Thanksgiving Fun

We had a nice Thanksgiving. Grandpa Don, (Rob's Dad) was up for a visit. He lives in California. With him came model trains and train track. So our home became transformed on Thursday into a Railroad Layout. Jonathan and Rob had fun setting up things too. The track went around the house-through the entry, dining room, kitchen and then into the living room.

Katie watched them set up the train. When she tired of that, she helped me in the kitchen. I was making my favorite dessert: Pumpkin Pie Cake. It turned out great! Here's a picture of Katie being cute.

Later in the afternoon we went to my Grandma's house for Dinner. We had a great time. Jonathan was very excited to entertain us during dessert. So he, Katie and their cousin Daylynn sang a few songs to us adults. They also did some very energetic dancing to music too. I think my son is going to be a performer when he grows up.

We finished the evening off by playing a rousing game of Yahtzee. Jonathan's first time playing it.

I am very thankful for my family!

Copy Cat #4

Something fun I copied from my friends' blogs: Just to get in the Christmas mood

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping Paper

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial (I’ve had spider issues in the past with real trees)

3. When do you put up the tree? As soon as possible after Thanksgiving!

4. When do you take the tree down? Rob insists we keep it up until Epiphany (Jan. 6th)

5. Do you like eggnog? Nope!

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Possibly my Cabbage Patch Baby

7. Hardest person to buy for? My Dad and Brother

8. Easiest person to buy for? My Mom, and my kids

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, we got a really nice one for our wedding. We also have a playmobile set for the kids

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail—on the years that I do send them out.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I can’t think of one off hand.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? It’s a Wonderful life

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually last minute—Sometime in December

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I don’t think so.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Fudge, and some cookies that I make that have an almond flavor

16. Lights on the tree? yes

17. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Travel a few miles to my family’s home

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, Roudolf---only when I sing the beginning of the Rudolph song.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? I grew up opening them on Christmas eve, but now we do it on Christmas morning

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Advertising consists of Buying, Buying, Buying!

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I don’t have one

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? We’ve always had different things for dinner each year.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Money to help me pay for my Real Estate bills!26. Who is most likely to respond to this? I'm not tagging anyone so whoever wants and easy way to post a blog!

Grace

I’ve been reading a great book. It is called Putting a Face On Grace. It’s written by Richard Blackaby (the son of Henry Blackaby (the guy who did the Experiencing God Bible Study).) This book has really given me some things to think about. How often do I forget the Grace that God has extended toward me? Many times! How often do I extend Grace toward others? Not as much as I could, I admit. Here’s an excerpt that I think does a good job communicating the premise of the book:

Grace: What It Is

Most Christians have a basic understanding of grace as the undeserved favor or mercy of God toward us. We know we have been saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8). But after salvation, many professing believers have little or no idea how grace impacts their daily lives. Grace is not a onetime gift from God. Because Christians continue to struggle with sin until the day they see Jesus face to face, we need God's grace every day of our lives. He continually supplies grace to His people in countless practical ways. Moreover--and this is where so many of us miss the point--He expects us to be channels of His grace to others.

We are not called to just bathe in grace; we are called to shower it upon others. Grace has not been fully experienced until it is fully expressed to others. The deeper our understanding of grace, the more we see the necessity of making it the fabric of our Christian life.

So, what do you think? I know that this book has really struck a chord with me. Not only am I trying to understand God’s grace toward me better but I am trying to be that grace to others. It’s not easy sometimes. Especially to members of my family. Understanding God’s grace and living it out has really deepened my worship of God. If you get a chance, try checking out this great book. (I got it from the Library). Let me know what your thoughts are.

Real Estate Update

I'm excited to say that I have two new listings! I am going to have my work cut out for me because they are both short sales. For those of you who aren't sure what a short sale is, it just means that the owners owe more on the house than they can sell it for. I will be doing quite a bit of negotiating with Lenders to see if they will reduce what is owed so the owners can sell their houses. (Short sales usually are not short in duration! They could take several months longer than a regular transaction.)

This is a neat job. I feel like I can make a difference in people's lives by helping them sell their homes. I really want my focus to be on helping my clients, not just making money.

More news later!

Halloween Fun!

Dressing up for Halloween is fun! Here are the Jonathan and Katie, with their cousin Daylynn.

We didn't do much on Halloween. We visited a few people, and had a yummy dinner at my parent's house. My mom made carmel apples! It was fun watching the kids trying to eat them.

Now the Jonathan and Katie are obsessed with CANDY! It's all they want. I guess they got my sweet tooth!