Christmas in July Nativities

Several days ago on one of our MANY rainy days, we decided to visit a display of over 450 nativities from around the world.  My girls very much enjoyed the details (facial expression on the people, gifts the wise men were bringing, etc.) of all the displays.  There was a scavenger hunt of items to find while looking too.  One of my favorites was a nativity in a walnut shell.  It was hard to take pictures because of all the reflections in the room, but I tried to capture a few nativities ...

West Africa

Congo

Congo

Peru

Apples, Pumpkins, and Trains

Fall is perfect for getting out and about ...

 

Yummy day picking apples.

 

Cody's first train ride ...

Giving Thanks - Pumpkins/Family!

I love the pumpkin patch. I wish I had a big one in my backyard so I could enjoy it all fall, complete with sunflowers and cornstalks. But then we wouldn't have the annual fun of going to the pumpkin patch and enjoying a hayride and apple cider!

This year we took my dad with us since he was visiting. We had the pleasure of my parents taking turns visiting us (while the other stayed with my Granny) spanning over a month. God provides these visits at the best of times! I needed some time away from the everyday. God is always good!

We are "up to our ears" in home school right now, but looking forward to more time with family at Thanksgiving. 

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday and Women Living Well.

A quiet moment

Cody is sleeping.  Lila is at a playdate.  Kyle and Micah are playing playstation.  Mara is making a gift for daddy.  Brad's at work.  Snow is fluttering outside.  The computer fan even turned off just now.  Everyone is happy.  I think I am peaceful.  My Christmas cards are almost all in the mail.  I know what to make for dinner.  Everyone is basically healthy today.  So, I think I will pray and give thanks for this moment while I am still.

Serendipity Day

We had a wonderful family day today. We liked to call it a Serendipity Day. A day of unexpected pleasures and blessings. We headed off to the White Mountains first thing this morning to have pancakes in North Woodstock, NH. After a very filling breakfast we drove the Kangamangus Highway stopping at Lower Falls. This turned out to be Kyle and Mara's favorite of the day. Mara especially loves to climb on rocks and boulders tirelesssly, so she led the way down the river and back. She found many "rock slides."

We decided to just snack on sunflowers seeds and peanuts since we were still content from breakfast and head on up to Pinkham Notch on Mount Washington. I had remembered a short hike to Crystal Cascades that we did many years ago. Mount Washington was, of course, in the clouds. It was nice and quiet, and we were practically the only ones of the trail. Crytal Cascades is very beautiful and quite a tall waterfall. I will post pictures tomorrow.

We also stopped at Glen Ellis Falls. Lila was starting to get tired of the hiking. We counted 112 stairs down to the falls and again back up! Lila was a great hiker, but now ready for a cider donut at White Mountin Cider Mill which was our next stop. Not the greatest - we will stick with Cold Hollow in Vermont.

We enjoyed the rest of the day in the mountains and ended with pizza in Lincoln. We went to Elvio's where Brad took the kids one time I did a stuffed animals workshop at the Village Shops there. It's kind of fun that the Noah's Ark stuffed animals workshops that I have done have some fun family memories. Mara and Kyle loved helping with a booth at the mall in Lincoln on two occassions. After pizza, we topped it off with icecream - Lila had been wanting to try rainbow sherbet for the week.

It's so nice to have a family day and enjoy the moments together. But I know every day has it's own serendipity.

Tomorrow I'll post pictures.