TBT ~ Throwback Thursday... Santa and Mark

Ward Christmas party at Mutual Dell

Wordless Wednesday ~ Cash and Grey love...

(Photo credit to Mommy)

Santa...

Tim and I watched Cash, Colby and Grey last night so Mommy and Daddy could celebrate their 7th wedding anniversary. When they got home Grandpa and I got to go with Mark, Cash and Colby to see Santa! We experienced the magic of Christmas all over again. 

 Colby wanted to wear his new shoes!

The line wasn't too long but waiting makes you a little tired.

Colby kept saying, "Santa is nice" and Cash said, "Stay by me Grams."

When it was their turn, they hopped up on his lap. He told them to write a letter and he would try and get them the toys they wanted. Then he gave them a yummy candy cane.

 Cash and Colby are definitely on Santa's "nice" list, they are the sweetest boys!

Words to live by ~ If you want to be happy, give something away...

Old Gentleman Gray  

Author Unknown

Said Old Gentleman Gray, “On Christmas Day, if you want to be happy give something away.”

So he sent a fat turkey to Shoemaker Price, and the Shoemaker said, “What a big bird! How nice! And since such a good dinner is sent to me, I’ll send poor Widow Lee the fine chicken I bought.

“This fine chicken, oh see,” said the pleased widow Lee, “And the kindness that sent it, how precious to me. I would like to make someone as happy as I. I’ll send Washwoman Biddy, my big pumpkin pie!”

And, “Oh sure,” Biddy said, “Tis the queen of all pies! Just to look at its yellow face gladdens my eyes. Now it’s my turn, I think, and a sweet sugar cake for the motherless Finnegan children I’ll bake.”

Said the Finnegan children, Rose, Denny and Hugh, “It smells sweet of spice, and we’ll carry a slice to poor lame Jake … who has nothing that’s nice.”

“Oh, I thank you and thank you!” said little lame Jake. “I’ll save all the crumbs, and give them to each little sparrow that comes.”

And the sparrows they twittered as if they could say, like old Gentleman Gray, “On a great Christmas Day, if you want to be happy, give something away.”

Decorating with Memories...

I miss my mom. 

I missed her during Thanksgiving and now that we are getting ready for the holidays I think of her often.

Mom loved pretty things, she loved to decorate and make homemade gifts.

I am SO thankful I have some of her Christmas decorations. It's like having precious memories around our home.

She sent Chris and Mark several ornaments over the years. She had a collection of Nutcrackers that she loved. I carefully unwrapped each one and found the perfect spot for them. 

Mom really loved her Nativity set. She enjoy doing ceramics and painted this about 40 years ago. 

 There’s a lot of comfort in memories. 

A smile...

We didn't capture the exact moment but Grey smiled at me last night!

 Those cute chubby little hands...

I loved having the chance to hold him while Mommy and Daddy went on a fast date!

Gram's Helpers...

I mentioned to Cash that we probably wouldn't have a big tree this year and that I needed to decorate the smaller pencil trees. He asked me if he could help and I promised the next time he and Colby came to play we would decorate the trees. 

I got out all the ornament boxes and Cash didn't waste anytime getting them on the tree. He really is a wonderful helper.

Cash did most of the decorating. We had so much fun and I think they did a great job. 

Colby saw the green icicle ornaments and called them pickles!

I sure love these little elves.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

TBT ~ Throwback Thursday... Christmas with my boys

This was probably our last Christmas living in Cheyenne... cutest boys, love them so much.

Wordless Wednesday ~ My Mom's pretty bowl...

The Lord is my portion...

It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
Lamentations 3:22-24 

I'm still reading the Bible from cover to cover. It's been challenging but as I have said before there are some gems that keep me going. I love these verses in Lamentations. "... his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is they faithfulness. The Lord is my portion..."

I looked up portion and there were several meanings. Some said it means inheritance, some say share, piece, part, section, and on and on.

I know if I put my trust in Him I can have the faith I need to face whatever comes. He is MY portion, for me... Eileen Federer Williams. Even when I'm am not worthy, I feel His love. I have been too complacent and a little sloppy in my spirituality. I'm on a daily quest to have an unshakable testimony and to fulfill my divine mission.

I did some research and found the following interesting and helpful: 

lamentationLAMENTA'TION, n. L. lamentatio.

1. Expression of sorrow; cries of grief; the act of bewailing.

It was common in ancient Judah to compose and sing lamentations about departed friends or relatives. Jeremiah did so for his beloved Jerusalem. The book of Lamentations reveals his sorrow over the destruction of the Holy City. The Hebrew title of the book is ’eikhah, or “How … !” from the book’s first verse, “How doth the city sit solitary …” (Lamentations 1:1; see also 2:1; 4:1). That title expresses a mixture of shock and despair toward the fate of Jerusalem. Nearly every prophetic book in the Old Testament contains laments, but Lamentations is the only book that consists entirely of this literary form.

Poetry is used in many cultures to express poignant feeling, and the entire book of Lamentations is written in carefully constructed poetry. Chapters 1–2 and 4 form acrostics. Each has twenty-two verses, each beginning with one of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, in alphabetical order. Ellis T. Rasmussen wrote that “part of the effect of alphabetic acrostic poetry is to convey the impression that the poem covers the whole spectrum of the feelings with which the poem is concerned” (A Latter-day Saint Commentary on the Old Testament [1993], 577–78).

Chapter 3 has sixty-six verses (three times twenty-two) and is also acrostic. In that chapter the first three verses begin with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the next three with the second letter, and so on. Chapter 5 has twenty-two verses but is not acrostic (see Bible Dictionary, “Lamentations, book of,” p. 722).

As I was reading these verses, I remembered this hymn we sang at the Nazarene church. 
Of course it was inspired by these verses.

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Thomas Chisholm – 1925

Great Is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father!
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Though changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.

Pardon for Sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide,
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Great Is Thy faithfulness,
Great Is Thy faithfulness,
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy Faithfulness, Lord unto me.