Merry Christmas!

What a beautiful Christmas the Case family has had this year! Last night I sang in the Christmas Eve service at our church in Purcellville. The service highlighted the children's choir, with a few adults backing them up with harmonies, so I was one of the backups. :) They had a nativity scene with the kids and it was adorable! It was just a beautiful candlelit service. Only Phil could come with Jeff and me to the service, though, because Kiff had to work. She was home shortly afterward, and we enjoyed pepperoni bread, potato soup, and It's a Wonderful Life... during which I fell asleep. Oh well. I sort of heard parts of it... You know how it is... :)

Then this morning, we woke up to a beautiful and gentle snowfall!! I couldn't believe it! I think that's the first time I remember having a white Christmas! So magical.
Here are the tree and presents before the onslaught...
...and the stockings too, of course...

I made French toast for the fam. Mm mmmm.
Present opening time!
Me with my gifts. Sound of Music!!! A few jewelry pieces from Kiff and Mary... shirts and a fun bag from Mary... a rice cooker from Phil... snow boots from Jeff... and lots of other smaller things... so fun!!
My big gift this year was a knee-length black classy wool winter coat from J. Crew. Love it!! I already opened it because 1) I knew I was getting it (I picked it out), and 2) I needed a nice coat to wear to the Kennedy Center where we went last weekend to see Handel's Messiah, which was amazing, of course. Kiff and Jeff and I went to see that together and had a lovely time. :)

Allie got a bone for Christmas, and here she is guarding it with ferocious growls... so funny.
Jeff's new winter hat! He and I took Allie for a walk in the Christmas snow.

When we got back, we all played a super fun game of Pictionary together. We got to the end of the first game and Kiff was having so much fun, we just kept going! So much laughter and fun.
Our 2010 Christmas family shots...


And one of the kids with Allie. Sweet. :)
Jeff and I are so grateful for such a warm time of making good memories with Phil and Kiff. We were praying that God would bless us with just that this year. They're both off with friends now, leaving Jeff and me to ourselves (which is always a treat), but what a great day we all had together. Thankful.

From our home to yours... Merry Christmas! And may the year ahead be a wonderful one for you!

My Afternoon

Decorating Christmas cookies...
gentle snores emanating from a lazy dog on her bed in the kitchen corner...
Christmas with the Academy (my favorite new Christmas album this year) playing on my iPod...
and a bitterly cold wind making a racket outside...
That's my afternoon today. :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

And one final pic: Jeff's 55th birthday was the 8th, and I took this of the two of us after our romantic candlelit dinner that I prepared for him... :)

My New Niece and Other Happenings

The week after Thanksgiving I took a little trip down to the Lexington area - for three main reasons. First, I wanted to visit my Grandpa who is in a nursing home. He didn't know who I was which was very strange for me. He just turned 93, and his body and mind are declining quickly. He can't walk anymore unless two or three others who are strong enough can help him, and he sleeps more than anything else. He does feed himself, but only if someone is with him to keep him awake throughout the meal. So... it was difficult for me to see, but of course I was only there for a brief time. Grandmom needs much grace during this time. What is exciting is that he is on the brink of eternity and knows Jesus. We don't know when he'll be going Home, but what a joy it will be when that happens to know that he's forever in paradise with the Lord!

Second reason: to visit Dad & Mom's new cabin which is just beautiful. They are out of their B&B and are loving their time off from the daily upkeep of the business. They're just like two peas in a pod in their lovely little cabin-in-the-woods in Fairfield, VA:

Third reason: I have a new niece! Nomie and Scott had their sixth child - another little girl named Lucy Mae. She's adorable of course and even has red hair which I think is precious! Here is Maggie (big sister for the first time!), Lucy and me:
Lucy Mae, being held by Grant who is sadly out of the picture. Sorry Grant!
Autumn and Grace with Lucy:
Emma with Lucy:
and Nomie with Lucy:
I spent all day Thursday with them... they skipped their normal home school routine for some stay-at-home field-trip type activities, and we all had fun playing and learning together.

Back at home now..... the house is decorated for the holidays, most of our gifts are bought already (a great feeling!) and "soon it will be Christmas day!" Hope you all are enjoying this wonderful time of year!

Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving is the best holiday because

• there's lots of good food
  
• it's full of traditions
• you get to spend time with family
  
• there's no pressure to give gifts
  

:)

This being my first year to host it, it was a bit tiring, but totally worth it. Mom & Dad and Mary & Rob stayed for three overnights, so two full days, and it was just so nice to have no pressure to have to go anywhere or do anything other than be together and have fun and eat. We watched a couple movies - Last Chance Harvey and Marley & Me - in front of the fire. And we played games - lots of Take 2 with Mom & Mary, and a big game of Zilch with everyone yesterday afternoon. Kiff had to work both days all day long so she wasn't really around, but Phil was. He and Rob actually went to Maryland on the morning of Thanksgiving to play football with a bunch of guys Rob knows. (Rob came back with a bleeding nose and a black eye... :/ but he's okay.) Overall we just had a blast together!

Everyone's gone now, the kitchen is clean, the floors are vacuumed, the laundry is going, and I'm relaxing in the living room enjoying Jeff's classical guitar playing. :) Here are a few pics of the past two days:














We hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving too! Now the Christmas season begins ~ I'm breaking out my decorations soon!!

Almost Thanksgiving

I haven't posted anything in nearly a month! I usually try to post something once a week. Oh well. Here I am now.

I've been reading a book on heaven over the past few weeks called A Better Country, and boy is it whetting my appetite!! It's so refreshing, and so needed, to remember that this world is a dot, and heaven is the line; and that line that stretches into eternity is more wonderful than we can possibly imagine with our finite minds. Lord, hurry the day!

But in the meantime, we're here on earth and about to celebrate Thanksgiving - the best holiday of the year! In my opinion. :) I am sooooo eager for my family to come. Usually the Decker family Thanksgiving is held down at my parents' house in Lexington, but since they are no longer running the B&B, and since their little house in the woods is indeed little, and since I now have a house to host a family holiday, I offered to take on the task, and I'm very excited. It's like I'm finally a grown-up! :) It's just going to be Mom & Dad and Mary & Rob coming - making 8 of us total, because Grandpa is unable to leave the nursing home, and Grandmom is staying with him. The Schneiders are doing their own thing, and of course the Beamers are far away in Texas, and we will miss all of them. :( But the others will come tomorrow for two overnights (the Granges might stay three) and I'm just really, really eager for some quality family time with them all. I'm sure I'll take lots of pictures, so I'll be posting them at some point.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Enjoy all that good food and the time with your own families. :)

Up to the Mountain

Documenting a little excursion Jeff and I took to the Skyline Drive on Sunday: