Christmas Cookies

Christmas time is here again! And with it comes lots and lots of Christmas cookies. :) This past week the kids decorated all the sugar cookies that were made. It is always such an exciting time to see all the different color coordination's the kids can come up with, only having five colors to chose from we have had some crazy looking cookies. But as the my siblings get older it seems that they are more interested in doing a little harder designs. As you will see by these pictures they really enjoy this and put their hearts into it.

The kitchen table is transformed into a cookie decorating factory.

Each child decides what color to do for each cookie and they also through some sprinkles on it too.

Elaina is enjoying herself.

Adrianna likes making goofy faces while she decorates.

Nathan working hard on a star.

Zach decorating a cross-shaped cookie.

With Christmas music playing gently in the background the kids talk about their ideas for each cookie. Making sure no one has the same ideas.

The icing bowls.

Peter trying to decorate cookies the manly style. ;)

Don't you dare Adrianna! Not at least until the cookies are all done.

Decorating cookies is a lot of work and takes lots of concentration.

Nathan doing a candle.

"Oh beautiful star of Bethlehem."

A little shake here and a little shake there and presto you have a nice looking cookie.

The boys working hard...

Zach smiling with his little candle.

Our beautiful and dearest Mother. <3

"Ring Christmas bells, merrily ring tell all the world, 'born is the King!'"

Rebecca looks quite happy with her finished product.

Nathan has some skill with decorating. And he has a lot of patience to take each little sprinkle and write out something. This cookie says, "Jesus' B-Day".

Another one of Nathan's creations... "King".

All the cookies nicely decorated and ready for their time to be eaten. Don't they look pretty?

What is one to do when all the cookies are done and there is till icing left? I think Elaina has the right idea... :)

I don't think we feed Rebecca enough! lol Either that or she really likes sugar.

That ends our Christmas cookie decorating post... but before I leave I wanted to share something that just happened today. Prepare yourself!

Adrianna was going to fill up the milk container so she could use it for something. But instead of getting to use this, she found something very interesting in it.... An innocent enough looking container don't you think?

Oh my! What's this? A mouse in the house?!!! AHH!!

Rebecca would not let Mom, how do you say it, um... 'dispose' of the mouse. She insisted that it should be let out into the freezing cold at the back of our yard.

You know, once you get past the fact that these creatures are dirty germ infested animals, pretty disgusting to find in your house, and really annoying because they eat things you would like the keep, they are kinda cute. ;)

The end!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Caroling and a surprise party!

The Sunday before last our church decided to go caroling around the church's neighborhood to spread the Christmas Spirit and to also hand out invitations to our Candlelight service. So after church we all split into two different groups and went around singing the joys of Christ.

Here Daddy is leading the group onto the next house to sing.

Since only one group had the camera you will just have to imagine what the rest of us looked like. ;) Here is group 1 singing in front of a house.

After singing in the nice chilly air, we all met back at the church for a fellowship meal. Here Becca and I are waiting in line to get our food.

Elaina is happy to finally have food after walking around a bunch.

Some of us going through the line....

I had a lovely time sitting with the McDonald's and Christa. Even though the look on my face might say otherwise.

William's shining face! I think he is happy!

Nathan enjoys playing Chess and Risk.

Skipping on to the next week now..... The McDonald ladies set-up a surprise 50th birthday party for Pastor. He was truly surprised which made all the hard work they put into it absolutely worth it! We had so much fun celebrating Pastor's life accomplishments. At the end of this post is a video of two songs that were sung at the party.

Here everyone is enjoying a wonderful meal. (Except Mommy who was home very sick.)

Jess, Tiff, and I were talking about nothing in particular then paused for a picture. Sometimes friends are so close it is easier to say "sisters" instead. :)

Victoria is in shock as Rebecca tries to wipe the table faster then anyone in history!

Tiff and I had a lovely time at the party! We just look tired because we stayed up till 1:00am the night before... I mean morning before. ;) She says it's my fault... I say someone in California is to blame. *grin*

Talking after the party.

We have the most amazing Pastor!! I am SO glad he was truly surprised! It made the night all the more fun! Happy 50th Birthday Pastor!!!

Here is the link to us singing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR0Z5iL-Oh8

Have a wonderful rest of the week! And a huge:

Merry Christmas to all y'all!!!!!!

Am I the only one who cannot believe it is next week?? Wow.... :)

A year gone by...

It was a year ago this week that T. Garrison Sanford went to join the Marines. It was a sad time for our family yet in the sadness we also saw joy and waited expectantly for his graduation from Boot Camp.

No one will ever be able to explain the emotions that were going on that day as we stood in front of this sign. We all had smiles on our faces but what was going on in our hearts was the total opposite of happiness. We were losing a brother...

Goodbyes were so hard for his beloved parents. Many, many tears were shed on his behalf.

Three long months of waiting and praying he was alright. Then the time finally came! Our whole family jumped on a airplane and flew off to California to watch Garrison's Marine Graduation. What a sight it was! Rows of expectant Marines waited on the parade deck, for that infamous last command they would get from their Drill Instructors.

Father and Mother reunited with their son. Only he is not a little boy anymore... he is a Marine. A part of the Few and the Proud. He has grown in ways that even they will not understand. But under his uniform his heart is filled with joy at seeing his beloved parents again. The boy-ish smile returns to his face as this joy seems unable to contain itself.

Now our family has the honor and privilege to call our brother a Marine. As he serves his country the way only a man called into the Military can. We sit at home and wish him well with all the love and joy our hearts can fathom. Garrison has grown up in so many ways and the military may take him to far away lands that we have only seen pictures of. But one thing will remain forever, his love of the Lord our God and our love for him.

Congratulations PFC Sanford! You have accomplished a whole year in the Marine Corp. which is something to be very proud of!

You will always be in our hearts!

Love you Garr!

Your forever proud sister,

Meli

"Were off to get our tree and what a wonderful tree it will be" - *sung to the tune of "Off to see the Wizard of Oz". * ;)

It's that time again! And by golly how fast it has come this year. I need to explain this picture before you country people get any idea of how we pick our tree. Normally when there is snow on the ground our family will pack up in our trusty van and drive off to Congerville to walk through a huge tree nursery to find the perfect tree for our family. After a recent tragedy this family owned business had to close there tree farm though. So we are no longer able to go on a hay-rack ride through the snowy Winter Wonderland. Saddened by this change in plans we have to go to the only other place we know of... which is Owen's Nursery. Instead of getting to cut your own tree down, they already have cut and groomed trees lined up for you, as you can see in this picture. Now, with the explanation aside, here we are going through the rows of trees looking for the right one.

Peter thinks he has found the perfect tree.

Zach is not quite as sure about his tree but he is thinking it may work.

Back at the house Rebecca got this lovely artistic shot of what we were all feeling.

Our great Patriarch is the one who puts the lights on our beautiful tree every year.

With the lights in place it is time to decorate! Elaina loves to decorate the tree. You can tell by the look on her face that she is utterly excited about it.

Peter tries to get all the high spots on the tree that the little kids can't reach.

Nathan poses for a shot of him decorating the tree.

I think maybe all the kids posed for these shots. Here Zach is smiling happily.

Adrianna tries to stick her hand as far in the tree as she can. She has to find just the right spot to hang her ornament.

Victoria hanging her ornament.

Derick trying to find the perfect spot.

Rebecca almost looks mischievous in this picture.

Dad helps by pointing out all the spots that need to be covered by more ornaments.

And yours truly here, putting up the star.

The top of our lovely decorated tree.

And I leave you with this simple yet sweet message; Merry Christmas

God Bless!

~Meli