Christmas Photo Recap

The past week was filled with Christmas festivities galore. This post is basically a photo recap of our week.

This photo was taken on the night of our family gift exchange: Each child was given $10 to buy gifts for everyone else in the family... they loved it. The kids bought things like Ring Pops candy, M&Ms, juggling balls, finger puppets, and more.

Azael demonstrates his 2-ball juggling skills.

Heathcliffe's brother Ossian & s-i-l Emily sent Jane an adorable Winnie-the-Pooh doll, which Jane carried EVERYWHERE that night!

After our family gift exchange, we left town for a few days to enjoy some time with Jen's parents and extended family. In this photo our kids pose with Grandma & Grandpa prior to Christmas Eve church services.

Here we are with Jen's parents, and brother Josh & fiance Erica and brother Jeff & wife Tiffany. Baby Mason was sleeping and not in the picture.

Back at home. An artistic overhead shot (taken by MM) of our kids opening the gifts Santa left for them last night. Santa was super smart and knew just when we'd be back from visiting extended family.

Ephraim & Jane opening gifts from Santa. Azael shows Daddy a cool gift. (Check out MM's sweet sideburns.)

Lorelai with her new Leap Frog toy.

Silas with his new Orange Puffle! Yes!

We had a lovely day relaxing and playing with all the new toys.

Merry Christmas.

Fun Photos

I wanted to share a few recent favorite photos of our kids. Merry Christmas!

Sweet Ephraim

dirty-faced Lorelai

Cinnamon-stick lovin' Jane (no, not a cigar!)

Ephraim balancing on Azael's shoulders one evening.

Serious Jane (or Seriously Naked Jane)

Lorelai drawing so intently

Azael was sick one day...
He DIDN'T want to pose for me.
The flash was hurting his eyes, he said.
But then he forced a smile...
... followed by an even bigger one! :)

Silas & Ephraim sharing a blanket one cold morning.

I LOVE Silas' expression here. He can make me laugh like nobody else! :)

Still loving the beautiful view of the snowy woods.

A holiday bouquet, which I made (*gasp*). You must know that I'm not crafty. At all. I hate scrapbooking, stamping, sewing, etc. So it was truly a Christmas Miracle that I managed to fill our entry flower pots with greenery, pinecones, berries, and even fake cardinals (*double gasp*)!

Merry Christmas!

P.S. I should tell you what's on my wish list for Christmas: sleep. sleep. sleep. blessed sleep. These photos may make my life seem great, but the truth is, the holiday hustle and bustle, plus my church responsibilities, plus my business, plus our 5 kids have all left me exhausted. Hence the tired face in the Santa hat photo above. That's probably 3-day hair... you know, the hair you get when you haven't made it to the shower for a while. Yep, I'm sportin' that 'do quite regularly lately. So back to my Christmas wish: SLEEP. And let's add REGULAR SHOWERS for good measure. Maybe next year I can work up to wearing something other than sweats... but let's not push it.

Let it Snow!

OK, I have LOVED all the snow! Love it, love it, love it! There is something special, even sacred, about a the stillness of the woods covered with a blanket snow.

Snow on the ground means many things to me:

quiet. peace. slowing down. calming down. Just as the earth needs a little time to rest each year, I think snow creates a little time for me to rest.

Like today: church was canceled due to the heavy snow. So we enjoyed a quiet, calm day of rest. Blissful. Quiet. Wonderful.

Snow and winter also, of course, lead me to feel more in tune with the true meaning of Christmas. When I slow down and take a breather, thinking about what's truly important, I feel an increased closeness with our Savior Jesus Christ. And that gives me even more of those feelings of Wonderful.

So I say, Let it snow!

Here are some photos of our past couple of weeks in the snow...

Ephraim, in a tree! (you can see him in the photo above and below)

P.S. It helps that we have a monster snow blower. And that Mystery Man (not me) runs the snow blower. (While I stay in the WARM house). Hooray for MM!

Grittibänz & St. Nicholas Day

On December 6th, the Swiss celebrate the visit of St. Nicholas and his helper "Schmutzli" (Dirty). They travel with their donkey rather than reindeer. If a child hasn't been good, Santa orders Schmutzli to whip the child with a branch (so be good, kids!). Sometimes St. Nicholas doesn't have time to visit and talk personally with every child, so children are encouraged to leave their shoes out the night before and St. Nicholas will fill them with candy, mandarins, and nuts, which the children will find on the morning of the 6th.

Another tradition on December 6th is baking of Grittibänz, a sweet bread baked in the form of a man. We made some for the first time today.

First, we made the dough (see recipe below)

Then we shaped our little men.

Ready for baking (the yellow is brushed on egg yolk to create a nice brown crust)

Watching "the guys" bake. Silas said, "I can't wait to see if my guy will jump up like the gingerbread man and run out of the oven!"
The finished product. Yum.

Time to eat!
Delicious! Mystery Man said, "The kitched smells just like I remember them smelling." Our resident Swissie.

Grittibänz Recipe

(use a kitchen scale to measure dry ingredients)

500 g flour

1 tablespoon salt

70 g sugar

70 g butter

2 dl (decileters) milk

1 egg

25 g yeast

1 egg for coating

For the decoration: raisins, shelled almonds, candied fruit, possibly coarse granulated sugar.
Cream the yeast with a little sugar in a cup. Place the flour in a bowl and mix it with salt, sugar, slightly warmed butter, lukewarm milk, the egg and the yeast to a dough. Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic. Cover and leave to rise to twice the amount in a warm place. Knead the dough again, use a knife to cut off pieces of dough in the desired size and roll out to an oval shape. Mark the head by pressing the dough together slightly and turn the head to the back to make the neck. Cut out the arms and legs with scissors and place them in the required position. Decorate the figures with raisins, shelled almonds and candied fruit and trim the hat with remnants of dough. Leave to rise and put in a cold place for 20 to 30 minutes. Before baking, brush with egg and possibly sprinkle with coarse granulated sugar. In an oven preheated to 375, bake for 15-20 minutes.

Annual Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas!

2010 in a nutshell:

· In April we moved to a house near Verona, just 10 minutes outside of Madison. Our house is in the woods and we absolutely love the peaceful surroundings here. We’ve enjoyed cutting down several trees in front of the house and adding a perennial garden. (Big blessing: we received an offer on our old house only 3 weeks after we listed it.)

· This summer we enjoyed visiting and being visited by family, a few weekend trips, and celebrating Jen’s Grandmother Joanne’s 80th birthday. Azael and Ephraim attended Camp Invention for 1 week and had a blast exploring science and inventing things. Silas enjoyed soccer camp and we did a lot of swimming.

· Summer not-so-fun: Jen’s Mom had a seizure/black out while driving and while unconscious her vehicle went THROUGH a parking lot filled with anhydrous ammonia tanks, THROUGH an 8-foot-wide space between 2 cement walls, then DOWN a 30-foot drop-off. Jen’s Mom walked away from the accident with a scratched face and cracked ribs but has healed very well and looks great. Truly miraculous that she is OK!

· This fall, the boys started at their new schools. Ephraim is in 2nd grade, Silas is in kindergarten, and Azael is in 4th grade. Other great September news: Jen’s brother Jeff and his wife Tiffany gave birth to BABY MASON! He is so, so cute, judging from pictures. We can’t wait to meet him at Christmas!

· In our “spare” time: Mystery Man and Azael were busy with Lego League this fall. MM was the coach of Azael’s team. The team of 6 kids built and programmed a robot for several weeks, then concluded the season at a tournament where they competed with over 30 other Lego League teams.

· Jen still enjoys bookclub, a bit of yoga, and running an internet business.

· Ephraim recently started basketball. He enjoys swimming lessons and says, “My sport is swimming.”

· Silas attends music class each week. He has started playing the piano and is learning quickly. Silas and Ephraim both love reading books on the computer. Jen told them they can’t have “screen time” on school days, so they get around this by reading on the computer, which they say doesn’t count as real screen time.

· Lorelai, age 3, has been attending ballet class. She frequently quotes the teacher, saying things like, “Plie and up,” or “Flex and Point.” It’s hilarious! Lorelai also enjoys weekly storytime at the library and playdates with friends.

· Jane waves bye-bye, is starting to walk, says mama, dada, baba, and SCCRREEAAAMMMSSS really loudly. She is sweet and cautious -just the type of baby we need to counteract some of the other headstrong, less careful children we have.

· We hope you are well. Please join us on Facebook or on our blog at www.Fridaysfam.blogspot.com. We love visitors and have an empty bedroom with your name on it! May the love of Christ and the celebration of His birth and life fill your heart with peace and joy this holiday season.

Love, Mystery Man, Jen, Azael, Ephraim, Silas, Lorelai, Jane