Christmas Eve

Thus began the holiday activities in earnest....

Christmas Eve service at First United Methodist Church.  (Anna, Matthew, and Jackson hadn't yet arrived.)

I love the candlelight service

We took a quick family photo, but Anna, Matthew
and Jackson had already left.

Then Marvin and I headed over to Cornerstone Church for their Christmas Eve service.  Brianna and her siblings were leading the worship that evening and we really wanted to be there.  Cody, Brianna and Alaina did a beautiful job.  You can hear their whole set in a video I have embedded at the bottom of this post.

Cody, Brianna, Alaina

Brianna, Shonda, Alaina, and Cody

Marvin, Jackson, Brianna, and Laura

Then it was back to Julie's house for Christmas Eve dinner.  So glad the M family was able to be there, too.

Betty, Matt, Melina, Brenda

Jonathan, Laura, Marvin

Beautiful Rojina wearing Grandma Jewell's broach.

Rachel and Stephen

Hannah and Candace

Julie, Matthew, Anna, Rojina, James

Jackson and Brianna

Here is a link to an entire album of photos from Christmas Eve.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/williscreekranch/sets/72157702745385612

Here is the entire video of music from Cornerstone Christmas Eve service.



Here are links to the individual song videos if you would like to see them that way instead.

Little Drummer Boy
https://youtu.be/QhkIVLxeXKQ

The First Noel
https://youtu.be/cOeofma8DNU

What A Glorious Night
https://youtu.be/6oJJUMX3q7U

It's About the Cross
https://youtu.be/N9l7xjFjuxk

Silent Night
https://youtu.be/IQi7CwHiurg

Pre-Christmas times

Trying to play catch up - here are some photos leading up to Christmastime.

We were all SO excited to have James and Rojina home for Christmas!  We hadn't seen them in person since their wedding 2 years ago!  We missed them so much!

James and Rojina took this photo in front of the courthouse - remembering 2 years ago!!  :) 

Rojina and James

Looking at photos from Rojina's graduation.

Jackson called me one day and let me know that Hobby Lobby had marked their Christmas trees down 66%.  That helped me decide to finally replace our old tree.  This is the new tree.  It has lights already on it, which is a feature that Marvin REALLY likes!  I thought it looked quite pretty.  Thankful for an 'insider' at Hobby Lobby to alert me of good sales.  :)

my wonderful fellas decorating the Christmas tree

I sure enjoyed lunch with these lovely ladies mid-December.

Karen, Laura, Christy, Brenda

Dear Eva Jane brought us a pan of her yummy homemade egg rolls.  Yay!!

Brianna had her final Christmas program as teacher at Mary Immaculate and I was sick and couldn't go.  :(  So sad!  Shonda videoed it for me and I put it together here for posterity.  :)

Christmas display downtown

This year our downtown shops hosted a neat event just before Christmas.  They called it Living Christmas windows.  Several shops set up live displays in their front windows so folks could stroll around the square enjoying the 'mini-shows' and shopping.  Anne and I went together and thoroughly enjoyed it.  It sure helped that the weather was PERFECT for this event - mild and dry.  I hope more shops participate next year (and hope they DO this again next year!)  :)

I only took a few photos, but here they are.

Debi B was 'baking cookies' in a 1950's style kitchen in front of King Appliance

Love this scene of Melissa's younger daughter watching her older daughter
dance in the window of Beards Decorating Center.  :)

Stephanie, at The Ville Escape Room, had a cute display set up to take photographs in front...
then gave out the photos.  Here is mine with Anne.

Although we weren't strolling together, we ran into Shonda, Brianna, and Alaina.
Loved their photo from The Ville Escape Room, too!  :) 

Random November and December

I missed the December Sojourners Club, but was happy to be there back in November when the KHS choir performed.  Rebecca M is a wonderful teacher and those kids sing their hearts out.  It is always a joy to hear them.

President Thomas sent these lovely flowers to Daddy when he was sick in November.  Very nice.

We had a family dinner together - Brianna, Laura, Marvin, Daddy, Mama, Julie, Jonathan 

Brianna, Laura, Marvin, Daddy, Mama, Julie, Jackson

Thankful for dear Anne who brought a yummy dinner when we were in the midst of sickness and stress.  

And dear Sherry who graciously sent home some extra cookies for us!!!  (they were delicious!)

The only photo I could get of Jonathan's last day of his first semester of college.  :)

Daddy has been interviewed by a nice young man from the Missouri Historical Society.  He came for his first interview in December and will return for a second (with a walking tour of Truman) sometime in February.

Daddy with Sean, from MO Historical Society

I love this.  Daddy got his KHS Football Hall of Fame ring.  So glad he got one!

Had a big event in December... dear Rojina graduated with her Masters degree.  Julie was able to fly out to be there for the weekend.  We were all there in spirit!

James and Rojina greeted Julie in the airport with flowers.  :)

Daddy took this screen shot of Rojina during her graduation ceremony -
while he was watching the live stream of the ceremony.  

Fig and Prosciutto Pizza

Fig and Prosciutto Pizza

Can't remember exactly what I did, but think it was basically this....

Used a refrigerated pizza crust and laid it out on the pan.  Used about 12 fresh figs, halved.  And about 12 slices of prosciutto, torn into pieces.  I think I used Feta cheese and just sprinkled it around. Then drizzled some honey and olive oil all over.

Baked in the oven following directions on pizza crust label.

Baby Bellas with Leeks and Goat Cheese

Delicious!!  From December wine night!

Bellas, Leeks and Goat Cheese ready to go in the oven....

And fresh out of the oven!  Yum!!

Baby Bellas with Leeks and Goat Cheese
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 cups diced leeks (wash them carefully and use mainly the white part)
1 Tbsp. butter
salt and pepper to taste
25 to 30 baby portobello mushrooms, cleaned and stemmed
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 oz. goat cheese
cracked black pepper

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium low heat.  Add leeks.  Cook and stir about 15 minutes or until they are translucent.  Add the butter and season with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place the mushrooms, stem sides up, on a baking sheet or in a baking pan.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Brush with olive oil.  Bake for 6-7 minutes.  Remove from oven and discard the liquid from the mushrooms.

Preheat broiler.  Fill each mushroom with ½ to 1 tsp. leeks then top with ½ tsp. goat cheese.  Broil for 1-2 minutes or until cheese begins to look golden.  Sprinkle with cracked black pepper.

Wonderful Carolers

Hannah and the rest of the wonderful Bluegrass gospel group had a special treat for Mama and Daddy.  They all came out to carol one evening before their practice.  I snuck down to Mama and Daddy's house so I could enjoy the caroling, too.  How wonderful!

Hannah, Bob, Franz, Scott, Marcy, Debbie

Mama and Daddy with Marcy, Franz, Hannah, Bob, Debbie, and Scott

December Wine Club

For the month of December our wine club focused on dessert wines.  This meant things were a little different since we weren't studying one varietal from various regions.  It was harder to not know what we were 'blind' sampling because of the different bottle shapes and even the colors (from white to red to tawny).  But it was an interesting evening and we all really enjoyed the selections from this month.  (note - if you are following along in the book Wine With Friends, note that Dessert Wines were actually the September month.  We adjusted the schedule a bit to suit our needs.)

I think the thing that struck me the most about dessert wines is that they aren't just the super sweet table wines (that I don't really care for).  They are truly designed to serve as an accompaniment to dessert or even as dessert itself.  I have lived 50 years and had never before tasted port or sherry, although both have featured prominently in books and movies I have enjoyed over the years.  :)  Turns out I really like port and dislike sherry.  Fun to know!  We also learned about late harvest wines, ice wines, and even 'noble rot' which is a 'desirable mold' that forms on some grapes under certain conditions and leads to a sweeter wine.

As always, it was a wonderful evening with these dear ladies.  I look forward to wine club night each month!

Andrea, Dana, Megan, Judy, Hannah, Laura, Barb, Janet, Lisa

Although dessert wines obviously pair well with desserts, we read about several savory foods/recipes that would also accompany the wines.  Yes, it turns out dessert wines aren't just for sweet foods!

Baby 'bellos with leeks and goat cheese

Mexican chicken soup with fixings

cheese plate

salted mixed nuts, spicy/sweet mixed nuts, orange chocolates, chocolate covered pretzels,
blue cheese (yes, it was amazing with the port!  Really!)

Sweet Potato Croquettes

Fig and Prosciutto pizza

Sandeman Ruby Port
#7 on Wine Tasting sheet

Hogue Late Harvest Riesling
#5 on Wine Tasting sheet

Sauternes (comes in half bottle size)
#9 on Wine Tasting sheet

Chocolate Wine
#6 on Wine Tasting sheet

August winery Ice Wine
#1 on Wine Tasting sheet

PX (Pedro Ximenez) Cream Sherry
#3 on Wine Tasting sheet

Mocha Wine
#4 on Wine Tasting sheet

Sandeman 10 year Tawny Port
#8 on Wine Tasting sheet

Late Harvest Chardonnay (comes in half bottle size)
#2 on Wine Tasting sheet

My rating scale is 0-5... you can see I really enjoyed this months selections!  :) 

I LOVED this gift from Judy (and all)   :)

Here are the videos we watched to go along with our reading this month.