

But the time she was 2 she was slicing strawberries beautifully with a sharp knife!  

And my other kiddos did the same.  

All of my littles and I had a blast cooking together in kitchen! 

~Noah playing for Grandpa and Grandma.  

Then we all played instruments or sang Christmas songs together. ~

~Two little cuties.~

~Christmas Eve.~

~For Christmas Eve we had Carnitas.~

~Elijah is so smart & ornery.  

He cut this guitar out of cardboard...tracing his guitar onto cardboard and cutting it out...and gave it to Chris...with headphones in it.~ :-)

~Dear Dad and Mom~

~Chris unwrapping his "guitar."

He really liked his headphones.  

His broke, and he can really use them at his work.

~The little girls opening gifts to stay here at Grandpapa and Grammy's house.

2 new toys to play when they come here. 

~Dad and Mom D. reading all of our nice Christmas cards from our dear family and friends.~

~Playing pencil nose....

~Little Adelynn was cracking up at her Uncle Lij.~

~Colombian Hot chocolate with queso in the bottom of our cups.  

(Colombians put a salty white cheese similar to Mozzarella cheese in the bottom of their cups of hot chocolate.

It gives you the salty and sweet taste.~)

~Decorating Christmas mice.~

~Puzzling again.~

~Our tail-less Christmas mice.

The Cherries I bought did not have stems (those are hard to find), and I forgot that I did not have any sliced almonds for their ears, but we made ears out of icing and they were yummy!

Dear Lila gave me this recipe years ago!! 

~2 Cute mice done.~

~Our puzzle close up.  

I am not a puzzle person, but I make the treats while they puzzle.~

~Dear Mom helped wash up the dishes.  

Kimberly, Sarah, Mary and Abigail all helped and the guys helped here and there too.~

~Abigail was going to decorate this cookie and the arms fell off, so silly her, 

she said that this was santa going up the chimney.  HA!

~CHRISTMAS DAY~

~We did simple stockings for the littles.~

~The girls with their stockings.~

~Grandma with Adelynn and Grandpa with Stella...

which wasn't very happy with the situation.  

She can be quite shy at times.~

~Grandpapa and I got Adelynn and Stella little Kitchen sets. ~

~So FUN to have everyone together...

including Dad and Mom D.

They haven't felt well enough to come down to our house for some years.

Prasie Jesus they were able to come this Christmas!!!~

~It was so fun to have Christmas with the 2 littles this year.~

~I made Moma's yummy English Toffee. (the choc. chips were melting as this pic was taken.) ~

~Josh, Sarah & Adelynn got an umbrella stroller 

for little Stella.~

~Adelynn has an umbrella stroller at home and loves it.

So the minute she saw Stella's stroller, 

she was very happy to play with it, so Sarah had to intervene. ;-)

~And we put a baby doll inside it, and showed 

Stella how to push it.

But, Stella was not interested in pushing a baby doll around in it, she was interested in GETTING INSIDE THE STROLLER....

~Soooo, 

ADELYNN DID HER BEST TO PUSH HER!  

It was too cute!

~There's just a little over 3 months between the girls.~

~Abigail was so happy to find these cups as gifts for Daddy & I~

~So Adorable~

~It is now my go-to hot chocolate cup.  <3

{Phillip got me the cute tall Christmas tree board for my birthday.  

A super fun Aldi's find.} ~

~Noah needed a new lunch box.~

~As usual, I had so much fun setting a fun Christmas table.

I got these plates on a Super Sale After Christmas, 

last Christmas.~

~Stella hugging the bear from GG's house.

This bear is a music box that plays "Jesus Loves Me."

~Phillip read us the Christmas Story from the Bible (By FAR, our Favorite Christmas story!!)

and then we have read several Christmas stories from our fun Christmas Story books this year as well.~

~Stocking Time.~

We get each person a fun drink, dill pickles, olives, etc. 

~The kids (and baby Stella) after they opened their stockings.~

~Yummy Veggies for Christmas dinner.~

~My Cappuccino Punch and sweet tea.~

~After Josh and Sarah left, we found this nice gift hiding on our Bed. :-) ~

~On Christmas evening we went over to spend some time with Uncle Bill and Cousin Laura.~

~We played Apple to Apples and had so much fun visiting.~

~Cousin Laura's pics.~

~The next Morning Sophia and Joshua showed up at our house and surprised 

Elijah and Mary to pieces!~

~playing games.~

~Puzzling together.~

~Then Michael, Beth, Jeremiah, and Ava showed up and surprised Dad and Mom!

Little Ava showing her pink guitar to cousin Noah.~

~Doing the puzzle together.~

~These guys had just finished our puzzle.~

~Phillip got me this fun rug on sale after Christmas.~

~These guys went disc golfing at a course where they have never been before and they found nearly 30 discs there.  (The park had just been bush hogged.)

Most of them do not have a phone number on them and the ones that do they called or texted and the guys told them to keep them. :-) 

~It was fun to show Michael and Beth the Church.~

~Strait Creek Church~

We were so GLAD that Dad and Mom D. could go to 

church with us.

This is the first time that Mom has been to our church.

~Noah telling the flannel graph story.~

~Baby Stella tries to "help" Uncle Noah take notes during church.~

~There were 21 of us for dinner.  

We had an enjoyable afternoon together.  

It was so nice to have Mrs. Stright and Jim join us.  

After dinner we played Bible Apple to Apples.

Then, Mrs. Stright and I spent the afternoon reading Christmas stories together. ~

~Lisa brought a yummy fresh salad!

Mrs. Stright brought the home canned green beans and this yummy apple crisp!

~Apple crisp and ice cream.~

~Sweet Lisa took this fun pic of the kids and sent it to me.~

~Here we are playing Bible Apple to Apples...but sadly Jim and Elijah accidentally got cut out of the pic.~

~Monday AM found me washing clothes and getting the towels all ready for my next company.

~Daryl, Laura, & Darla 

arrived Monday evening! 

We were so thrilled that they could come by!~

So Fun to be together!

~Stella has found our card rack.  Eeeekk!~

~ And she thinks that she will read us a Christmas story. ~

~Parfait for brunch.~

~Antique stores.~

~It was a fun Freezing day.~

~And we ended it with some hot chocolate and mozzarella cheese sticks to warm us up.~

~So fun to be with my sweet sis, Laura! <3~

Right before we left the antique store, 

Darla pointed out this youth chair.  

I saw that it was cheap and then 30% off!  

So, I got this antique youth chair for our babies to use...

for less than $40!! (the pillow is mine.) ~

~Laura's yummy butter cookies.~

~Phillip reading us a neat Christmas story of a Russian family new to North Dakota, 

years ago, and how they made a nice Homemade Christmas on the prairie. 

Then we had a wonderful season of prayer together!~

~Doing another puzzle while Daddy is reading.~

~Just finished my Bible reading for 2025.  Thank you, Sweet Jesus, for your help!~

~Mary & Darla doing the puzzle together.~

~Apple pie bars that Laura and I made.~

~Old World Bread that I made.~

~The guys visiting together.~

~Working on our garage...my She Shed.

It is where my overflow dishes and crockpots, 

& drink dispensers, are stored.

Not to mention the children's books, flowers,

cloth napkins, napkin rings, tableclothes, place card holders, ...etc.

~Over to Chris & Kimberly's for hot cocoa, yummy cookies, popcorn, and games.~

~I just couldn't even...

with this baby in this outfit.  

Her chubby little legs and feet in these tights, got me every time! So CUTE! :-) ~

~My Cousin Cheryl shared her plan to write out Scripture each day.

Just less than 10 mins. and you can write these verses out.

~I started today, on the 2nd, and am really enjoying writing out God's Word.~

~I found this pic of little Abigail...years ago, holding hands while we prayed in the New Year!

"Dear Jesus, we give you 2026 as well!!

Everyone of us NEED you More this year!"

I want more of Jesus, More than I've ever had before...

So I'll give Him More of Me!!~

~On my Island.~

~I love this cute candle from my sweet friend Teresa. 

It says, "It's beginning to smell like Christmas."

Teresa gave this to me for my birthday in November.~

~HEATHER~