Showing posts with label Abigail. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Abigail. Show all posts

Thursday, December 24, 2015

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through our home
not a creature was stirring, not even a gnome; 


The stockings were hung by the staircase with care, 
in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there; 



And Paul and Melissa were all snug in their bed; 
Yet Abigail (down the hall) could find no rest for her head; 
She knew Quinn and Emily would be sleeping next door,
and Laura in her home, would be all a-snore.



Yet she could not sleep, there was something amiss,
so she got out of her bed, her fears to dismiss. 

When out in the yard there arose such a clatter, 
She sprang to the window to see what was the matter. 



The moon and the stars shown bright on new snow,
the faint rays of morning would soon be aglow.

Yet what was that she spied by the bare flower bed?
Could it be that this vision was all in her head?



For what to her beautiful blue eyes did appear
but a big, bright red sleigh and eight reindeer!
And there standing tall in the white snow so thick,
was someone Abby knew well, it was jolly Saint Nic!
But he didn’t look jolly, oh no he did not,
and his reindeer weren’t happy, they were rather distraught.

So throwing on slippers and grabbing a shawl,
Abby snuck out of her room and tiptoed down the hall.
And reaching the backdoor she opened it wide,
and stood on the edge of the porch there outside.



And low and behold she heard Saint Nic say:
“But it was only one bear, come out Christmas day.
He wouldn’t harm you, not on business like yours."
But the reindeer weren’t happy, they sat down on all fours.

And Abby said quietly, giving Saint Nic a shock,
“But it’s almost Christmas, it’s now five o’clock!
Please reindeer you must hurry, there’s no time to waste!”
Meanwhile Saint Nic had started to pace.

“My dear Abigail, they got a fright and a scare!
While flying over Juneau they spotted a bear."
And then Abby answered with a knowing nod,
“Yes bears can be scary, they are hairy...and clawed.
But a bear-bell will help them know you are there,
and they’ll know that you’ve got business that demands the most care."

And with that she ran again to the door,
and off she went searching for bear-bells galore!
Once she was finished she ran back through the snow,
and she tied bear-bells to the reindeer so that they would know
that bears everywhere would hear them fly by,
and they would look up and see Saint Nick in the sky.
Those bears would think of the gifts in the sleigh 
and they would know not to bother the reindeer that day.

Saint Nic thanked Abigail from the bottom of his heart,
and then he was off with a push and a start.
And as Abby stood there in the yard as he went out of sight,
he called “Merry Christmas to you, and to you a goodnight!
And with that she sleepily went back up to her bed,
with visions of reindeer prancing through her blonde head.
And as she fell asleep came the first rays of light...

Christmas had come, thanks to Abby’s strange night.

~The End~
Written by Emily 



Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Christmas for the Birds

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Matthew 6:26

After hearing this verse used in a sermon at church, it got me thinking about those sweet little birds (and our pet squirrel Elizabeth). After all, it was almost Christmas, and they should get a special something for being our feathered and furry friends... Sure, the Lord takes care of them. But maybe we could do something extra special for them in this happy Christmas season?


So one evening before Christmas, Quinn and I set to work. We gathered bird seed, and using a recipe I found here, we started making ornaments.



The recipe used corn syrup, and it made the mixture super sticky! Thankfully, it wasn't too difficult to press into our cookie cutters.

Now it was time to make the holes for hanging them!



Some colorful bendy straws made the perfect thing to make the holes. 
Now all we had to do was wait...


But we're not the type to just sit around, so we spent the rest of our evening making popcorn, cranberry, and peanut garlands. 

We were going to make some birds very, very happy!




The next morning dawned beautifully, with a cold wind blowing snow about in the meadows. With no snow or rain coming down, it was the perfect time to take a walk.


We gathered the family together and we were off down one of the forest trails near our home to find the perfect tree!


Laura followed behind us, skipping all the way:




Soon we left the main path and wandered out in the meadows and muskegs for a bit, searching around carefully.

Abigail and I each carried a basket packed with the tree trimmings Quinn and I had made the night before.




Finally, we found what we were looking for!
And adorable little hemlock tree, the perfect Christmas tree for the birds and little creatures of the meadow.


The birdseed ornaments we had made turned out wonderfully, and oh-so pretty to look at!

A twist of candy-stripped baker's twine to hang them and they were ready for the tree!



Now all that was left to do was to decorate the tree!







Everyone had a wonderful time trimming the little hemlock tree with presents for the birds, and the tree looked magical when we finished:


A very happy sight to be seen just off the trail.

Oh! But don't worry, we remembered the friends at our home too! We made something very extra special for them...


With some leftover birdseed and cranberries, we made them a yummy wreath as a Christmas present.
Our squirrel friend Elizabeth has inspected it and we think she approves!
___________________

Don't forget your feathered and furry friends this cold season, I'm sure they would all like to wake up to a birdseed wreath hanging up in your garden.


Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Secret Saint Nicholas


When we first arrived back home, Quinn was sad to see there was no snow on the ground. He had been constantly watching our local ski area's webcams, waiting and hoping for the skiing he would do this winter.




Though there wasn't any snow, we quickly busied ourselves with unpacking our two huge suitcases from our travels and it was finally time to start decorating for Christmas!


When we first moved into the barn, there were icicle style christmas lights on it from ten years prior! 


Because of the painful memories Quinn had of taking them down, we hadn't yet put lights of our own up. 

This was the year to change that!


Quinn did a wonderful job putting lights up, and we'll be sure to take them down once the season is over (because leaving your Christmas lights up ALL YEAR ROUND is a huge no-no).

While on tour, I had plenty of time to dream up Christmasy things to do while home. Maybe I day dreamed a little too much...because I've kept Quinn pretty busy with all the ideas I've had.
My first idea came from the old tales of Saint Nicholas when he would come to good children and fill their clogs or slippers with treats. Saint Nicholas day fell on the first Sunday we were back in town, December 6th. And Quinn and I were prepared to spread some Christmas cheer in Saint Nicholas' honor...



We woke up extra early on Sunday morning, thinking that Abigail and Melissa (who were the only ones home) would still be fast asleep. Imagine our surprise when, as we were sneaking up to their front door, Abby opens it and wishes us a good morning! 

There we stood. 

Our arms filled with treats and surprises for her. 

Ooops!




Needless to say we quickly tried to hide everything and asked her to go back inside and we would come get her in a bit.
She was rather confused (and I'm sure surprised by the bags of slippers and candy in our hands), but she was kind and left us to our now not-so-secret work.


Together, Quinn and I set out the slippers we had picked out for each person and filled them with candy canes, oranges, nuts, caramels  and pomegranates.

Abigail and Laura got the most exciting pairs of slippers, with Abby getting puppy dog ones and Laura getting pink piggies! 


We set a little note from Saint Nicholas in front of each pair of slippers. All that was left now was to go get the good children (or in this case, good mom and sister). 






I think they were a little bit surprised!
________________________________________

Mom and Abby were so excited to find a pair of slippers from Saint Nicholas just for them by the front door. And I was so happy that Quinn and I had gotten up early and surprised them. 

As we later found out, they were just about to leave for the early service at their church (something Quinn and I had not taken into account).

Even though Abigail caught us in the act of our secret plans, she still said that she was very surprised. 

And really, that's what we had hoped for...

Little did they know that I had other things in mind for more secret Christmas things!

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

A Day Spent Out in the Boat


Juneau has really been blessed with warm weather this summer. Last week it got up to 85 degrees! 

And in our book, that's water-skiing weather!


And that's just what we did:




I know what you're thinking. 

You're thinking, "Emily, I don't see you in any of these pictures!" 

Yep, you're right. That's because I was in the boat, taking pictures and video, with NO bathing suit on. Unlike this new family I have married into, I'm not completely crazy. 

That water is COLD.



To prove my point, here's the face Abigail made when she put on the soaking wet and very cold life jacket before climbing out of the boat. 

That's not a happy face.







Here's Paul getting out of the water, and boy is he happy to do so!

Because of the warm weather, everyone dried off pretty quick in the boat, so they didn't have long to shiver once they got out.




Later that evening, we performed on a Princess Cruise ship. I think the audience was a bit mystified when we told them we had gone water-skiing earlier that day...

Like me, they must have known how cold the water was!


Here's Abigail waiting for us to swing back around with the boat and get her after a fall:




Notice how she's up on the surf board? Yep, it was cold, but I think Abby, Quinn, and Paul would say that the water temperature was worth the fun!


I made a short little video to capture the chilling fun. You'll want to see Quinn and Abby jumping off the boat dock, and Paul's (wearing a wet suite, the cheater) water skiing skill!