Van Wyk Christmas

We spent most of Saturday, December 21 with my family, celebrating Christmas.  It was a great day filled with food, fun, laughter, presents and games.    

Eliza and Grandpa being silly!

It is an annual tradition to take a family photo.  What a fun keepsake to see how much the children have grown!  This year's photo was less than perfect, making us glad we had Paul out over Thanksgiving to take some professional photos--we haven't had those done in a couple of years so it was time!

After the photo, it was time for presents.  Mom got each child only one or two presents . . . a perfect number in my opinion!  

Eden got a horse trailer and pickup to match the one Eliza got for her birthday.  They both might enjoy different ways to play but they still enjoy playing together even if it means that Eden has to play horses with Eliza and Eliza has to play Barbies with Eden.  

And Eden got some Ken doll clothes to go with the Ken she is about to get.  

Ephraim was happy with two books on his wish list and a herd of cows!

Emmet's main gift was a bow and arrow set.  It is a youth version but at least now he can be outside with Ephraim and start practicing.  

He was pretty excited about this gift!

Eliza got some Barbie and Ken clothes, too.   My mom found a lady who sells homemade Barbie clothes at a craft show so that's where she got these.  

Eliza got a horse barn "that she's waited a long time for!"

The adults opted out of gift-giving this year.  Instead, we gave our money to buy goats through Many Hands for Haiti.  Of special interest is that at least one of our goats may be presented to the family that my parents sponsor in Haiti.  Truly a life-changing gift for them.  

Mom did bless us with some of her special canned beef!  

The girls were excited to get a Barbie DVD from Alyssa.  

Both girls would each get a Farmer Ken "Barbie" set.  

Emmet got a skid loader from Garret.

Ephraim got two books on Dragons of the Deep and Sea Monsters.  

We took a break so Emmet could practice his aim on his new bow.  The hay barn was a perfect location for target practice.  

We always do stockings after supper.  So, after a yummy soup supper, the kids wanted to open their stockings!

Emmet got a slingshot!  Goes perfect with his outfit, don't you think?

All my children got a elaborate Color-by-Number book.  They are thrilled with them!

The girls got some Legos, a bookmark and color books, too.  

On Facebook, I posted a photo of the girls in 2007.  They were IN their stockings.  Now, in 2013, this is as far as they get.  

The picture from 2007:

No family gathering is complete without a round or two or three of Spit.  

It was so nice to spend the day together (I'm grateful we don't HAVE to have our gathering on Christmas Day).  It was so nice to give our money away, pay it forward, bless those who have very little.  It was nice to have the whole day together and not be rushing off to another event.  An all-around memorable day.

" .  .  .  see that you also excel in this grace of giving."  2 Corinthians 8:7

Christmas Program

Sunday, December 15, was our much-anticipated church Christmas program.  We've been practicing on Sundays for several weeks and had one Saturday practice.  I think everyone was ready for the real event.  

We arrived early to sneak in some bell practicing first. Then it was time for the obligatory group picture.  This year our church was part of the tour of homes so the basement was beautifully decorated with a dozen Christmas trees, making them the perfect backdrop for a photo.  

The boys are wearing what's been aptly labeled as their "funeral clothes" but I think they look pretty sharp in them.  I did not make the girls' dresses this year.  I got them at Kohl's and between a discount, Kohl's cash and a sale, they didn't cost me much.  

Again this year the prelude for the program was child musicians.  There were four performers this year and we were two of them.  Eden and Eliza played Jesus Loves Me.  

The boys played The First Noel.  

The children did an excellent job, considering their hours and hours of practice since October.  They weren't even nervous, despite the church being packed full!

The little children were first, but I don't have a picture because my children have graduated from that department.  

The preschool through 2nd grade sang "I've got the Joy".  

The program for their age group was the ABC Christmas.  

The 2nd graders had the speaking parts and the preschool-1st graders held up the letters.  Eden and Eliza are in front, letters X & Y.  Emmet had three speaking parts and he was able to memorize them.

His letters were F, J & Q.  

F:  Shepherds were watching their FLOCKS of sheep on the hills near Bethlehem, in the quiet night.

J:  "JESUS is his name," Mary told the shepherds softly.  "God has given us a wonderful, wonderful gift."

Q:  And then the shepherds returned to their QUIET hills, to think about all that had happened.

Then they sang this cute song "Did the Shepherds Need Shades?"  

Something about "Did the shepherds need shades?  In the middle of the night.  Did they turn their heads?  Did they want to run away?  What I really want to know . . .  is did the shepherds need shades?"  

"Did the shepherds need shades  . .  . to shield their eyes  . . . from the light so bright?"

The Power Zone kids, 3rd grade through 6th grade, did a skit called "Just a Little Christmas."  

It was the typical Christmas story and the actors all did an excellent job!  Ephraim was the Emperor.  

Ephraim's line in the program:  Everyone go to your own hometown, so that I can count you!

Glory to God in the Highest! Peace on Earth! Good will to men!

Ephraim is on the far left.

Their first song was "Angels We Have Heard on High."  

Their 2nd song was "Light of Christmas."  It is the song on the newest Christmas Veggie Tales movie.  

Ephraim is on the far left, back row.  

We had several special guests in the audience for our program.  Here is a picture with Grandpa Harold and Grandma Twyla. 

After  the program everyone was treated to an apple and a candy bar.  Then we went to Asian Buffet to celebrate with all the grandparents and Aunt Michelle's family and Uncle Paul.  

It was a most excellent program!  It was so rewarding to be in the audience, watching all the children praising God and retelling the Christmas story.  

Our Week, December 22, to December 28, 2013

This post is primarily a teaser post for many other posts to come!  Lots of special, fun events for us during Christmas!

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Christmas with Seth's family.  More pictures of this to come.  We awoke to nearly 8 inches of snow on the ground! 

Monday, December 23, 2013

More on this to come, but I made this teddy bear as a special baby gift for Seth's cousin's little baby Evelyn.  They were visiting this week from Boston and we were able to visit them and give them this gift.  The teddy bear is made from one of Grandma Elizabeth's blouses.  Making it even more special is the fact that Seth's aunt Beth originally made the shirt for Elizabeth.  

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

More on this, but we took a family photo after our Christmas Eve service at church.

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Christmas morning--ready to open presents!  Obviously, there'll be more to come of this day, too.

Thursday, December 26, 2013

We spent the day as a family.  In the morning we rounded up our one rebel cow (who had gotten out from the pasture and was "visiting" the neighbor's cows--which actually worked out pretty well for us because then we could load her up more easily).  Then we took her to the rest of the herd.  From there we rounded up an older cow who needed to go to the sale barn and made into hamburger.  We took her to Knoxville and then stopped at Pizza Hut to redeem the children's Book-It certificates for free pizza.  It was a fun day together!

Friday, December 27, 2013

Our simple Christmas lights from the outside.  We used the JOY last year and it still works this year.  

Saturday, December 28, 2013

We celebrated Christmas with my mom's side of the family on this night.  It was a good time and I have a few more pictures to post soon.   This is a photo of the 2nd cousins playing Spoons.  

We had a most delightful Christmas week.   It wasn't busy with multiple gatherings on the same day.  In fact, we were home Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  The snow made for some fun times outside sledding.  We had time to reflect on the birth of Jesus.  It was a good week.   

Our week, December 15 to December 21, 2013

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Our church Christmas program was this evening.  More pictures to come!

Monday, December 16, 2013

A look at some of our Advent/Christmas devotions and lessons. All great resources!

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Our homeschool Christmas party/game time.  The boys played Apples to Apples almost the whole time.  

Eden was helping me work on a sewing project--a special teddy bear for Baby Evelyn.   More pictures to come!

Eliza was super thrilled (no, really she was) to be wearing Emmet's hand-me-down pajamas.  Now they're the only ones she wants to wear!  (She was not-so-thrilled about the picture).  

Thursday, December 19, 2013

There's a wooded area behind our house and the boys have enjoyed going back there to play.  Here they are building a fort with broken branches, etc.  It is a round, tipi type structure and they've done a good job with it.  

Just a picture that Eliza wanted me to take of her and her stuffed animals snuggled in her sleeping bag.  

Friday, December 20, 2013

Eliza was helping me scrub potatoes for mashed potatoes that evening.

The table is all set and ready for company--we hosted Seth's cousin Josh and his family for the evening.  

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Christmas with my family.  More pictures to come!