Merry Christmas

We want to wish you a Merry Christmas and Mary would like to share a song with you.

Here is the link to the video: http://youtu.be/-k36TNx_v6M



Christmas Piano Recital

Mary had her Christmas piano recital.  She played Jingle Bells and a Spanish carol called Foom, Foom, Foom.  I played with her and it was such a joy!  She is doing so great and does so well on stage. 

 

 

 

Here is the video of us playing together.

 

 

Here is the link to the video: http://youtu.be/jBo4VsmdoNg

 

 

She loves her teacher, Mrs. Hetzel.  She is such a talented lady and such a great teacher.

Through the Eyes of a Child

Mary reminded me of the innocence of a child and how their little hearts are filled with wonder.  Lord I pray that each day that I have the heart of a child for Him that I be filled with the great wonder that He is to me.

Christmas Movie

We started a first of December tradition last year.  Last year we took Mary to her first theater movie.  We went to see Frozen and this year we took her to see Big Hero 6, her second theater movie.  We went on the Monday afternoon and had the theater to ourselves which was a real treat.  After the movie we decorated the tree.  It is so special now as Mary is big enough to appreciate all the stories behind the ornaments of snow flakes Grandma Yoder made, ornaments that were wedding presents, special ornaments to commemorate her birth and a set of bears we bought when I was pregnant with our first baby.  A lot of joys and sorrows in all the memories but each one of them very special.   We had a lovely day of being with each other and celebrating.

 

Family Reunion

Last month we had a family reunion on my husband's side of the house for his dad's 90th birthday.  We had a photographer take a pictures of the whole gang.  The only one was missing was Rich's nieces hubby but she was able to come with her 2 boys, Mary's cousins.  Here are some shots we took.

 

Fall Crafts

Mary and I have been doing some fall crafts.  Last week one evening after her school lessons we made some fall fairies.  Mary made the one in the pink and I did the one in the blue.  They are now sitting on our piano and do their dancing when we are not looking!
 

 

I made the first pumpkin pie of the season.  I always cook up Mary's Halloween pumpkin and freeze the pulp and use it for pies and bread for the holidays. I usually substitute eggnog for the milk part of the recipe.  It was a nice treat for Rich as he recovered from his hernia surgery.

 

 

We started Mary's Thanksgiving bulletin board.  Last year we did a thankful turkey.  Mary wrote the things she was thankful for on its feathers.  This year we did a thankful tree.  I crumpled brown construction paper to make the branches.  She writes on the leaves the things she is thankful for.

 

Ice Cream Cake

This last weekend was the birthday celebration for my mother-in-law and Mary.  I made my very first ice cream cake.  I got the instructions off the internet.  It was pretty easy.  I just lined 2 glass cake pans with ice cream sandwiches.

 

I let some Rocky Road Ice Cream sit on the counter and get soft.

 

I then made a layer of the ice cream on top of the ice cream sandwiches.  I put it back in the freezer.

 

After it hardened I put a layer of Hershey's fudge on top of the ice cream.

Then I put a final layer of ice cream sandwiches.  This pan I lined with plastic wrap so that after it froze I could turn it upside down and dump it out.

The next morning after it was frozen, I put whip topping in a pastery gun and made little picks all over the top.

I then sprinkled mini chocolate chips on top.

 

I kept it in the freezer until about 15 minutes before we ate it.

 

 

It was a hit!

 

 

If I make it again, I will make one of the layers cake and only one layer of ice cream sandwiches.

 

Dear Mary Girl

It is early morning now and I am thinking of this day.  Eight years ago you made your entrance into this life.  It was an amazing day, one that I had never experienced in my whole life and one I will never experience again.  It started out in great pain and then turned into one of the greatest joys of my life.  I experienced something I had longed for for 25 years.  It was a long wait for me  and for your daddy, but it was worth it.  You were a promise to me from the Lord that was fulfilled on that day and I rejoiced in that He had remembered me and was kind to me to give me a child in my old age.  I was 46 and my hair had already started to grey, the vapor of my youth had disappeared but even though people may have looked at me as old on the outside, I felt young in my heart.  I knew God had given you to me and your dad and that no matter what other people said about our age, He would give us the strength to raise you in the fear and knowledge of the Him, our heavenly father.  You have always brought so much joy to our hearts.  From the time you were tiny we have laughed at your antics and rejoiced in your milestones.  This year is no exception.  You have started 2nd grade and you love to read and tell stories.  You were excited when I told you that this year you would learn to write so that you could put your stories on paper.  You have had so much fun learning to play the piano.  We have had so much fun playing together and you have lit the joy of playing all over again for me.  When music is shared it is a wonderful thing.  Yesterday when you played for Uncle Ed and Aunt Harlean that was so fun!  You played, Uncle Ed played, and then I played and we even played some tunes together like Chop Sticks and Heart and Soul.  It was a good fellowship time and lots of fun.  We are very thankful to the Lord for giving us the talent and ability to make music and enjoy it. You are growing very quickly and getting tall, you are up to Grandma's nose now and in a few more years you will be looking at her eye to eye.  You are a happy girl, usually waking up with a smile on your face.  You love people and like to say kind words to them.  You are an encourager and have told me at different times that I can do it!  You love to dance and are learning to tap dance this year.  You love motion and rhythm.  You love art and your drawings are very good for your age with lots of detail and are able to express on paper what you see.  You are a helper and get a lot of pleasure in helping me.  You will clear the table and put things away, you will set the table, you love to help me in the kitchen and watch with great interest when I am baking.  I know in a few short years you will be in that kitchen rattlin' those pans and whipping up something for your dad and I.  We look forward to the years ahead and all that you will learn but there is a bitter sweetness in you growing up.  Sometimes I just want to hang on to these times of your young childhood and innocence never wanting to see them go, but they are a season that I will always treasure in my heart.  Most importantly I see you growing in your knowledge of the Lord and your love for Him.  You love to get your Bible in our family devotions and read the Bible story out loud.  You talk about God touching your heart and that you will love Him always.  I know your dad and I have not been perfect and we have made some mistakes along the way, but we have always loved you and loved God most of all and we want to continue to teach you the truths of His word and that you will not just know about Him but that you will know Him, that his Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth.  I am so thankful to have privilege of raising you and training you in the way that you should go, so that when you are older you will not depart from it.  Here are a few videos through the years that always bring a smile to our faces.  We love you our dear Mary Girl and we are so happy to celebrate this special day that you were born.  

Here is the link: http://youtu.be/q9jxak8vLYg



Here is the link: http://youtu.be/9b5kueEVgAc


Here is the link: http://youtu.be/UNKsVRmgaO8


 
Here is the link: http://youtu.be/aNdJC0SAVmk

Fall Fun

Rich had a short vacation, the first one with pay in a couple of years. So we were excited to just be together and do some fun local stuff.  First we went to Lithia Park and looked at the beautiful fall leaves.  We brought a plastic bag for putting pretty leaves in, for Mary to press in a book.  When we got to the upper duck pond a whole bunch of ducks came ashore thinking our bag of leaves was food.  You cannot feed the ducks now as it messes up the pond and fills the ducks up so they don't eat what they need to.  Mary was thrilled to have the ducks follow her around.  We also saw some deer.  They were coming into the park and town because it is hunting season and they know they can't be hunted in the city limits.  They were pretty tame and let us get close.  After our visit to the park we met Rich's folks for lunch.  It was such a lovely day.  Here is a slide show:

 

 

Here is the link: http://youtu.be/kENuavHck7A

 

On Sunday after lunch we went to Seven Oaks Farm.  It was a gorgeous Fall day.  Mary got to ride the ponies, feed the goats and get a pumpkin for herself and one for Mackie too!  Here are the pics of our visit.

Mary sure loved feeding and petting the goats.

Celebration

This last weekend was very busy and lots of fun.  Rich's sister and all her kids and grandkids came into town to celebrate Rich's dad's 90th birthday.  Rich' sister has 2 grandsons that are just a little bit older than Mary.  So she had fun with her cousins.  On Thursday we all met at an all you can eat Chinese buffet here in town.  Rich had to go to work after that and Mary and I joined the cousins for a game of miniature golf.  It was a warm afternoon and we almost melted but we had fun.  The younger kids went on the bumper boats to cool off.  The next day we all met at a seafood restaurant and then went for a bowling.  Rich's mom, me and the littles all played together.  Mary ended up winning!  On Saturday we went to a local park and had our family picture taken.  It was great to get us all together for a picture.  That night we went to a really nice local restaurant for a big party.  There was family and friends there.  Mary had so much fun and we all did.  Her little heart has been so excited for Grandpa's party.  She had so much fun shopping for the party decorations and helping Rich and I setting things up at the restaurant.  We had a wonderful evening of family memories, good food and lots of fun!  We are thankful for Dad Cardwell's long life and the good father and grandfather that he has been to us all.  Without more ado, I will post the videos and photos of our celebration.

Here is the link to the video: http://youtu.be/KBHwtiOAAdI

Here is the link to Ethan and Mary Dancing: http://youtu.be/K7SbE2l4KPY