Christmas - Cuban style

Although I consider myself a Southern gal there's no denying that my Hispanic roots show strong - especially at holiday time. We celebrate Christmas on the 24th with all my extended family with lots of authentic Cuban food, music, laughter and fun.

The festivities began at 1:00 and once everyone had arrived we spent time reading scriptures and considering the Incarnation of Christ as seen through scriptures and after prayer the feast began!

Typical Cuban food: Cuban pork, Black Beans, White Rice, Congris, Yuca, Salad and rolls

Aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents.

All the "littles" 

Aaron and Liz were able to join us which was lots of fun ;) 

The clan: Havi, Adri, Jared, Victoria, Hailey, Hayden, Aaron and I

We also had a Spanish "Flamenco Dancer" in our midst lol

Rachel - Love her!

After the extended family headed home my immediate family and I got together to sing and spend time together 

An intense Chess match

Liz and Caleb - I just love these 2, they are so adorable together! 

Camilo 

Opening the beautiful gifts Aaron got me!

Aaron and I

Franky and Gavin

 Victoria and Ethan

Daddy

Mother

Havi and the GORGEOUS dress she received!

 Jess and the smaller that Hailey stitched for her

Hayden opening his gifts

Jared and Franky

Gavin and Brayden after the opening lol

All in all we spent a wonderful time as a family worshipping and celebrating the birth of our Savior! I'm so blessed to have wonderful family to be with....God is so good to us! 

A little bit of everything.....

Hey y'all! Well originally at the beginning of December I had planned to post all our Christmas preparations in small posts so that you all could get a glimpse of our doings here in SC. But things don't always go according to plan and several unexpected events delayed my posts.......We have had times of sorrow and times of joy and all kinds of times in between but the recurring theme of the month has been that God works all things together for good.  On the 5th of this month my step-grandmother stepped into eternity.

It was a difficult time but also a time for us to draw closer together as a family and to step up and show love and honor to my grandfather who is now adjusting to life without his wife. On the 8th we had her funeral service and the gospel was clearly proclaimed and we grandchildren had the unique privilege of singing at the service.  Though the video quality is poor I hope you enjoy hearing these hymns.

Be Thou My Vision

Come, Let Us Return to the Lord

As we get closer and closer to celebrating Christmas we have been cleaning, cooking, baking and decorating. We had the Gardner's over to help us decorate our Christmas trees and we had a wonderful time.

Putting on lights

Adding pearls

I just love Havi's expression ;)

Sydnie and Havi

Aaron and I 

Victoria and Hannah

Homemade ornaments

After the decorating we sat back and watched "Holiday Inn" while sipping hot cocoa which was the perfect end to a fun day.

Last week we began our christmas baking and goodie-making. Liz, Sydnie and Hannah came over to help us girls out and we had a wonderful time together.

All our baking supplies

Melting chocolate

Love these two girls lol

Havi and Sydnie spreading out Peppermint Bark

Liz......Ok, so let me introduce y'all to Liz (And I really wish I had a better picture to show y'all) but Liz is Caleb's girlfriend and just about one of the sweetest, funnest, most down-to-earth people I know. Even though I haven't know her for very long I already love her and we have had so many good times together. I can't wait to see where God leads her and Caleb.

Peppermint Bark

Samoa Balls!!!

Pecan Turtles

By the end we had Sugared Pecans, Peppermint Bark, Cracker Candy, Samoa Balls, Chocolate Truffles, Pecan Turtles, Holiday cookies and Oreo Truffles which we packed in decorative tins to give away. 

And last but definitely not least in our busy month was the wedding of my dear friend Ellie!!! 

We headed up to Sprucepine, NC on Thursday and helped out with the prep work.

Ellie's vision was to transform the church gym into a winter wonderland.......so after lots or work we hoisted up streamers of tulle and snowflake ornaments.

Then they decorated everything in silver, white and sparkles.....it truly looked beautiful!

Havi, Victoria and Aaron

The bride and her parents

Close your eyes everyone! *wink, wink* 

Mr. and Mrs. Cory Wilson Spiers

 Flower girls and boys

Walking out 

Ellie paid me the great honor of asking me to be one of her bridesmaids.....I had so much fun being part of her special day and getting to know all these girls! L to R: Me, Melissa, Hannah, Jodi and Sarah.

Ellie, Havi and I 

And like the good friends that we are, we made sure to let everyone in Sprucepine know that they were married by decorating their car lol ;) 

And for the important information that you may be wondering about at this point. The Lord has brought a very, VERY special person into my life as of 2 months ago! I can truly say it was the Lord and that I could never have planned something quite like this. Aaron has been such a blessing, encouragement, and a true example of Christ-likeness to me and I am so happy that he is part of my life.  I covet your prayers as we seek the Lord's will for our lives and His guidance as we go through the "getting-to-know-each-other/courting/dating" time.

Aaron and I at the wedding. 

So I hope that gives you a glimpse into my December. Hope y'all are surrounded by God's rich blessings as we take time to Celebrate the birth of our Savior.

Only 22 days 'till Christmas...

...and we are HYPED! Stay tuned for more on our Christmas preparations! 

Musical Monday

May this song be our prayer today as we go along the narrow path. 

Title: Make My Life an Alleluia

Composer/Writer: Ruth Elaine Schram

Genre: Hymn

Performed by: Grandview Camp

Make My Life an Alleluia 

Verse 1: 

Make my life an alleluia, 

A song of praise to You each day.

To proclaim Your grace and glory, 

Fill my heart with Your praise, I pray.

When I stand at the mountain top,

or the valley of despair, 

This will be my cry, my song, my prayer;

Lord, make my life an alleluia.

Verse 2:

Make my life an alleluia, 

A gift of love to You my King.

I will join with all creation, 

In the song that the heavens sing.

The earth will turn, and the planets spin, 

As the seasons ebb and flow;

Still, Your grace surrounds me as I go, 

Lord, make my life an alleluia.

Verse 3:

Make my life an alleluia, 

This offering of myself I give to you.

I will share Your grace and mercy

For as long as I shall live.

When I come to my journey's end, 

May those left behind be reminded, 

This has been my cry, my song, my prayer:

Lord, make my life an alleluia.

Lord, make my life an alleluia.

Musical Monday

Greetings on this rainy November day! Today I would like to share a song that has become very near and dear to my heart recently.  As many of you may know, God has brought many, MANY changes into my life in the last 2 years.  Some of it has been hard, some exciting, some challenging, some painful, but it has ALL been good for me. Romans 8:28 has been evident in my life but my own stubbornness and hard heart made it difficult to see that.  While listening to the Galkin CD, "Christ, only always" this song stood out. It summed up my last 2 years perfectly and with tears in my eyes and joy in my heart I thanked God for making us return to Him. 

Title: Come, let us return to the Lord

Composer/writer: Dick and Melodie Tunney

Genre: Hymn

Performed by: Galkin Evangelistic Team

Come, let us return to the Lord

Verse 1:

All of us like sheep have gone astray

Seeking our own way,

We've left the Shepherds care again. 

Through the wilderness we wander,

in the hopelessness of sin.

We must run into His arms, 

from where we've been.

Chorus:

Oh, Come let us return to the Lord,

let our hearts yearn for the Lord.

Only His love will save us.

For though our lives are broken 

He will mend and restore our hope again

Let us return to the Lord

Let us return to the Lord.

Verse 2:

By His grace alone we have been saved,

rescued from the grave.

And through His blood we have new life

May the passion of our first love

 bring us to our knees. 

We can know the heart of God

if we believe

Chorus:

So, Come let us return to the Lord

let our hearts yearn for the Lord.

Only His love will save us.

For though our lives are broken

 He will mend and restore our hope again

Let us return to the Lord

Bridge:

Let us return to the One 

who breaks our pride so He can heal us.

To the One who binds our wounds 

and knows our scars.

Chorus:

Let us return to the Lord,

Let our hearts yearn for the Lord.

Only His love will save us

For though our lives are broken 

He will mend and restore our hope again

Let us return to the Lord

Let us return to the Lord

For though our lives are broken

He will mend and restore our hope again

Let us return to the Lord

Let us return to the Lord

Let us return to the Lord.