Merry Christmas to all of Blogland......

Wishing you all the Merriest of Christmases and a Happy New Year....

I hope you find the Joy of Jesus this Christmas Season!

Nancy

Jaxton didn't think too much of Santa.... Smart Boy!!!

I lost a dear friend.....

I lost a dear friend yesterday.... Crystal was an extraordinary friend.... she had a heart of gold, even though her physical heart was weak!  She had to have to the world's record for the most stints that I have ever heard of 29 at the last count!  She went in for a knee replacement surgery on Monday the 12th and came through the surgery and passed away!  Crystal was only 52 and leaves behind a loving husband and a son, two brothers, a sister in law and several nieces and nephews and an aunt... and many friends!  Crystal was an amazing women who reached out to everyone!  She was loved by all who knew her!

Crystal and I met on the internet!  ( I seem to have a habit of that ;~)  )  Our common bond in the beginning was we were both Stampin Up! demonstrators and were on a chat board called Sisters in Stamping... when in late 1999 I found that my husband was being transferred for his job to the Quad Cities... she responded saying that she lived there and I told her I was looking for a Baptist Church and she said "well my husband is an associate pastor at a Baptist church and I think you might like it"!  While we were living at the Radisson waiting for our belongings to be moved, she called me several times and we did visit her church!  Ron was a little skeptical of our friendship in the beginning since we had met on the internet I believe he thought I might of been an ax murderer but Crystal assured him that we were ok, my husband was a Warden and we were Baptist! :)

While we were preparing for our move to our new home, I was painting and she called me and she and Ron brought supper over to us...  Well to say the least the four of us hit it off and became friends...  I cannot even begin to say what their friendships meant to both of us, we were in a new place far away from family and friends, but we didn't have anything to worry about they were steadfast and true.  We faced some very difficult days in the next three and half years... six months after moving to this foreign land Gary and I lost our fathers six days apart and six months later found out my sweet husband had renal cancer!  Ron and Crystal were with my family through some of the darkest days of our lives and I honestly don't know what I would of done without their friendship.  Through Crystal getting us to go to Wildwood we made many friends.  We continued to share our love of stamping.  When I moved away we still stayed in contact and I was glad that I had the chance to come back and be able to see her more the last couple of years.  While now I have many regrets that I didn't get to see her as much as I had liked,  You can't go back!  Wouldn't it be nice if we could...

We traveled together many times to SU conventions and events.. She was my first flying partner, I had a  horrible fear of heights!  She was always so much fun to be with!  Crystal was the finest example of how a christian should live their lives she truly walked the walk!  I know she is now basking in God's Glory and singing with the angels!

In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  John 14:2

This Old House In New Liberty!-Large.m4v

Here is a tour of the downstairs decorated for Christmas!  Imagine you are listening to Christmas music as you watch!  I had Jewels - Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer playing on the original video but when I published it to You Tube I found that was illegal... so here it is in silent mode :(

Nancy

I linked my tour up to The Inspired Rooms Virtual House Tour...

Love, Love, Love these white trees..... Making a Christmas Mantel!

****** Updated to add some more pictures!******

Somehow December brings out the best of the crafts!  I love making things and Christmas decorations are no exception!!  Today I made these Christmas trees!  The two tall ones on the ends are covered in a bumpy, stretchy fabric that is sold near baby fabrics in Joanns... (fleece type), one is covered with little white ball fringe and two are covered with fake snow!  I added a few more snow globes and some lights, put some snowflakes on the mirror... and hung some snow flakes below the ledge.... I think I am done with this part but we will see!  Right now I am loving how it looks!  Hoping for snow soon!!!!  What are you making???

Now some daytime pictures.....

And Finally below is the finished product!!

Stay Warm!  Nancy

I linked up to

Show and Tell Fridays

French Country Cottage

Home Parties A-Z Christmas Mantel Party

Snow Globes

Yessiree, I jumped on the "make me some snow globes bandwagon"!!  These were so much fun to make!   Even the grand girls loved making them!

A legacy of crafting lives on in each generation!

Of course before screwing the lid on you put in about 2 tablespoons give or take of snow, I even added some extra glitter to the mix!  I must warn you though that you may be wearing the glitter for a few days!

Where did I find the ingredients you might ask?  The trees I got from several different places, Hobby Lobby in the aisle for miniature houses, Dollar Tree and Walmart for the figurines, snow came from Walmart.  Jars came from an collection, (I have tons of jars)!  Glass Candle holders came from Dollar Tree... Wooden spools from Joan's!

Hope you find some time to make some snow globes too!

Nancy

Knitting....

A little Herringbone project.... while knitting on a little sweater project I switched gears and whipped this scarf out... Now I must say it was a little tedious getting it started and I ripped it out at least 6 or more times... so frustrating and I actually lost count how many times it got ripped out!  I stayed with it and switched from my slick Addi's to wooden needles and that seemed to help a lot!  The yarn is REALLY soft it has mostly baby alpaca in it so it feels really nice!!!  I think I might just keep this one for me!

Have an awesome Wednesday!


Nancy

A little Christmas project!

I have had these glass block for several years and have just not had the time to make these lit beauties!  What do you think?  I like them!  Still thinking of tweaks to make to the next ones!

Nancy

Absence makes the heart grow fonder....

Or something like that!  Sorry I have been missing but as usual I have been really busy!  We had a granddaughter's baptism to go to, a Sweet little grandaughters 4th birthday party, and I have been working on an early Christmas present for one set of grandkids!

Caitlyn Grace

So here is a review in pictures!  

My Sweet little Capri turned 4!

The little girls got to make bracelets!

candies

Capri!

The early Christmas present was making a playroom for the grandkids that live on the farm!

Putting together IKEA Shelving!

John giving me a hand!

The kiddos checking things out!

A place for everything is our goal!

We are not finished completely with the playroom I will take pictures and post them when it is completely finished!  With a 4th baby on the way very soon, this momma needed somewhere that the kids could play, be safe and not cover the enter house with toys!  There are gates on the two inner doorways and Daddy was working on some locks here!  See the cute polka dotted rugs from IKEA?  We duct taped them together to make a runner!!!  Stay tuned for the final pictures!

Nancy

White Pumpkins....

Yes, I can't help it I like white pumpkins!!!  I bought some to set around in fall arrangements and ugh they are already turning brown!  To fix that dilemma I bought a couple of packages of fake pumpkins on sale at Joann's and a can of creamy colored spray paint! ( Robert, I just couldn't paint them silver!) and oooolaaaaaalaaaaaa I have white pumpkins that will last year after year!!

Any suggestions on how to camouflage my pretty painted window for the Thanksgiving/Christmas season so it doesn't look like Summer mixed with Winter?  I thought about putting vellum over each window pane?

So here are the before and after pictures of the pumpkins!

I covered the stems with painters tape!

See the real pumpkins by the arrangement and how they are already turning ugly?

this is the window in question!  How do I camouflage the summery flowers???

It sure got cold quickly and I have already seen the first snow fly although it didn't last long!

I hope you are stopping to think what all you have to be thankful for!  My list is a mile long!!!

Nancy

Cousin Get Together

Tonight we had a little get together at "This Old House"  Mark's cousin Karen and her husband Jim were here from Reno, so it was a time to reminisce about days gone by!  I fixed Baked Potato Soup, White Chili, and Pumpkin Soup along with cornbread.  I think everyone enjoyed the visit!  We sure enjoyed having them all here!

Karen, Terry, Sylvia and Vivian  (Sylvia was the oldest of 3 girls and her sister Retha was  the mother of  these ladies)

Mark looks a little tired, he had a short night last night!

Hope you have had a great day!!!

Nancy

A little project

I finally cleaned out the front entryway so I could make some hangers for coats, hopefully soon I will get a bench built in there also for some storage, but for now I am happy with a spot our guest can hang their coats!

This is inside our front door....

Mark will be surprised when he comes home!  Yessirree I  used the electric saw and did it myself!


Nancy

A drive back in time!

When we were out for a drive on Saturday we drove over by Illinois City where Mark's maternal grandparents lived on a farm for many years!  Mark had not been by his grandparents old home for a number of years!  The family who lived there had actually bought it from Mark's grandparents Lawrence and Garnett Brookhart and have lived there for 20 years, while it had changed a lot, some old buildings replaced with new ones and a recent new deck and lots of other improvements to the outside, it still held a lot of wonderful memories for Mark as he recalled many great memories of his trips to the farm!

Hope you are enjoying the pretty leaves!!

Nancy

The Beauty of Fall!

After arriving home from being gone for almost a week, Mark and I decided to take a drive up the Mississippi River to enjoy the leaves!  Palisades State Park overlooking the Mississippi was pretty although the leaves were said to have peaked the week before!

Overlooking the Mississippi

See the train winding around the bend?

                                                  Gotta love the timers on Cameras!!!

While I was sad to leave, Mark was certainly glad to have me back home again!!

Blessings!!!

Nancy