An Attitude of Thankfulness

Decorating our Christmas tree always makes me thankful.

We have "filler" ornaments, sure, but the majority of our ornaments hold special meaning for us.  When we travel, we often buy an ornament to commemorate it.  Additionally, in our now nearly 8 years of marriage, we have been through quite a few milestones - not to mention the ones from before that.  Many of which are immortalized in the form of ornaments.

Every year, as we search through the crumpled paper towel sheets we use to protect this precious cargo, I am reminded of so many - good, but also sometimes hard - things that the Lord has brought us through.  We, as missionaries literally live off of the generosity of others - and thankfulness is the overarching emotion I feel.  Especially this time of year.  These ornament are tangible reminders of that.

Here are some of the ornaments that hold special meaning.

1. Baby's First Christmas Ornaments 

There will never be a day that I won't get teary pulling these out! Those teeny-tiny fingers and toes... I can't even stand it!  I even made sure that when we made these, I made an extra, so that if/when the kiddos ever want one for their trees when they're adults... I can still have mine.  #momwin

These ornaments make me so thankful for the little lives God has entrusted to us!  

2. Felt Cupcake

This ornament.  This was the year that finances were so tight, that these handmade felt cupcake ornaments were the only gifts we could afford to give.  I'm thankful for this year.  This was our first year as a married couple.  This was the year of Arby's chocolate turnover dates, Ramen noodles, no health insurance, not being sure if we had enough gas in the car to run errands, getting signed up to bring food to an event - and then not having enough to make dinner for us... It taught us to economize, to appreciate what we have, and enjoy the REAL spirit of Christmas.

3. Travel Ornaments  

I am so thankful for the ability to travel, and see new places.  These ornaments remind me of all the fun family memories we've shared.

4. White House Ornaments

My dad's dad, my Gramps used to buy my mom these ornaments that the White House Society puts out every year - and then when I got married, he did for us too.  In 2016, I lost three of my grandparents - one of them being my Gramps.  Dan's grandma also passed away that year.  Aidan, our 2 year-old (at the time) attended 3 funerals that year - and was an absolute dream.  I was a pall-bearer in my Gran's funeral.  When Gran passed away, we put together pictures for the reception afterwards, and numbered them for the slideshow.

3 months later, we were putting together a slideshow for Gramps' funeral.  The next number in the slideshow would've been 12, but I was looking at a picture that was already numbered 13, and was wondering where I went wrong with the numbering, when I realized - I hadn't gotten it wrong, it was just still numbered from Gran's funeral.  

After they passed, my mom continued the tradition.  Every year, when I take them out, I am thankful for my extended family, and the time we had together.

5. The Coolest Ornament

One year, I sent my mom a random picture of an ornament that I LOVED.  Somehow she found it, and I got it for Christmas that year! It's an urchin and a spindle - it's amazingly fragile and beautiful, and somehow made it across the ocean.

I'm so thankful for a mama who knows my heart.

6. Coffee

Coffee.  I'm not even kidding.  I'm thankful for coffee.  

7. My Oldest Home

Hungary.  

8. My Last Home

USA - Jacksonville.

9. My Current, and Beloved Home

Slovenia.  I love it here so much!  It has felt like home since the moment we got here.  I am so thankful that we get to live and thrive in Slovenia.

This is from when we went hiking a couple months after we moved here. <3

10.  The Person With Whom I Will Be Home No Matter What

I am so thankful for Dan.  So many of the wonderful things in my life are because of who I get to spend that life with.  

So, this holiday season, I encourage you to take the time to reminisce over the moments that your ornaments represent.  When you think about those memories, take the time to thank God for the good... and also the hard things He's brought you through.  Often times we wouldn't get to the happy memories, if it weren't for the tough ones.

Family Christmas Cookie Recipes

Dear friends!  It is my favorite time of year!  To make it even better, for the first time in my adult life, I live near my parents, which makes the holidays even better!

One of the family traditions of ours that I've always loved, is that my mom would bake cookies like crazy leading up to Christmas, then she would make plates of them to take to our neighbors.  Now, as a young kid, delivering cookies on Christmas Eve, when all you want to do is open presents, is pretty much torture.  But as an adult, I realize all the things my mom was doing through this practice - as missionaries, she was reaching out to those around her, she was spreading true holiday cheer, and she was keeping us out of the house so she could wrap up the last bit of our gifts.

So this year, I invited her to come stay with us for a few days, so that I could learn from the great master, and glean all that I could.

And friends... I now have all the recipes, as well as permission to share them.

You're welcome.

So, here are the "secret" family cookie recipes.

1. Peanut Butter Blossoms

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup sugar 

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter at room temperature

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 egg at room temperature

2 tbs milk

1 tsp vanilla

48 Hershey's kisses, or in our case, 48 squares of Milk chocolate

Extra sugar in bowl

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 375 F (190 C) or for a convection oven 350 F (175 C).  

2. Combine all ingredients (except chocolate, and extra sugar) in large mixing bowl.  Mix on lowest speed until dough forms.  (Or if you don't have a mixer, you can use your hands, like I did.)

3. Shape dough into balls, using a rounded teaspoon for each.  Roll tops of balls in sugar.

4. Place on un-greased cookie sheets.

5. Bake for 6-7 minutes (less for a convection oven).

6. Top each cookie with a Hershey's kiss or Milk square immediately out of the oven.  Press down firmly, so the cookie cracks around the edge.

2. Snickerdoodle

Ingredients:

1/2 cup shortening 

1/2 cup butter at room temperature

1 1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs at room temperature

2 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp cream of tartar

Separately - make a cinnamon sugar mixture for rolling.

1. Mix in order given.

2. Form into balls and roll in sugar and cinnamon mixture.  

3. Place on un-greased cookie sheet.  Bake for 7 minutes at 400 F (200-205 C), or if you have a convection oven, bake for 5-6 minutes at 375 F (190 C).

3. Mexican Wedding Cookies

(These are my favorite.)

Ingredients:

1 cup butter or margarine at room temp.

6 tsp powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups cake flour (or regular flour with a tbs taken out of each cup.)

1 cup walnuts or pecans chopped as finely as possible

Extra bowl of powdered sugar for rolling.

1. Combine all ingredients to make dough.

2. Roll into teaspoon-sized balls, place on un-greased cookie sheet, and bake at 350 F (175 F) for 6-7 minutes, or at 325 (165 F) for 5 minutes for a convection oven.

3. Once out of the oven, as soon as they are cool enough to handle, roll them in the powdered sugar.  

4. Sugar Cookie

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups butter, room temperature

2 cups white sugar

4 eggs at room temp.

1 tsp vanilla extract

5 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  Stir in the flour, baking powder and salt.  Cover and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).  If chilling over night, take it out of the fridge about 2-8 hours before using.

2. Preheat oven to 400 F (204 C) or 375 F (190 C) for a convection oven.  Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.  (This is actually harder than it sounds - but stick with it, it'll work.  I cut the dough into about 4 chunks, because it made a lot.  I put the chunk of dough on the flour, flattened it out some, then flipped it over.)  Use cookie cutters (dipped in flour first) to get the desired shape.  Place on un-greased cookie sheet.

3. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes, or 4-5 minutes in a convection oven.  Partly, it depends on the size of the cookies. 

After this we made a quick drying glaze that worked PERFECTLY. Here's the recipe:

1 cup powdered sugar
4 tsp milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla.

We used this to dip the cookies in, as well as in piping bags. It really worked like a charm, and dried beautifully!

5. Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbs ground ginger

1 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

6 tbs unsalted butter

3/4 dark brown sugar

1 large egg

1/2 cup molasses

2 tsp vanilla

In Europe I couldn't find liquid molasses, only powdered. If you find yourself in the same boat, add an extra egg, the powdered molasses and add about 1/2 cup of agave syrup.

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and cloves until well blended.

2. In a large bowl beat butter, brown sugar, and egg on medium speed until well blended.

3. Add molasses, vanilla, and continue to mix until blended.

4. Gradually stir in dry ingredients until blended and smooth.

5. Divide dough in half, put each half in a zip top bag, and refrigerate. (Overnight is best.) Let sit at room temperature for at least 2-8 hours.

6. Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C) or 350 F (177 C) for convection oven. Line baking sheet with baking paper.

7. Place the first half of the dough on a floured surface. Sprinkle flour on top of dough, and rub on rolling pin.

8. Roll dough to 1/4 inch thick. Use extra flour as needed.

9. Use cookie cutters (dipped in flour) to cut out desired shape, and place on baking sheet, about 1 1/2 inch apart.

These are my gran's antique cookie cutters.
It was so fun to share them in a new tradition.

10. Bake 1 sheet at a time for 7-10 minutes (5-6 for a convection oven). Remove cookies from oven, and allow them to sit and cool until firm enough to move.

11. After they're cool, it's time to decorate! I used the same icing as the sugar cookies. They turned out fabulous, if I do say so myself!

And then, you package them in whatever way seems best and prettiest!

And I think that's all of it!

I hope you enjoy the recipes, that you make them your own, and make many memories with your own families!

Family Photos - 5 Tips On What To Wear, And What To Do

Ahhhh.  Fall.  That time of year that fills homes with cozy smells, feelings and colors.  My favorite time of the year, not lastly because (if you follow my page you will know), it means family picture time!  It's my yearly Christmas gift from Dan, and honestly it's the only thing I ask for every year.

I was excited/nervous about taking pictures in our new home.  Excited because, it is quite possibly the most beautiful place on Earth.  Nervous because I didn't have any idea on how to find a local photographer.  Thankfully, when I asked someone who goes to our church, they directed me towards Happy Moments, a husband and wife team whose pictures were beautiful!  They were very quick to respond, easy to communicate with, reasonably priced, and ended up taking mesmerizing photos!  I would recommend them to anyone, and will definitely be using them in the future!

Now, on to the tips.  Some of these are ones I've mentioned in previous posts about our family photos, but I think they bear mentioning again.  If you're interested in those posts, you can find them here: 2014, 2015, and 2016.

1. Keep Up With Traditions

We've been taking family pictures every Fall for years now.  The first year, we got a picture with Aidan standing between Dan and I, and then after that it became a "thing", and I just love it.  Here are the pictures, in order:

2. Layers, Patterns and Textures

One of the things I love most about the terrain where we got our pictures taken, was the layers of beauty.  First you have the lake, then your gaze goes up to the rocks, then the trees, the snow capped mountains, and finally the sky.  You can't generate this kind of beauty, but I decided to play off of it some.

Whenever you add textures, it adds to the depth of the picture.  Some of the places we did that, was my chunky knit sweater, cuffing my jeans, and then the boys' plaid shirts.  At first, I wasn't sure on having two different plaids, but it ended up working well, as they seemed to highlight each other, rather than overpower.

3. Neutrals

For the past year or two I've really been into neutrals, as has most of the world (thanks to Joanna Gaines), so most of the clothes we've bought for ourselves, as well as Aidan have fallen into the blue-gray-brown-beige realm.  This made it really easy to come up with coordinating (not matching) outfits, without having to buy new clothes (money saver there).  In case you really love what we're wearing, Dan's shirt is from American Eagle, Aidan's pants, jacket and boots are from Target, and his shirt is from H&M.  I've had most of my pieces for a while, and can't even say where they're from, but my boots, my favorite part of the outfit are from Vici Collection.

Another thing I love about neutrals, is that they seem to be more timeless, and you can put them up anywhere in your house, without them clashing with other colors going on.  (Of course, in my case, our home is mostly neutrals, too, so it's all good, haha!)

4. Trust Your Photographer

It's a little awkward at first, when someone you don't know is holding a camera, and tells you to close your eyes, and lean your foreheads together.  And then you have to stay like that for a while. It doesn't feel particularly natural.  BUT our photographer totally knew what he was doing, and we ended up with some very tender and romantic pictures of just Dan and I, that we haven't really had since our wedding, and I really love them!

We also trusted our photographer on location - we told them what kind of a place we were looking for - a lake with the mountains in the background, and they found they perfect spot.  Also, we were supposed to have pictures taken the day before, but they contacted us, and said they felt like the area was too foggy that day, and recommended going the next day.  We listened to their advice, and I'm so glad we did, because otherwise, we wouldn't have gotten these shots:

5. Don't Be Afraid To Be Playful - Still Come Prepared

This is mostly for families with young kids.  Kids are always more relaxed when we let them be themselves, play, and then we interact with them.  So, Aidan started playing with sticks, snow, and rocks, so we just went with it.  In one of the photos, he has just given me a rock, that apparently looked like "ham".  And then he gave me a kiss.  <3  Pretty magical, if you ask me!

Now, as for the being prepared part:  I packed an extra outfit for him, just in case there was a trip/fall (there was), or an accident, or what have you.  I had a blanket for us to sit on, because I figured there would be snow and rocks, and we might sit down - and I'm glad I did!  I also packed snacks, and gummy bears for bribery.  Not my usual parenting style, but it worked for this. :)

And then sometimes you get this, and love it just as much!

And there you go!  Basically, be comfortable, have fun, trust the photographer. :)  I hope you all enjoyed our pictures, that the tips helped you out, and that you love your family pictures this year!

Merry Christmas!