Random Life from Thankful to Christmas

Good morning! I’m way overdue on a Random Life post, so make yourself a good cup of something hot and enjoy a peek into family life. Mid-November brought frigid temperatures early to our area along with gorgeous snow right after Thanksgiving. We packed so much into the last 7 weeks, from work to shipping Finding Change, to babysitting, to lots of special family times.

I’ll share Christmas celebration pictures later!

Signing off until next year! ๐Ÿ™‚ Happy New Year!

Love,
Sarah

Jesse at the Apologetics conference with friends.
We ladies went to a local Christmas parade with GiGi the weekend Dad and Jesse were gone.
A brisk Sunday afternoon walk in Weston.
A pajama donut run!
Thanksgiving baking with littles
Snow! Some of us were recovering from a stomach virus, but the girls didn’t have it and shoveled the snow. We got about 7″.
The slide was so icy at the bottom the kids shot off and had a blast.
This little guy is adorable! (And yes, we know the child who staged the picture didn’t quite get the spelling correct).
Ellie snuggling
Speaking of Ellie, one evening, while we watched the kids, I let them give Ellie a bath.
Decorating gingerbreads
You never know who you’ll have around for dinner.
These two
Mary shipped out Finding Change to homes across the world!
Celebrating Nathan’s birthday
Drew loves to read with Grandpa
Some days just call for quiet and solitude.
Walk Through Bethlehem
Melanie and the girls enjoyed taking part
Puzzle time when we girls stopped in at GiGi’s
Our friends helped with Titus2 projects. We shrink-wrapped Managers of Their Homes books and Scheduling Kits.
Bearers of impromptu gifts.
Nathan took his family for a night away.
Christopher’s family dropped in one evening. Their children memorized part of the Christmas story which they shared with friends and neighbors throughout the season.
Very cute!
The little girls gifted our friends with things right before Christmas.
We took an evening to go out for dinner and then listen to the 12 Voices of Christmas.
After a cold November, December has been mild. This has been great for running off energy!

“And the fruit of righteousness is sown
in peace of them that make peace.”
James 3:18

Happy 1st Anniversary, John and Chelsy Maxwell!

Today, John and Chelsy celebrate their very first anniversary! This happy couple is preparing for the birth of Baby Maxwell due next month. Both John and Chelsy have a heart for kids, and it’s exciting to see an arrow being added to their quiver.

Happy Anniversary, John and Chelsy! We love you.

John and Chelsy Maxwell

“And whoso shall receive one such little
child in my name receiveth me.”
Matthew 18:5

Elissa Maxwell’s Favorite Christmas Recipe

I hope you all had a beautiful Christmas celebration! I’m here to share the final installment of the sisters-in-law favorite Christmas recipe.

Love,
Sarah
PS – Special thanks to Joseph and Elissa for taking the photos! ๐Ÿ™‚

Elissa’s Stuffing
Adapted from a Betty Crocker recipe

6 TB. butter
1 large celery stalk (with leaves), chopped (3/4 cup)
6 TB. finely chopped onion
4 1/2 cups soft bread cubes
3/4 tsp. chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground sage
1/8 tsp. pepper

(Makes enough for at least a 4-5 lb. chicken or turkey. You can easily double this recipe to make a larger batch for a bigger bird.)

Melt butter over medium heat. Cook celery and onion in butter, stirring occasionally, until tender; remove from heat. Toss celery mixture and remaining ingredients. Stuff the poultry of choice, then put extra stuffing in a foil โ€œpouchโ€ in the pan next to the bird. Place a piece of foil over the stuffing on the bird to keep it from burning. Brush bird with butter. Cook (stuffed bird) at 350ยบ for 20 minutes per pound plus 15 minutes extra. If the bird is large and takes a number of hours to cook, baste every hour. Enjoy!

“And thou shalt offer peace offerings, and shalt eat there,
and rejoice before the Lord thy God.”
Deuteronomy 27:7

Merry Christmas 2018

We want to wish you all a joyful Christmas filled with gratefulness
for Jesus coming to earth and giving His life for us!

Merry Christmas!
Steve, Teri, Sarah, Anna, Jesse, and Mary

“But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the
form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself,
and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
Philippians 2:7-8

Sharing Christ’s Love to our Neighbors

Our yearly tradition of caroling is something we all look forward to — and one that we hear our neighbors do too! Comments like, “It wouldn’t be Christmas without this!” — touch us. It shows what love and joy does. It shows how in the hustle and bustle of everything Christmas, it is good to slow down and remember how important people are.

Mom figured out how many batches we’d need to make of our traditional Poppy Seed Loaves (you can find the recipe at the link), shopped for the ingredients, etc. Mary designed the card, and then we had a work party. We enjoyed having some of our friends visiting, and they added to our caroling party + voices!

I’d love to hear some of y’alls caroling experiences!

Love,
Sarah

The weather was very mild. We started out in the lower 50’s!
Calia had bells on her boots, so she added quite the effect!
Caroling to GiGi!
This is our group before the younger families split and put their littles down. We missed most of Nathan and Melanie’s family as they had colds.
This is our smaller group who went to a number more places that we drove to. I asked one of the ladies to take our picture (and she’s a blog reader :)).

Then, two nights later, we decided to go back to some
of our friends who hadn’t been home Sunday evening.
They were so grateful we did!

“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you
good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”
Luke 2:10