A good verse for this new year:
"Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert." Isaiah 43:19
First of all, thank you to everyone who took time to write and leave a comment on the last post letting us know you were out there and telling us where you're reading from. That was encouraging to find out we have blog readers we didn't even know about!
Now that you've been brave enough to comment, don't be a stranger! Stop in again and drop a line on the blog. Please be patient with me...I always respond back personally to comments, and I'll be writing to each of you now that the holidays are officially over and our guests have gone back to their homes.
We hope you all had some very enjoyable holidays! We certainly did and are so thankful for our family!
Our special guests for Christmas: Newlyweds Sarah and Eric arrived late on Christmas Day and spent the weekend with us! It was so fun to see them again. It's hard to believe they've been married 7 weeks already!
Surprise special guests: Almost as soon as Sarah and Eric arrived, the doorbell rang again. We were preparing food in the kitchen, chatting, and welcoming them home and wondered who in the world would be at our door on Christmas Day!
Jonathan went to find out what the ding-donging was all about, and who was standing there but our oldest son, Micah, and grandson, Ethan! They had driven all day to be here as a surprise! Ooh, boy! It was wonderful!! But it was such a surprise, no one had a camera ready!
I don't think Christmas could have been any more special than to have everyone home together!
What about at your house? Did you have some special guests come visit you?
What was your Christmas menu?
Someone asked us recently if we served ham or turkey for Christmas dinner. Neither. We always serve a chicken dish. Our Christmas Eve meal was San Francisco Chicken, and our Christmas Day meal was Spicy Chicken over Noodles.
Here are Jonathan and Micah going through the Saturday night meatball hoagie food line: Here I am below with Sarah...I miss her terribly around here, so it was extra special to have her home. She just wouldn't consent to staying though!:
It was fun having this little baseball player in my kitchen, even if only for a day:
We have an extra celebration around here, too, this time of year...Tom celebrated his birthday this week, complete with his requested grilled pizza (the weather cooperated, and it wasn't too chilly) and ice cream cake. Happy Birthday, good and faithful Dad!:
I hope this helped catch you up a bit on Christmas happenings around here. I have more to blog about next week, but I wanted to get this post up on the first day of 2016!
Happy New Year to you all!
~Deb
Happy New Year to you!!! Oh Deb!! I could hardly wait for this post :) I just knew you would have pictures of your celebrations and checked everyday since your last post!!! :) Great photos (But no Hannah :( ) and everyone looks so happy, I was filled with tears as I read of all the sweet blessings God showered on you all this Christmas season! Now that's cause for a C.E.L.E.B.B.A.T.I.O.N!!! ;)
So is Eric a Packers fan? :) Hey, I noticed a Snow-Happy-Heart, looks perfect on your tree. :) And a very Happy Birthday to Tom....Faithful dad indeed!!
Love you dear friend!!! <3
Posted by: Chris | Saturday, January 02, 2016 at 07:33 AM
AGHHH...C.E.L.E.B.R.A.T.I.O.N......I misspelled it in all my excitement.. :) lol
Posted by: Chris | Saturday, January 02, 2016 at 07:35 AM
Happy New Year! Sounds like you had a lovely Christmas! :)
Posted by: Tammy | Saturday, January 02, 2016 at 08:30 AM
QUERIDA DEB:LE DESEO UN MUY BENDECIDO AÑO 2016 Y QUE DIOS LES CONCEDA LAS PETICIONES DE SU CORAZON. AQUI EN ARGENTINA ESTAMOS EN VERANO Y HACE MUCHOOOOOO CALOR, TAMBIEN ES EPOCA DE VACACIONES,MI ESPOSO TIENE TODO EL MES DE ENERO PARA DESCANSAR Y VOLVER A SUS ACTIVIDADES EN FEBRERO,TENEMOS 9 HIJOS BIOLOGICOS Y 5 NIETOS Y 1 EN CAMINO, TAMBIEN TENEMOS 4 NIÑOS ADOPTADOS CON NECESIDADES ESPECIALES Y PRONTO VENDRAN MAS CON LA AYUDA DE DIOS.HACE 37 AÑOS QUE ESTAMOS CASADOS CON EL AMOR DE MI VIDA Y SOMOS YA DE 55 AÑOS Y EL DE 59.SOMOS FIELES SEGUIDORES DE CRISTO Y HACE 18 AÑOS QUE NOS CONGREGAMOS EN UNA IGLESIA CRISTIANA.PARA AÑO NUEVO NOS REUNIMOS EN FAMILIA Y AQUI EN NUESTRO PAIS SE ACOSTUMBRA A COMER CARNE O POLLO A LA PARRILLA, ENSALADAS MIXTAS, ENSALADAS DE FRUTAS Y OTROS CONFITES. ME GUSTARIA QUE ME CONTESTES QUERIDA HERMANA EN CRISTO. RECIBA BENDICIONES DESDE BUENOS AIRES,ARGENTINA.
Translated:
DEAR DEB: I WISH YOU A VERY BLESSED YEAR 2016 AND THAT GOD WILL GRANT REQUESTS OF YOUR HEART. HERE IN ARGENTINA WE ARE IN SUMMER AND MAKES muchoooooo HEAT, ALSO holiday season , MY HUSBAND HAS EVERYTHING JANUARY TO REST AND RETURN TO ITS ACTIVITIES IN FEBRUARY , WE 9 children BIOLOGICAL AND 5 GRANDCHILDREN AND 1 ON THE WAY , WE ALSO HAVE 4 ADOPTED CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS AND MORE SOON COME WITH THE HELP OF DIOS.HACE 37 YEARS wE'RE mARRIED WITH LOVE OF MY LIFE AND wE ALREADY 55 YEARS AND 59.SOMOS FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST AND 18 YEARS AGO we gather IN A CHURCH NEW YEAR CRISTIANA.PARA FAMILY AND WE MEET HERE. IN OUR COUNTRY used to eating meat or chicken on the grill, mixed salads , salads and fruit candies. I'd like to answer dear sister in Christ . RECEIVE BLESSINGS FROM BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
Posted by: ANA | Saturday, January 02, 2016 at 09:27 AM
Sarah sent me an email about you guys' Christmas, including Micah and Ethan's surprise visit. I told her that I was pretty close to being choked up...as I explained, when you pray for people, it is vicarious living as you see good things happen in their lives. What a wonderful Christmas you had!
As to the shirts that Eric and Sarah are wearing...the Packers stink this year...they're about as hapless as the Steelers, of whom I am, regrettably, a fan.
Looking forward to more news and more blog posts.
Happy New Year!
Posted by: Cathy | Saturday, January 02, 2016 at 10:22 AM
What a blessed Christmas you had! So glad to see everyone is happy & healthy. I want to wish Tom a very happy birthday! Your family is such a blessing to me!
Bobbi H.
Posted by: Bobbi | Saturday, January 02, 2016 at 11:02 AM
Happy New Year Girottis! Sarah and Eric had a wonderful visit with you all. They showed us a really cute video last night of opening presents at your house. We look forward to keeping up with your blog and to seeing you all in 2016.
Blessings,
Victoria
Posted by: victoria | Saturday, January 02, 2016 at 12:46 PM
What a wonderful Christmas celebration you all had. We really missed seeing Sarah and Eric on our visit north but know that you needed them there. All your food choices make me hungry. We had Baked Ziti for Christmas Eve and then Cornish hens for Christmas dinner with some French vegetables as our son-in-law is originally from France. We did eat our traditional Hoppin' John for good luck on New Year's Day. Happy New Year to all of you.
Posted by: Barbara J. | Saturday, January 02, 2016 at 02:20 PM
Happy New Year to all of you. What a marvellous Christmas for you all.
Posted by: Rose | Saturday, January 02, 2016 at 06:48 PM
Happy New Year! We had a wonderful, and very Green Christmas. What an awesome surprise for you! Nice picture of your two sons together. If I recall, Hannah has a birthday very soon. We had an a nice surprise...my son got an A in English Composition...his first college course. His final paper was "The Efficacy of Homeschooling". The professor gave him an A+. That put a smile on our faces!
Rhonda in Western NY
Posted by: [email protected] | Saturday, January 02, 2016 at 09:10 PM
So glad you could have your whole family together again if just for one day! Congratulations! So glad to see Micah and Ethan in the pictures. Our Christmas was special as well with our new son-in-law in on the festivities as well as two college students who are hanging out at our house during the holidays this year with family in Cambodia and Wyoming and no chance to join them. It's fun having a crowd at this time of year! :)
Posted by: Rhonda from SC | Sunday, January 03, 2016 at 04:14 PM
Nice pictures of everyone together for Christmas.
Love the baseball picture.
We have done grilled pizza for New Years.
Sarah and Eric missed some of the Georgia rain last weekend.
Posted by: Tammy C | Sunday, January 03, 2016 at 07:10 PM
This is a reply to ANA (my email response back to you bounced and failed delivery).
Dear ANA,
You can’t imagine the joy I felt when your comment arrived on the blog. We always delight in our regular readers stopping by to comment but are ever so excited when we learn that folks whom we don’t know have been reading the blog and know us and our family! Thank you for introducing yourself!!
It is so very interesting that you’re in Argentina and yet can read about and get a taste for our life here in Virginia!! Isn’t technology amazing?
I want to thank you for being a faithful reader and especially for letting us know you’re out there. I hope we can continue writing about our lives and that it will be encouraging to others!
It is also nice to read of your family and how the Lord has blessed you. Thank you for answering my question on your holiday menu. It is so interesting to me to read what other families have as their tradition.
We wish you all the best in 2016!
Deb
Posted by: Deb | Sunday, January 03, 2016 at 10:51 PM
Hello Deb,
How special for your Son to come all that way, no wonder you didn't have camera's ready. Some moments are just meant for the memory. 7 weeks has gone so quickly it seems only a few weeks back you posted wedding photo's. Ours was a special Christmas we had my Brother and Sister in Law from New Zealand. It has been 4 years since I have seen my Brother.
All the best for 2016 Deb and Happy Birthday to your Husband.
Happy days.
Bev.
Posted by: Bev | Sunday, January 03, 2016 at 11:36 PM
What a very blessed surprise for Micah and Ethan to show up. How thoughtful of him. Happy Birthday to Tom!! We wished him a happy birthday in our hearts on Dec. 30, but were traveling to Bonham, TX to celebrate New Year's with the W's.
I love the building projects all over the house. Yours is much neater than ours ever were. I am so looking forward to admiring those finished cabinets.
Hannah may your new year be full of tremendous blessings as you have been such a blessing to those you know and love.
Love and Prayers,
Krista
Posted by: Krista | Thursday, January 14, 2016 at 10:53 AM
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this post! Your Christmas sounds so full and blessed! And your surprise visitors, too! Great to see the pics of everyone together!
Posted by: Dorothy | Monday, January 18, 2016 at 11:57 PM
Hello! I am new to your blog from WA state. I so enjoyed your scripture verse today. It blessed me. I have been going through cancer treatment and these words from our Lord uplifted me. Wanted to say thank you.
God bless you!
Posted by: Beverly Van Oostrum | Tuesday, January 26, 2016 at 06:24 PM