Best Christmas Yet...

But not in the way most people think of... though the grands' gifts certainly made us smile... (Remember, we only do stockings and PJs)

On Christmas Eve, we had our little snow storm turn into a mini-blizzard...

That left us with snow paths...
Today, Christmas Day... We were greeted with this- blue skies and a temporary winter wonderland! (only lasted most of the daytime)
But look, my "engineered" petunia survived! Yes, engineered, I combined pollen of two colors and replanted in aerated soil. Pretty cool, huh? The original plant... dead...
At our front door, most of the snow's melted.
And our snow inspector, Cece was a bit flummoxed as to why it is still so cold. Brrrr!
The kids didn't mind, there was a mini-snowman waiting to be created--
... and a mini-snow sheep! :-)
You can't stop a good snowball fight...
or at least a good "threat, aim and dodge" bit.
How about actually throwing a gigantic snowball? How do you like my "thick-skinned" children playing in their new PJs? Well, they do have their gloves on. ;-) (Kila's on her way to see her beau, so she was dressed for that)
That sends a 17-year old home back to her mommy? "I have snow in my boots!"
The grin of satisfaction arrived since there are more snowballs to make- big ones, too!
Or bigger ones still with some leftover hanging on the boots. Carry on snow, anyone?
More to make...
Or just make the one, that much bigger!
Then morning turned to afternoon which then turned to night which meant- Christmas dinner! (Here's your plate... This set was given to me by a good friend)
What's your fancy? If it's Filipino feasting you desire, we have it all- Baked Tilapia, Pancit Sotanghon (Mung bean noodle dish), Lechon (roast pork), Lumpias, Roasted Eggplants, Hot Chocolate, Fruity Beverage, Seafood, Fruits and Sweets even some Pan de Sal and Rice to give you further side dish choice.
Of course, we can't forget the traditional, Puto, or glutinous rice flour cakes. You steam them and sweeten with sugar, butter and coconut. Yum!

Why our best yet? Because, we know why we went through all this trouble... It is the Lord's birthday and He deserves the best... Perfect seasonal weather with delicious and meaningful food- the best way to celebrate a birthday, don't you think?

Colorful Day!

Who said Sabbath can't be an exciting yet reverent day, have not met our family. We started out slow but at least we made it to the last two hours of church; even bringing our next door neighbor. Lessons were amazing and focused on the Savior. We dined on soup and fruits, napped, decorated a little more, and found that Disney Christmas meant colors, lots if not all of them! So for me, that meant blue!

As we couldn't afford an all out Disney theme, we decided to incorporate all of the fun decor we have and just have a fun Christmas feel in our home, but despite the given hectic level of planning where to put everything, our evening was quiet, reverent and delicious! (more s'mores!)

We read the story of "The Three Trees" who grew up becoming a cradle, a boat and the cross of our Savior, Jesus Christ. How enviable to be a tree!

I am so touched by this story that last year, just by choosing not to buy a real tree or a big pre-lit one, we decided to just use our patio trees as our main tree. We clustered three on different heights. Inadvertently, we have given ourselves a tangible reminder of the divine experiences these trees shared... being with our Savior- at his birth, his ministry and even His death.

Trying to incorporate all that we've had from past Christmases, imagine my surprise in finding my wreaths intact after three years in storage, and since I made two of this design, I had a matching set for each of my living and dining area windows! So cool!

I asked each one what they did to honor our Savior today and church attendance, listening to lessons and prayers rang out. What great examples. Then I challenged each one to find ways to honor our Savior tomorrow, while they are in school.

Let's see what happens...

Sidenote:

Kila joined us and learned that THE TRINITY for us Latter-day Saints meant three separate beings working together for the salvation of man: Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. She also learned that the virgin Mary is NOT A WIFE of Heavenly Father, but rather she was a chosen vessel to allow His Son to exemplify coming to earth just as we are expected to do so- as an infant.

Sweet "Handle" on Things...

We had a fairly stressful day today... A couple of meetings for me, lack of sleep for Mr.Man and stomach viruses. *sigh*

But tonight, despite the rigors of daily grind, we were reminded what Christmas is truly about- the birth of Jesus Christ and in the "Legend of the Candy Cane", we were reminded how one person used his talent, candymaking, to honor Him and what He symbolizes.

The J shape for Jesus and the Shepherd's crook

White for His purity and love for us

Red stripes- small ones for his suffering and a big one for His blood shed for our sins

Sweet and minty- His promise of eternal life is both delicious and refreshing to take in.

May this Christmas time remind all of us that Jesus Christ, our Savior was born first so He can rescue us according to His Father's plan and honoring that divine birth is worth the symbols we adorn our homes with one month a year...

Getting Ready...

Easter is tomorrow and there are a lot to do for dinner and our own egg hunt, so today, we woke up, ate breakfast, and stopped at Kroger. Why, because it is our ward's Easter Egg Hunt for the Primary children. We had so much fun! Of course we did, considering since the last time we had celebrated Easter (you know with eggs and good dinner) was back in 2006. Why? Because we moved in 2007, so I started packing in early March. Last Easter, I was in school and doing midterms, so the celebration happened quick.

We cleaned our windows, vacuumed and we swept out our front step and changed out our rugs. We said NO to any TV all day tomorrow and have finished out our menu.

At the store, we picked up candies and plastic hinged eggs. We got the kids some new baskets because our Easter stuff from the past years are still buried in the storage! Now the question is, can you guess who owns which basket?

Before you guess, how about some Tea Cakes?

I got the recipe for these fat soft cookies from a fellow blogger,

Shelia of Note Songs
(you should visit her, her blog is so fun)

My kids loved these cookies, so I made enough for tomorrow's dinner, too!

Ok, here are the pictures to see who has which basket.

Are you ready?

Are you sure?

Are you done guessing?

J-Pony has the orange, and I-Dude has the green!

Did you guess right?

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL!

FHE: Our Home as a Temple

I am so psyched that I actually went through with the whole 40-day Love Dare Challenge. Whew!

Today, Mr. Man and I-Dude had haircuts. Mr. Man had his usual #3 at Fantastic Sam's while I-Dude, we tried the Cool Cuts 4 Kids nearby. Yes, we are helping our local businesses. ;-)

BEFORE:

AFTER: What do you think?

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It's another Monday and that means Family Home Evening! In light of the recent General Conference, we chose a topic that truly hit home to us, especially me... Making our home be like the temple. We also recognized that temples are our Lord's homes here on earth. First of all, let me be the first one to admit that we failed the cleanliness factor as we always have something we can improve on. LOL Ok, moving on...

During dinner we discussed how we have made our own home be like the temple as temples are for our Lord Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father, pointing more to our current residence. These are what we came up with:

We eat together on most nights as a family- temples are for the salvation of families and its members

We love each other no matter what- temples are built to show Heavenly Father's plan of love for us thru His Son, despite the harm of our abuse of our free agency.

We welcome all to our home but keep out bad influences- temples are sacred buildings.

We share the gospel to others thru service and examples- temples are built to help Heavenly Father fulfill his plan for all of us because of His Son's atoning sacrifice.

We testify of the Lord's divinity every day- temples are towering examples of our belief and love for Jesus Christ, our Savior.

We are an eternal family- temples are built to teach us of that reality.

How did General Conference warm your home?

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYBODY!!!

It's finally here! It's finally here!

The birthday of our Savior and Redeemer.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR DEAR LORD,
JESUS CHRIST!!!
With all that HE has done for us, how can we not celebrate, be merry and feel more joy in our hearts, homes and associations?