Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories.

From the movie "An Affair to Remember".

Winter's Eve.

I Love Christmas Cards.

Scenes of the Christ child's birth.

Pioneer scenes of our ancestors times.

Scenes of magic and fun.

Beautiful, cold and wintery scenes outside.

Warm and peaceful scenes inside.

"Winter is a time for comfort,

for good food and warmth,

for the touch of a friendly hand and a talk beside the fire:

it is the time for home."

Edith Sitwell

Something to Think About!

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

A remarkable man.

I Love to listen to his German accent.

Not at all bad to look at either!

In the "Christmas Devotional" that can be found

at - lds.org.
(you can read, listen or watch)

Pres. Uchtdorf's talk about the "Grinch".

"The Grinch saw the good in Christmas when he learned to look past its worldly trappings.
If we do the same, we can, with the Grinch, proclaim:
Maybe Christmas . . .doesn't come from a store.
Maybe Christmas . . .perhaps . . . means a little bit more!"

"While the Christmas season is typically a time for looking back and celebrating the birth of our Lord, it seems to me that it should also be a time of looking to the future.  Let us look forward.  Let us prepare for that blessed day when He will come again.  Let us be as wise as those ancients who watched for His coming."

He suggests three areas for us to prepare for the season.

1.  Rejoice in the Birth of Our Savior.
The joy in heaven was so great it could not be contained, and angelic hosts parted the veil, proclaiming unto shepherds "good tidings of great joy, . . . praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

The Wise Men "rejoiced with exceeding great joy.  [they] fell down, and worshipped him . . .and presented unto him gifts.

2.  Ponder His Influence in Our Lives Today.
"Let us take a step back, slow down a little, and reconsider what matters most.

3.  Look Steadfastly for His Coming.
"We live in the 11th hour before the coming of the day of our Lord.  Let us therefore look forward to that blessed day when the King of Kings descends with a shout, takes away death, dries up tears, and ushers in a new era of peace, joy and learning.

This talk helps one to "See Christmas through New Eyes".
He ends with a beautiful prayer for us.

Let it Snow!

It is a beautiful morning!

I was snowed in until Brother Stembridge cleared

my driveway with his four wheeler.

The snow measured 7 inches on the porch

 and it's still snowing.

When I opened the door to sweep the back porch,

 there was my annual Christmas gift from Santa's Elves.

Luckily it was propped against the door

 and didn't get any snow on it.

They left it there before it started to snow,

 because there were no tracks around.

Oh, the mystery of it all.   

I've received a special gift from this special someone

 for 13 years now. 

It is a always a beautifully wrapped box

 usually containing pajamas, cozy warm stockings and such.

Some year I'm going to catch them.

 In the winter I love staying inside. 

I've plenty to eat, plenty to do,

 although of late I have not been very productive.

I'm warm, and with the phone, T.V. and computer

 I have lots of variety and visitors.

I've been to parties and an art exhibit and a theatre production

 on the life of Handel this month.

I've read six novels this month when I haven't

 even read one novel for years.

I usually spend my reading time studying

 the scriptures which I enjoy.

This last few months I've taken a BYU

 religion class on the Old Testament.

It is a lecture piped into the ward house from Salt Lake

.  Oh, how I have learned to love the old prophets.

Learning about their lives and their

 inspiration and revelation

 even to guide us in the latter days is

 fascinating and sobering.

What a blessing the scriptures are to us

and

those with the spirit and knowledge that can help us understand them better.

~ ~ ~

Merry Christmas to all and special Christmas blessings.

Lady Bug Throw.

This is the cutest material in real life.  I started making a tied fleece blanket, but it was a beast to work with.  It stretched and frayed all over the place.  Yesterdays project was to cut off the ties and secure it with stitches.  Another project finished.  Ya Hoo!!!