First snow, Christmas activities

When I finished my last post Wednesday evening I mentioned that there was a chance of snow overnight.  Sure enough, it was a beautiful winter wonderland when I woke up Thursday morning.

And even more beautiful a while later when the sun began to shine.

It was really, really cold that day.  Never got out of the 20's.  When I picked Austin up from school I brought him here to our place and he helped me to push snow out of the way.  It's amazing what a boy will do for some cash for Hot Wheels!

Anthony, Lori, and Hunter came to our place for a quick dinner that evening.  Then Lori had to leave for a work dinner and Anthony and the boys came to our choir practice.  He was doing the solo in one of our songs in the musical.

I did all my Christmas shopping on Amazon this year.  We have a store here in State College called Growing Tree Toys.  I love their selection, but not their prices.  So I kind of cheated.  I got their catalog in the mail a few months ago.  So I sat down with their catalog and found things I really liked, then I went to Amazon and found the same things there for less money and free shipping because of Amazon Prime.  So I've been finding boxes on my porch and packages in my mail box.   On Friday there was a package for me from an Ebay purchase.

Remember two summers ago when Lori and I found Brooks running shoes at Ross for $40?  I have worn mine a LOT, especially on my cooking days.  They are so very comfortable and supportive - and kind of cute too, haha!   I knew they were a good price, but I didn't know HOW good until I looked on Amazon for another pair.  They were anywhere from $95- $145!!  So I went to Ebay and found the exact same pair in my size for $42.50 plus shipping!!!  I did not have to think twice about ordering them!  I didn't realize how old mine were looking until I put them beside the new pair!

On Saturday evening we went Christmas caroling with others from GBRV.  It was such a good time!  First of all we went to the homes of five older folks from church.  It was SO touching to see how much they loved that we came.  Then we went to Centre Crest, the county nursing home, and sang in the halls as we walked and in the rooms of some church members and family members.  People (staff and residents) were singing along with us everywhere we went.  My heart was really, really touched.  Afterward we went to our friends Peg and Bill for fun and refreshments.  

Sunday was a big day.  We had our 9:00 service at GBRV.  The choir did one of the songs from our musical as a foretaste of what was to come in the afternoon.

Then we went to Calvary's service.  We had dressed up this time, so I got Anthony to take a picture of us afterward in front of the tree and then I took one of them.

Lori says this is not their official Christmas picture.  She has specific outfits for the boys for next Sunday.  And hopefully the boys' moods will match their clothes when it's time for pictures, haha!

Dick and I had a little bit of down time at home then until we went to GBRV by 2:00 to make sure everything was set up and ready to go for the 3:00 performance.  We started out with an instrumental prelude by our regular praise band plus two teens who play sax and flute.  Then we did the musical.  I did not feel like we were as ready for this as we were last year, and the piano accompaniment was definitely harder, but it went much better than I expected.  

Lori was not able to be there, and I felt bad that she would not hear Anthony's song, so I asked our pastor's daughter in the second row to use my camera to take a video of it.  I wish I had told her to take other pictures also, but I never thought of it. From where she was sitting not everyone in the choir can be seen on this video.  There were a total of 21 of us.  

Needless to say, I was beyond relieved when it was over.  There were all kinds of goodies served afterward, even fancy sandwiches and a cheese ball and crackers.  We had a good, good time.  Look at this gorgeous planter the choir gave me!

In the evening we went over to Anthony and Lori's for a while.   Hunter was his usual barrel of fun.  At one point he was putting a blanket over his head then pulling it off.  I would act surprised and he would crack up every time. 

On our way home that evening we went by a beautifully decorated home here in our community.  We had discovered it Saturday evening when we were Christmas caroling.  This is only one side of the house.  There were just as many trees decorated on the other side!

Here's an interesting collage I made on Monday.   When we were getting dressed on Sunday morning I mentioned that the outfit I was wearing was now ten years old.  I've probably worn it once a year since then.  When I looked at the picture Anthony took of us I remembered a picture taken after our children's musical at Grace Community Fellowship ten years ago.  When I found the picture I realized that we BOTH had the exact same outfits on except for different accessories.  How crazy is that???  And wasn't Destiny absolutely adorable??

I'm catching up a bit around here this week.  All the bedding we used over Thanksgiving was piled on the guest room bed still waiting to be folded and put away.  I finally got that done!   

I still had lots of music prep to do for this week.  At Houserville we have our regular Wednesday service tomorrow evening, then on Sunday I'll be playing three services - our regular 9 AM service at GBRV, a 5:30 Christmas Eve service at Houserville and a 9 PM Christmas Eve service at GBRV.  At Calvary they are having four Christmas Eve services that day.  We would like to go to the one at 2:00.  We love going there and being able to just take it all in with no responsibilities.  I also want to get a picture of their beautifully decorated stage.

Not sure if I'll post between now and Christmas Day, so let me wish you now a very joyful Christmas!