Christmas in Mt Pleasant Texas

The title sounds like a movie, doesn't it? haha

I must admit our 1st Christmas in Tx wasn't as bad as I was dreading....  It was very nice.

On Christmas Eve, we went to the other Nassars to decorate Christmas trees made out of ice cream cones.

It was supposed to be a contest and Rachel's dad was the judge.

here is Fred and Tom in their Natural Habitat.... the kitchen!  lol

getting ready to decorate

this is Fred's

and this is Tom's....

both guys did a pretty good job....

 here is mine!

this is Tiffany, Rachel's niece who is visiting from Florida... she is either taking a picture of her tree or texting, she's 19 after all!

this is her tree, I was so jealous of her snowman!

Tom was disqualified for "excessive decorating"  haha! 

Grace won, but with her Granddad being the judge... we think it was rigged!

(she was eating her cone because it broke in the process, must not waste!)

Fred and I went to the Christmas Eve service. We observed the Lord's Supper. This is the 2nd time we have been part of the Lord's Supper since Fred was diagnosed with Celiac Spru, and both times he looks at me and says "oh, I forgot I'm not supposed to eat the wafer!"  since it has wheat in it.. haha

I am sure it's not going to hurt him as it is so small. But I am thinking on having a talk with our pastor about getting glutten free wafers .   : )

Christmas morning, we joined a family from our church at a local town. Her dad coordinated a 'town breakfast' for folks who may be alone at Christmas. It was free and held at the church. So we went to help with that. I appreciated having something else to focus on besides myself and missing the kids. It was a good thing!  Not the turnout they were hoping for, but it was the 1st year, so next year will be better, I am sure.

Afterwards, Fred and I came home and opened our presents. It was a little funny as we passed the video camera back and forth so we could video each other!

this is the wrapping paper Becky used on my gift that she mailed me... the girl knows me well!! haha

Fred got me a bird feeder tower. It holds I think 3 bird feeders. So excited!

I am going to use it for the hummingbird feeders

 he also got me a Kindle! I love to read, but I admit I haven't picked up a book since we moved.

This new 'gadget' I think is going to help me kick start my reading again!

 PLUS I can have the whole Bible in it and it's a handy resource tool!

Fred got a gas powered chainsaw, and a cordless drill... the guy likes tools!

I found a website that sells ham radio stuff... he got a kick out of the shirt!

I also got him a meat grinder (Tom's idea)

so he is going to make some homemade sausages! yum!

We got a couple more things for each other. I must admit, I have a pretty wonderful husband! (not that I didn't know that already!)  I normally give him a 'wish list' for him go by, but this year he did it all on his own! And he did great!  love that boy!!

Mom came over for lunch, we had a great meal made by Fred, and that evening we stopped by the other Nassars and dropped off our gifts to them. It has be fun having Grace this Christmas.

It's different when there is a child in the mix. Enjoyed getting her gifts.

So, now Christmas is over. I don't usually go through a 'letdown' mood. I am ready to pack the Christmas stuff up and get the house back to 'normal'. But before I do, I will post some pictures of the decorations!

of course, didn't realize the picture was blurry till just now :(

I am loving our fireplace mantle! Finally got to properly hand our stockings!

 my Nativity sets collections had a nice place this year

 The Christmas bunny family with a great view of the front

 the picture frame of all my kids 'Santa' pictures! 

 I love looking at them and remembering when they were little

 I am going to miss the sound of these bells ringing in the wind.

May have to go find a replacement for them!

Looking forward to what 2011 has in store for us!!!

New Christmas tradition

Our first Christmas in Texas. I have been looking forward to it with mixed emotions. Enjoying the lovely things this town has to offer, trying not to miss the things we knew in Florida...

Last Saturday Fred and I went to the town of Marshall with the other Nassars. It was actually Rachel's idea. She said she heard they had a good light display. Boy! it was that and MORE!
the whole downtown area was converted into Christmas!  We had a great time, and I am looking forward to making it an annual tradition.

I think this is City Hall... so pretty!

this was at the end of a street

 Big candle display!

there was a building converted into Santa & Mrs Claus' workshop...

Grace got to decorate her cookie and make a wooden train.

 all of it was apparently donated by a man from the town... very cool!

Us girls got to go down this ice slope in innertubes, it was so fun!

here we are waiting to get our picture taken in a giant snowglobe

This wasn't free, but I begged everyone to do it.

How often can you get your picture taken INSIDE a snowglobe?!  haha

The OTHER Nassars!!

There were some neat places for photo opportunities..

Even though I kept thinking how much I would love it if my kids were there with us,

we had a really good time.

 

God continually makes Himself known and wraps His arms around us to show us we are going to be ok. Things may be different here, but it's also good. It's ok to miss our 'past', as long as we don't allow it to keep us from enjoying what God has for us in the here and now.

I heard the Bells

Our church had their Christmas musical last night. It was wonderful. One of my favorite songs was "I heard the Bells". They did a marvelous job, and one of the kids had a little solo. I LOVE to hear children sing, it's so Pure!
So, I went online to try and find a video of the song, and I found the story behind the song. Seems if we take time, we find that most, if not all, Christmas songs have a great story, usually of how good God is!
If you have time, I recommend you go to the link and read the article.
http://www.whatsaiththescripture.com/Fellowship/Edit_I.Heard.the.Bells.html

Here is Casting Crowns' version..... love this!

Christmas on the Square

Tonight, Fred and I went to town to watch the Annual Christmas Parade on the Square. Another reason we love the small town atmostphere!

It was at night so the floats were all lit up. Very cool!   But because it was dark and the lights were bright, I didn't get very good pictures. But here are the ones that are ok.....

The street lights are decorated nicely...

each corner of the Downtown Square has trees like this...

there was a Chili Cook Off...

Fred is checking out the potential competition for next year, haha

As the sun went down, we found a spot for the parade. It got cold!

Mt Pleasant police started the parade...

 the mascot for one of the local schools is a tiger

 this is a really fuzzy picture, but it's Santa Claus on a rocket....

 and Rudolph lighting the fuse! 

 It was really cute and I think it won some kind of prize too

 of course, there was your share of old cars, some really nice one too

 I think this one won something too... pretty good job!

 this is our Bank!  lol

 very cool old soda truck!

 and it ended with several fire trucks from local Volunteer Fire Departments....

Santa Claus came at the end on top of a big fire truck.

As I aimed to take a picture, my camera died!!

 I couldn't believe it.

It was a very nice experience. We even got to talking to an older couple that

decided to come up and sit next to us.

 Have I mentioned how 'pleasant' people are here?!  SO refreshing!

On the way home, we stopped and got our Christmas tree from Lowes. A very nice 7ft Noble Fir.  I am hoping to have some time tomorrow and put the lights on it at least. Baby has already checked it out....

 It is going to be interesting to see if the tree survives the cats!