Sixth Day of Christmas

Sorry for the delay in posting this, we had technical difficulties this morning. Church services are canceled tonight due to the twin blizzards here. Our pantry is stocked and ready to have a quiet New Year's Eve at home with our family.

If you have not read my post from the First Day of Christmas, please go back and read that post first.


Christmas Quiz part 3 ANSWERS-How well do you know the Biblical Christmas story?
Which of the following are mentioned in the Biblical Christmas story?
cows
stable
doves (Luke 2:24)
sheep (Luke 2:8 says flocks)
halos
Abraham's descendants (Luke 1:55)
circumcision (Luke 1:59 and 2:21)
public disgrace (Matthew 1:19)
incense (Luke 1:10)
David (Luke 1:32, 1:69)
Egypt (Matthew 2:13-14)
drummer boy

Who named Jesus? (Matthew 1:21, 1:23, 1:25 and Luke 2:21-Gabriel, Joseph, and Mary)
When did the Magi come to see Jesus?
a) two weeks before He was born
b) on the night He was born
c) one week after He was born
d) at least six weeks after He was born (Luke 2:22 and Leviticus 12:2-4 The Magi came after the Purification.)
e) we are not told in the Bible

Our Christmas Ornaments part 6

When Ewe's family took vacations, Ewe tried to buy a Christmas ornament as a souvenir. Starting at top left-NYC-Statue of Liberty family vacation about 1984. Mount Vernon-Washington D.C. trip-Ewe and her dad 1986. Coke museum in Atlanta-CUW band tour 1996. Cotton plant angel from same trip. Willamsburg with Zion teachers about 1998. Make Way for Ducklings-Boston conference about 1999. San Francisco trip 2001. Walnut Grove, MN-Laura Ingalls Wilder sites, 2010.

Top row-Ram and Ewe's trip out west in 2002. Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument.
Bottom row-Sleigh for our trip to ID for Christmas 2002 (we took a sleigh ride), Disneyland 2006 (there's a place for a photo but it's breakable so I haven't had it on the tree nor have I put a photo in it), Holy Hill, WI 2009.
Sometimes it is difficult to find Christmas ornaments when we are on vacation and sometimes it is easy. I do like having ornaments as a souvenir to remind me of those trips each time we decorate our tree. Most of them are pretty safe for the Lambs so most of these do hang on our tree, but a few will wait until the Lambs are older. Recently our vacations have been to see family in the same places, but as the Lambs get older we hope to take them to visit more places and add to our ornament collection.

Fifth Day of Christmas

If you have not read my post from the First Day of Christmas, please go back and read that post first.


Christmas Quiz part 3-How well do you know the Biblical Christmas story?
Which of the following are mentioned in the Biblical Christmas story?
cows
stable
doves
sheep
halos
Abraham's descendants
circumcision
public disgrace
incense
David
Egypt
drummer boy

Who named Jesus?
When did the Magi come to see Jesus?
a) two weeks before He was born
b) on the night He was born
c) one week after He was born
d) at least six weeks after He was born
e) we are not told in the Bible

Our Christmas Ornaments part 5

Ram's mom knows that I like Pooh, so she got some special years of Pooh ornaments for Ewe. Starting on the left, the first one is 2001-our wedding, the next two are different ones for 2004-Lamb 1 born, the next one is 2006-Lamb 2 born, the last one is 2008-Lamb 3 born. The one on the bottom is a special 80th anniversary of Pooh, also 2008-Lamb 3 born. I told her that I don't need to get an ornament every year, just the years that are special to our family. These are breakable so they are not on our tree while we have young Lambs. Some of them had not even been opened before I photographed them today!

Fourth Day of Christmas

If you have not read my post from the First Day of Christmas, please go back and read that post first.


Christmas Quiz part 2 ANSWERS-How well do you know the Biblical Christmas story?
Which of the following are mentioned in the Biblical Christmas story?
donkey
camels
inn (Luke 2:7)
manger (Luke 2:7)
cave
house where Jesus lived (Matthew 2:9)
elephants
candle(s)
census (Luke 2:1-2)
ritual law (Luke 2:22 and 2:39)
prophetess (Luke 2:36)
dream(s) (Matthew 1:20, 2:13)

What was the financial condition of Mary and Joseph before the Magi came? (Poor, but not dirt poor-middle/lower class. At the Presentation they gave 2 doves. If they would have had more money they would have given a lamb. If they would have been more poor they would have given grain. See Luke 2:24, Exodus 13:2, and Leviticus 12:1-8 and 5:11.)

What is the significance of the name Mary? (Girls names reflected the situation of Jewish people. Miriam means bitter. Mary comes from Miriam. See Exodus 15:23.)

What references to Jesus' death are in the Christmas story? (Simeon's warning to Mary at the Presentation in Luke 2:35. Myrrh was royal funeral perfume in Matthew 2:11.)

Our Christmas Ornaments part 4
Today is our anniversary so I thought I would feature some ornaments given to us at our wedding.

The angel tree topper was given by one of the teachers at Zion as a wedding present. The Indianapolis ornament was purchased on our honeymoon to Indianapolis. The cake ornament was given by one of the pastors that helped with our wedding. The bear ornament was given by Ewe's sister, Hannah, for our first anniversary. Happy 9th Anniversary to Ram and Ewe!

T. Baker family, I want to add that you have been in our prayers daily for the last year, and even more this week and today. This is a bittersweet anniversary for us. "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." (Psalm 46:1)

Third Day of Christmas

If you have not read my post from the First Day of Christmas, please go back and read that post first.

Christmas Quiz part 2-How well do you know the Biblical Christmas story?
Which of the following are mentioned in the Biblical Christmas story?
donkey
camels
inn
manger
cave
house where Jesus lived
elephants
candle(s)
census
ritual law
prophetess
dream(s)

What was the financial condition of Mary and Joseph before the Magi came?
What is the significance of the name Mary?
What references to Jesus' death are in the Christmas story?

Our Christmas Ornaments part 3

These ornaments belong to the Lambs from a dear member of our country church. She started Lamb 1's collection. I liked that the dogs in this collection were so age appropriate-Lamb 1 liked to wear a cape like Superman when he was 3, he liked to write on his easel when he was 4, etc. After a few years they discontinued that collection, and I'm disappointed that they didn't do it at least one more year to finish Lamb 1's collection. At that time our member decided to just give the Lambs money because it was getting more difficult for her to shop after she turned 90. So I decided to continue buying ornaments for the Lambs with the money they received each Christmas from her. So I started the Lambs on a new collection of bears. Unfortunately that stops at age 5. So I allowed Lamb 1 to pick his own ornament last year. He chose Thomas the train. I plan to hit Hallmark after Christmas to buy them another ornament from her. I'm looking forward to finishing Lamb 2's collection of bears and seeing what Lamb 1 picks and hoping that Hallmark continues this collection until Lamb 3 finishes his collection of bears. The Lambs love to put their own ornaments on the tree each year. It gets a little confusing because the ornaments are for their first Christmas, not for when they were age 1, etc. Lamb 1 and 2 both have the same ornament for their second Christmas. I love that our member started this tradition so even if we move away from here we will always think of her and our country church where she is a member when we decorate our Christmas tree.

Second Day of Christmas

If you have not read my post yesterday, please read that first. Today I am posting the answers for the questions I asked on my blog yesterday.

Christmas Quiz part 1 ANSWERS-How well do you know the Biblical Christmas story?

innkeeper
Mary's parents
Rachel (Matthew 2:18)
barn
swaddling cloths (Luke 2:12)
funeral perfume (myrrh) (Matthew 2:11)
false worship (someone doing this even if these exact words are not used) (Matthew 2:8)
Angel (Luke 1:19) (also goes with Gabriel)
Gabriel (Luke 1:26) (also goes with Angel)
evangelism (someone doing this even if these exact words are not used) (Luke 2:17)
divorce (Matthew 1:19)
blessedness of faith (Luke 1:45)
forgiveness (Luke 1:77)
Nicholas (but see Acts 6:5)

How many Magi came to see Jesus? (See Matthew 2:1-we don't know, all we know is there was more than one.)

What sort of transportation did the Magi use? (See Matthew 2:1-we don't know how far they came. They could have used camels, walked, rode a horse, rode elephants, or gone on a ship. If it was a religious pilgrimage they would have walked. If they were wealthy then they would have been carried (horse, camel, elephant, etc.) We don't know how the Magi came to Jesus.)

How did Mary almost surely travel to Bethlehem? (Most surely she walked. If they would have had a donkey for Mary to ride to Bethlehem, they would have sold it to buy a lamb for the Presentation of Jesus.)

Check my blog tomorrow for the next questions for the Christmas Quiz. I will try to post questions the first day and the answers the next day.

Our Christmas ornaments part 2

These ornaments were made by my Grandma Frieda. Almost every year she made each of the grandchildren an ornament. Most were made with plastic mesh. It is difficult to see in this photo, but my favorite is the mailbox because it opens. My grandma liked the ones like the picture frames and mailbox because she could fold money and put that in there. I think she got most of the patterns from her sister, Lena. She felt bad that after she turned 90 she couldn't see well enough to make us ornaments any more. But that didn't stop her from making homemade mints for my wedding! I enjoy putting my grandma's ornaments on the tree each year. This year the Lambs asked who that one was a picture of and I told them it was my Grandma Frieda. I'm sure Grandma made more than what I have here, but they are either still packed away with our breakable ornaments or still at my parent's house. I love that these were homemade, but the Lambs can still hang them on the tree without breaking them.

First Day of Christmas

I have plans for two kinds of posts to post each of the 12 days of Christmas. I had some ideas to post last year but our computer was down over the 12 days of Christmas. I hope that I'm not taking on too big of a project to post two items for the next 12 days. We'll see how I do. Thanks to my dad for many years of doing the Christmas Quiz in Bible classes to give me ideas on what to post here.

Christmas Quiz part 1-How well do you know the Biblical Christmas Story?
Using the Bible accounts in Matthew 1:18-25, Matthew 2:1-21, Luke 1:5-80, Luke 2:1-39, and John 1:14; which of the following are mentioned in the Biblical Christmas story? Check back tomorrow for answers.
(I would recommend reading the Bible verses listed here before answering. Perhaps make a list of the ones that ARE in the Bible story so you can compare it to the answers tomorrow. If you are really ambitious you can put the Bible reference next to your answers!)

innkeeper
Mary's parents
Rachel
barn
swaddling cloths
funeral perfume (myrrh)
false worship (someone doing this even if these exact words are not used)
Angel
Gabriel
evangelism (someone doing this even if these exact words are not used)
divorce
blessedness of faith
forgiveness
Nicholas

How many Magi came to see Jesus?
What sort of transportation did the Magi use?
How did Mary almost surely travel to Bethlehem?

Our Christmas Ornaments-Part 1
Some of the blogs I read post photos of their favorite Christmas ornaments for the first 25 days of December. I would love to do that, but we didn't put our tree up until December 23, so the ornaments were still packed away then. I'm going to post photos of some of our favorite Christmas ornaments for the 12 days of Christmas.
The first ornaments I'm going to post are these silver bells.

I know it is difficult to see in this photo, but I have bells for these years-
2000-Ram and Ewe engaged
2001-Ram and Ewe married
2004-Lamb 1 born
2005-Baby 1 miscarriage
2006-Lamb 2 born
2008-Lamb 3 born
2009-Baby 2 miscarriage
2010-Baby 3 miscarriage
Ram's mom started my collection when we were engaged. I made it clear to her that I only wanted bells the years that were significant to our family. Last year I decided to purchase a 2009 one for baby 2. We continued the tradition by getting one this year for baby 3. A few weeks ago I realized we never got one for baby 1. I know this is hard to believe, but I have never purchased anything on E-bay. I actually still haven't bid on E-bay, because we bought the 2005 one under a "buy it now" transaction. I like having a memory of our three Lambs in heaven. The Lambs enjoy putting the bell from their birth year on the tree. I like that the bells actually ring, although when all the Lambs ring one it gets quite loud. I suppose they could get dented, but they are pretty safe for the Lambs to not break them. Of course the oldest ones are the most tarnished and I'm not polishing them just for putting on the tree for 12 days. With 8 of them, they can be spread out over the tree.

Merry Christmas!

"Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."

(part of Lamb 1 and 2's recitation in the Christmas Eve program-Luke 2:10-11)

Our Lambs at Christmas

We successfully put our tree up yesterday so we can enjoy Christmas at home by our tree now! I am praying that snow does not cancel services this weekend like last year.
Last Sunday, I attempted to take photos of the Lambs at church, BEFORE they ate at the potluck and got dirty. This was the best I could get them to cooperate. Their sweaters were on sale at Gymboree on Black Friday. The Lambs and Ram and Ram's parents went to the local cafe and I shopped while I was in my pajamas that day. Their sweaters were marked way down from the $35 each regular price plus I got free shipping! Why anyone would go to the store on Black Friday when you can get the same deals on the Internet, is beyond me.

My baby looks so grown up here! Where did the last 2 1/2 years go?

I ordered sweaters that would be large on them so they could wear them for awhile. Lamb 1 was disgusted with me because he is 6 so he should wear size 6, not size 7-8! He wasn't going to wear his sweater, but then he saw Lamb 2 and 3 had theirs on and he decided to be like them. He wanted his photo by the cross, not the Christmas tree. I didn't argue with him since he was actually taking a photo.

We pray that you have a blessed Christmas Eve!

Church window decorations

Our country church needed to replace the candle holders they put in the windows at church at Christmas time. Someone had the idea that a different family at church (we have a small church family) could bring a nativity set from home and decorate the window. Then they wouldn't need to spend money to replace the candles. It was a great idea and it turned out really neat. I thought I would post photos here. I think they will continue this new tradition because it turned out so well.

The window Ewe did. The ornaments are from the Holy Land. The fake greenery was marked way down after Thanksgiving.

We have many talented woodworkers in our congregation.

Precious Moments

Chrismons

Ram's aunt attended a Christmas service at a Lutheran church many years ago. She noticed the Chrismons on the tree and thought they were beautiful. When we were in CA last May, she asked me about them. She would like to make some. She found some information on the Internet, but she really wanted pictures to visualize them better. My parents made a set for their tree when they were first married. They didn't know where they were at. When we first came to MN, the country church still used a live Christmas tree and the Chrismons. Since then they have purchased an artificial tree and made new ornaments for the tree. I wasn't sure if they even kept the old Chrismons. Ram's aunt kept asking me to look for her. I found these in a box at church. I must stress that they are pretty old and missing pieces. I decided to post the photos here because it is faster for me than e-mailing them to his aunt. Plus, I wonder if anyone else out in cyberspace would like a visual of these! These are the ones that survived many years of decorating the church, it is not a complete set.

The first type is made out of wood and painted white with gold ribbon, glitter, beads, and other decorations. Before I took photos of these, I thought they were made out of Styrofoam like other Chrismons that I've seen. The wood was a good idea because these held up the best over the years.

The second kind are beads strung on wire. I tried to bend the wire to put them back in shape better to take photos.

These small crowns fell off another ornament, but I didn't know which one.

The third kind has Styrofoam symbols glued to a clear piece of plastic.

There were many made of Styrofoam. Many beads and sequins had fallen off. Some were a block shape with symbols on each side. Some were a Styrofoam ball with symbols on two sides. Here are the photos of the ones that I thought survived over the years the best.

I hope these pictures help you, Aunt Shelley!