It’s December! Time for the December Photo Project to begin. Time to enjoy the lights and evergreens of the Christmas season. Time to… swing? In Nebraska? Yep, I guess so!

Pssst… Want to join our Flickr Pool? It’s up and running now.

Our children’s zoo opens it’s doors for two weekends in the winter. I never want to go because, let’s face it, who likes to walk around in the winter winds of Nebraska when you don’t have to? But Thanksgiving weekend here was amazing weather-wise, so off we went. I like this shot of Livia and my niece Madeleine because they were entirely engrossed in a completely empty turtle exhibit. Muddy leaves were all that covered the concrete basin, but they found it quite interesting. We had a fun afternoon together, complete with vanilla ice cream cones and a walk with Shiloh through the park. The girls were really sweet to one another—not one squabble over a toy. Praise God for cousins!

It’s the last day of November, peeps. Stretch those fingers, squint those eyes, do a few laps around the yard to wake up your brain in preparation for the December Photo Project! Twenty-five days straight of photography fun in one of the most beautiful seasons of the year. Our list of participants is growing and I get more excited each time someone signs up. Grab a badge and join the challenge of the 2009 DPP!

We enjoyed a really relaxing and delicious day yesterday as we celebrated Thanksgiving with both sets of parents. There is something quite decadent about two turkey dinners in one day, I must say. What I really felt was the wealth of riches God has given us: our parents (now grandparents to Livia) that have raised us faithfully and loved us unconditionally over the years. We are incredibly blessed by our families.

As much as we enjoyed our folks, we did miss our siblings. So Bean, Adam, Kris and Andrew? Can’t wait to see you at Christmas!

Pictured above are a few of the side dishes we ate at the Lawton dinner. There was the sweet potato souffle and bourbon cranberries from Needs More Butter sitting next to The Pioneer Woman’s corn/wild rice dish. We ate our fair share of green bean casserole and stuffing, and of course, the star of every Thanksgiving meal, turkey. Liv and I ate turkey sandwiches tonight and I can’t imagine a better way to eat leftovers than slapping them between mayo-coated slices of bread. Mmm, mmm good.

Now that Thanksgiving is over, what is left of 2009? A lot! The December Photo Project starts shortly (make sure you sign up—it’s fun!), then we have the national holiday known as My Birthday, and finally Christmas. Jesus’ Birthday. Somewhat of a larger event than mine, I suppose. ; )

Click on the image below for all you need to know about this year’s December Photo Project!

While I’m definitely experiencing some post-Christmas weariness, the DPP routine is hard to shake! I found myself in front of my computer last night, wondering which photo to post for DPP Day 26. Though I knew the project was over—and believe me, those 25 days were enough of a challenge—I still felt oddly compelled to upload a picture. I resisted the temptation, ate a piece of chocolate, opened a book and called it a day.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the awesome participants of the December Photo Project! We had an amazing and unexpected number of bloggers join up this year and I’ve really enjoyed viewing the month through your eyes. I’ve made some new blogging connections, added a few to my mental blogroll (very different from the actual one because I’m so lazy in updating it) and thoroughly enjoyed the photos I’ve seen.

I’ll leave the DPP roster up for a few more days and then, much like my Christmas tree, the blog will be cleaned up and I’ll head into a new year with a clean slate. If I don’t hear much from you in the next 11 months, that’s cool. But make sure to join us again next year for December Photo Project 2009!

Happy birthday, Jesus. We wanted to bake you a cake, really we did, but at the end of the day a piece of divinity (no pun intended) made by Renae will have to suffice.

I’ve decided that wrapping my mind around the Incarnation, the way God became man to rescue us from sin and depravity, is far too much to understand in the one small day of December 25—or the entire Advent season for that matter. Praising God is a 365 day kind of thing. So tomorrow I’ll wake up and continue to ponder the treasure of Jesus in my heart. This Christmas season has given me a lot to ponder. There have been wonderful meals shared with parents and siblings, sweet plates of goodies from neighbors, communion and Christmas choruses with Redeemer and Zion, funny and charming new Livia moments, thoughtful presents and loving actions from my husband, and even a letter to the editor (the first one) in today’s paper that brought tears to my eyes. The birth of our Savior and the generosity found in this season of gift-giving have meshed together in something resembling joy and peace—and for that I am grateful on this holy night.

When my two year old niece starts reading my blog (next year perhaps?), then I won’t talk about her Christmas presents in a public forum. Until then…

You would not believe how difficult it is to find a decent Noah’s Ark book! I picked up a cute Little People Noah’s Ark set for my niece and decided to find a book to accompany it. First stop, a locally owned bookstore—no luck. Next stop, the dreaded Christian book store (I dread it, but seriously, it does have plenty of lovely books, and Jesus bookmarks, and Jesus bumper stickers, and Jesus pencils). No go. I found cheesy, cheeseball, terrible little books that were either ridiculous or totally gloom-and-doom. Next up was Barnes and Noble where I actually ordered a book by Sally Lloyd Jones who wrote the aforementioned and highly recommended Jesus Storybook Bible. The book makes up in a memorable, sing-song way what it lacks in retelling the actual biblical story, but it’s fun and really cute—and too expensive for my purposes. Fortunately B&N doesn’t make you purchase what you order if you don’t want it. Enter Walmart and their rack of Golden Books. I had given up on the book idea when I spied the one in the photo.

One trip to Walmart: $98.67 and a headache
One Golden Book: $2.50
A decent Noah’s Art story for my beautiful niece who likes to read: priceless.

Well, now we know why professional photos of teapots don’t show tea leaves.

Although the leaves look kind of gross, the actual drink is anything but. Might I recommend a spot of Bourbon Street Vanilla Rooibos Tea? It’s good. While I’m recommending items, I have to say I love this pretty little glass tea pot with its built-in infuser. Jeremy and Livia gave it to me for Mother’s Day last year and it’s perfect for both looking cute and brewing tea.