Happy New Year to all my friend's!!!! May you all be blessed with Peace and Love. A New Years Prayer to share with you..........

"A new year is unfolding—like a blossom with petals curled tightly concealing the beauty within.
Lord, let this year be filled with the things that are truly good—with the comfort of warmth in our relationships, with the strength to help those who need our help and the humility and openness to accept help from others.
As we make our resolutions for the year ahead, let us go forward with great hope that all things can be possible—with Your help and guidance."

This is a Merry Christmas puzzle I thought you all would enjoy. Click on the link and give it a try. It's a lot of fun,and very cute.Make sure you have your speakers turned on.It play's a very cute little christmas song at the end of the puzzle.Enjoy!

http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=ER13610552

Neil went out and took some pictures with his camera phone today of all the snow and the sun shining. Gives you an idea of the amount of snow we have here. Twice as much as usual by this time. We are about 2 month's ahead for the winter season this year.
The kid's went down to the grandparent's house. So I let Ashley drive half way there. She did good. Roads are icy, " Don't panic!" I said when she took a corner to quickly. "I'm not panicing." she said. "Nope, I was telling myself that!" and then I covered my eyes while she was trying to turn on the ticker and couldn't figure it out.We started drifting to close to the snow bank.."Snowbank" I said. Ashley just giggled and told me to uncover my eye's . It's all good.Dropped them off, and went for another coffee. Time to clean house and wrap present's.......

Only one more week until Christmas!!
This morning we woke up to more snow, not much. Just enough to cover everything and make it all white and beautiful outside. So I snapped a few pictures with the web cam and thought I would post them. It's very pretty outside. The sky look's weird though. The picture's didn't capture the color right. Look's like some funny storm is brewing out there.I am off to go get some coffee, and then take Ashley driving...on the road....with other driver's....hmmm. I think I may need some strong coffee. Take care..........

Well,...big sigh, it happened. Yup, it's official. Ashley passed her learners test today!! She is allowed to drive now. Stay off the sidewalk's! I have seen her try and move the car around, it is rather painful to watch. She got stuck in our own driveway! How lame is that!..?..wait a sec.....never mind. She will be on the road. I think I still have her booster seat, it may help her see over the steering wheel..lol!...couple of phonebook's maby.I keep forgetting that all the milestone's as a parent aren't quite over with yet, as far as the first time goes. I've heard a few horror storie's already....hmmmmm. Well, embrace this I say, let's continue on this journey of teaching our children the right and healthy way to...aahhh screw it. I think I need some air...

Dearest Jesus, Holy Child
Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child,Make thee a bed, soft, undefiled,
Within my heart, that it may beA quiet chamber kept for Thee.
My heart for very joy doth leap,My lips no more can silence keep,
I too must sing, with joyful tongue,That sweetest ancient cradle song,
Glory to God in highest heaven,Who unto man His Son hath given
While angels sing with pious mirth.A glad new year to all the earth.

Martin Luther

I have a wonderful "Holiday Soup" recipe you all might like to try. It is very easy to make. Basically it is the traditional Hamburger Soup.

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
2 - 4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (28 oz.) stewed tomatoes
2 cups water
3 cups beef broth
1 can (10 oz) tomato soup
4 large carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 cup barley
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried basil

In a large frying pan brown the ground beef, onion and garlic.In a large soup pot combine the beef mixture with all the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 2 hours. I like to add potato's, about 5-7. This soup taste's very good the next day. When I make it, I make enough for about 12 people, but there is rarely enough left the next day to make even 1 bowl!!! It is delicious !!! Enjoy........

Well, we got another dump of snow. As you can see the road's are slowly getting better. The flakes coming down are hard to see but, they are about the size of a nickel. All the hustle and bustle with the Season upon us put's everyone in the holiday spirit. I kinda knocked a lady the other day at the mall when she said, "Merry Christmas." To which I replied, "Yes, His birthday is upon us ,isn't it.".....she looked confused at first, then smiled. I thought it was cute.

I spent the evening wrapping present's with my partner in crime, Simba....our fat cat. He is named after the Lion King, and grew into his name for sure. The Klondike sled beside the fireplace is 33 inches long, and only about 20 inches away from him. Gives you and idea of his size. Each present has some mark from him getting frisky with the ribbon. I had to re-wrap 2 of them because his foot went right through the paper. As you can tell, it was very exhausting for him to display such energy at his age....he's 9.
I will try and post a better one, can't see his face to well in this one.He has 'Maine Coon" in him. That is a large breed of house cat's that can get up and over 25 pound's. Simba is 22 pound's at his last weight. I have had him on a diet for 1 year now, and I think he only lost about 3 pound's. He was doing really well, and then no more weight came off. He refuses to eat his senior's cat food....I find it everywhere!!! He pick's it out, and eat's his Whiska's regular instead, so needless to say, I gave up on that battle. The soft food is no more for him...lol...Boy does he whine for that!!! When I ignore his plea for 'good food' he lay's down in the kitchen and 'rabbit' punches my floor mat and has a hissy fit...LOL!!! It is kinda funny.He get's along very well with dog's....cause he can take them!!!!! Only dog's that he know's. A strange dog comes around and he 'puff's ' up about the size of a small Lab. Retriever, then the fight is on. Try and step in to pick up that !!!! He get's scary looking all swollen up like that with his hair on end. He boxes flat paw's when he play's ,no claw's,unless toy's are involved....and he can't climb tree's or jump high because of his weight Lol! As long as he has a place of safety to run to, he's fine....and boy, for his size and weight, and age, he can run!!!! Summer time if the kid's are out playing and running, he will chase and try and 'tag' your leg, and then race away for someone to follow. Well, enough for now. Must clean the house and get kid's from school soon. Have a great day all........

Sorry, this
picture was to accompany the story below titled " The Tablecloth ". It is a very touching story and I hope you enjoy it. I do. Happy Holiday's everyone.......

The Tablecloth


The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned to their first ministry, to reopen a church in suburban Brooklyn, arrived in early October excited about their opportunities. When they saw their church,it was very run down and needed much work. They set a goal to have everything done in time to have their first service on Christmas Eve. They worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls, painting, etc. and on Dec 18 were ahead of schedule and just about finished. On Dec 19 a terrible tempest - a driving rainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days. On the 21st, the pastor went over to the church. His heart sank when he saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large area of plaster about 20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginning about head high. The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor, and not knowing what else to do but postpone the Christmas Eve service, headed home. On the way he noticed that a local business was having a flea market type sale for charity so he stopped in. One of the items was a beautiful, handmade, ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colors and a Cross embroidered right in the center. It was just the right size to cover up the hole in the front wall. He bought it and headed back to the church. By this time it had started to snow. An older woman running from the opposite direction was trying to catch the bus. She missed it.The pastor invited her to wait in the warm church for the next bus 45 minutes later. She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor while he got a ladder, hangers, etc., to put up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The pastor could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and it covered up the entire problem area. Then he noticed the woman walking down the center aisle. Her face was like a sheet. "Pastor," she asked, "where did you get that tablecloth?" The pastor explained. The woman asked him to check the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into it there. They were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria. The woman could hardly believe it as the pastor told how he had just gotten the Tablecloth. The woman explained that before the war she and her husband were well-to-do people in Austria. When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave. Her husband was going to follow her the next week. She was captured, sent to prison and never saw her husband or her home again. The pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth; but she made the pastor keep it for the church. The pastor insisted on driving her home, that was the least he could do. She lived on the other side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn for the day for a housecleaning job.
What a wonderful service they had on Christmas Eve. The church was almost full. The music and the spirit were great. At the end of the service, the pastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door and many said that they would return. One older man, whom the pastor recognized from the neighborhood, continued to sit in one of the pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he wasn't leaving. The man asked him where he got the tablecloth on the front wall because it was identical to one that his wife had made years ago when they lived in Austria before the war and how could there be two tablecloths so much alike? He told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he forced his wife to flee for her safety, and he was supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and put in a prison. He never saw his wife or his home again all the 35 years in between.
The pastor asked him if he would allow him to take him for little ride. They drove to Staten Island and to the same house where the pastor had taken the woman three days earlier. He helped the man climb the three flights of stairs to the woman's apartment, knocked on the door and he saw the greatest Christmas reunion he could ever imagine.

Story - by Pastor Rob Reid

Driving is very yucky and messy right now. I think I have pulled out half of my hair!!!!!This is supposed to be two lanes....yay, Right! One and a half....maby. Gross.....

Well, I wandered around last night and snapped a few photo's of the house in all it's Christmas glory. Some of the stuff is a little scattered but, you get the idea. It may be moved around again in a week LOL, I have a tendancy to do that. As the coming holiday season approaches, let's not allow ourselves to get caught up in the world's festivities without remembering the purpose of this time of year. It is Jesus' birthday, and whenever we celebrate someone's birthday, we bring gifts for them, right?Let's not forget what gift the Father seeks more than anything else - that we worship Him. He is not just seeking worship, but worshippers, and that is what we should bring to Him, especially during this time of year.. 18 day's left until our Savior's birthday

Well, the weather channel issued a severe snow warning for the Prince George area to expect any where from 20 -30 cm of snow.....what did we wake up to this morning? ....Just shy of 2 feet in one night!!!!!
I tried to go out this morning to go to Tim horton's for our morning coffee, which was not the smart thing to do when the snow is that deep, only to get stuck....in my own driveway!!!! How bad is that. I tried to rock the car to get unstuck, didn't work. I was in a bit of a panic because I was stuck at the end of the driveway and cars were not able to get up my street , or stop if they slid over towards me. An elderly couple tried about 6 times to go up our street, as you can see by the picture, the road was about half of that. Still not good driving.I got myself going slightly, only to notice a huge rainbow arc of snowing behind the car!!!! Could I stop, yup...got stuck, AGAIN!!! Now I am in my driveway, and the back of the car is crooked on the road. My neighbor wandered over with his snow blower thinking this elderly couple may need a push out. They decided after to many attempt's to just go the other way. I almost hit my neighbor, his snowblower was in 4x4 so he was moving and I stopped. After many attempt's to push the car forward...and a lot of 'colorful' word's, I got my husband out. He was watching in the window and smiling....thank's dear. We got the car out and off I went to get my coffee. The road's were terrible! Had to have my Timmie's. My car is front wheel drive so once I got going, I didn't stop. Made it to the drivethru, got our coffee and one for the neighbor. Now, I get to plow my way home. At the drivethru window, I stopped....and slid!! Away from the window! So I got out of the car and stood at the window to pay, and pick up our coffee. At this point I'm thinking I could have just gone inside if I was getting out, or park the car and walk up to the drivethru window.Coffee in hand and everyone in high spirit's off I went to home. Now the city crew's are clearing the street. Hmmmmm, I went there and drove on the wrong side of the road because the city plowed the street that way.Coming home, I had to drive on the wrong side again because they cleared a path for the car's on the other side now. I am now approaching my street. Coffee, lot's of snow, wrong side of the street driving,hand's sore from gripping the wheel, almost there....my head hurt's, my hair hurt's I think my hand's are numb and the steering wheel is broke. Time to wind down ,get home, and shovel. But wait, if I'm driving home on the wrong side because snow is piled a mountain high on the right side, how will I get onto my street? You guessed it, I didn't.....more colorful word's.LOL!! So I figured, maby if I drive the long way around, I can turn up the street behind my house....nope. All the street's were blocked off. Now I am mad. This is stupid, so I think I will turn around and go back to my street and... well, wasn't sure what to do once I got back to my corner. Now driving like a safe angry little white women, I am approaching my turn. Lord, please don't let anyone be coming down the road, I'm gonna go for it. Good speed,as best I can on these streets, firm grip, snow tires....lets go!! VROOM!!! Up and over the bank,YES! I made it! Little white car flying out of a white snowbank, looked like something out of a really cool movie....not! Crap, there's a hill....more colorful word's.So I plowed and slipped and slid and limped my way home to the boy's . The drive way was blown, coffee for them. It was all good. Now everyone on the street has snowblower's going. All was good, time to wind down and relax. Neil's driving me out to the store later because I think I've had enough for one day.

Well the weather outside sure has been frightful the last week. We started off a week ago with a 20 degree temp. drop within about 2 hours. Then we were in a deep freeze with tempertures reaching up to -39!!!!!!! That was with a wind chill. My friend looked at her outdoor thermometer and it read -47 three days ago. We literally have had a 30 degree temp. change in the last 2 days. Today we are at -9. Finally, a tropical heatwave after the last week!!! LOL!! I snapped a few photos of my house....
I used my camera phone for these pictures. The rest are of my backyard, the tree line, my himalayan cat named Mocha, and pic's of my drive home.Hope you enjoyed some of the photo's. I'll post some of the ones from inside the house in a day or two, take care all. Have a great weekend......

I went out and bought my favorite Celtic artist Loreena McKennitt's new cd!!! I have been waiting people for this cd since 1999!!! I can not even begin to describe what the music and her voice does. She has an amazingly powerful voice. The music is inspirational, the words are poetry, the voice is astounding!!! I got an email back in April from the website of hers...yes, lol, I am part of her fanclub. I was sent a beautiful ecard that you also can view by going to her website Loreena McKennitt. The name of her latest cd is "An Ancient Muse". Need I say more. Many of you who know me....well the title say's it all. This cd has been in the works for about 8 years now. The final product...!!!!...My gosh, for me, well worth the wait. I have played this over and over, I may have already worn out the cd. Anyone out there looking for a Christmas gift idea? This is it. I highly recomend any of her cd's because I have almost all of them. I suggest these cd's, "The Visit", "The Mask And Mirror","The Book Of Secrets" and of course her "Live In Paris". HELLO!!!!!! The live one is a combination of the best songs off all the cd's I named. Go to the website and view ecard 1 . That is what I was sent and this one in particular prepares you for the whole cd experience. Go buy it and enjoy it. Get to know Loreena and her voice, and what she stands for. I promise you will not be disappointed.

'"TELL ME, O MUSE, OF THOSE WHO TRAVELLED FAR AND WIDE..."

Well it's Thanksgiving week for my American family and friends. Just thought I would post some pictures I didn't use for Canadian Thanksgiving.

Cheers to you all for a wonderful Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy your turkey,enjoy your family and friends. May you all be surrounded with love and peace, and remember to be thankful for the things you love the most.Be thankful for what you have been given, be thankful for what you have recieved and remember the most valuable thing you can give someone is you. Time is precious.
...........there's only 35 more shopping days until Christmas!...lol ! Have a wonderful holiday this week. I have to work everyday this week, and 3 nights including thursday. I won't be home for the 'holiday'. Have a great week all.
p.s. sorry the pictures got scattered all over..lol! ...and I think I did use 2 of these....

Create Your Own!

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Matthew 18:20

In Flanders Fields By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) Canadian Army
IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow Between the crosses row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.

...For all of us who knew those from the past who fought for us, those that are there now, fighting for freedom and peace, and those we know now who will go in the future. God Bless you and keep you safe.

Renae