Most Sunday evenings during the fall and winter and early spring we open our home to a group of great friends for an evening of fellowship and a study in God's word. 
Ladies first.
Time for a picture. 
I have been in a group called "Homemakers" since moving to Minnesota - some 25 years or so..
We had a good time at one of our favorite local restaurants.
Then we went to the lovely home of one of our members to open Christmas gifts from our "secret pal" and reveal the name of that secret pal from the past year.
And we posed for an annual picture. 
Hubby and I spent a lovely Saturday afternoon doing some baking. 
We have a special rolling pin, that has lots of small grooves, made by Wally's Uncle Einar Haave many years ago. There are quite a few members of the family that have these treasured rolling pins.
The lefse is a soft dough made from potatoes and flour, basically.
After it cools it is spread with butter and most often sprinkled liberally with sugar. 
Next up, I got out my krumkake iron....
They are then rolled up, using this handy cone, and cooled.
They can be eaten "empty" or filled with something like.. whipped cream. 
Lastly I worked on icing and decorating some Christmas cookies. 
They take a lot of work but it is fun to try to learn something new.
You plug in your vehicles. 
You cut lots of wood. 
You stack it close to a door... 
And you make cozy fires!
The big job of setting up my Snow Village became a little easier because I had help!
Someone had volunteered to help me when I mentioned how much work it involved!
And, for her reward, a lunch of mac 'n cheese and her own personal showing of the movie "Madeline"
And for me... the rewards are...
I love the phrase "Daddy's Girl" - makes me think fondly of the warm relationship I had with my father, who passed away in 1975. One never stops missing their parent and wishing for one more minute to touch them, hug them, hear them...
Ah! Like father, like daughter!
Finally. 
This evening was our annual Sunday School Christmas program. 
There was a prelude that included children who were willing to play the piano or other instruments. My sweet granddaughter, who just began piano lessons this fall, played Jingle Bells. We were so proud of her! She didn't seem a bit nervous, either!
We sat very close to the front but the director was directly in my line of vision to my granddaughter! I was always leaning to one side or the other to get a good view of B.
It was a wonderful program.
I love winter, love the beautiful snow and love the winter birds...
Sadly, the suet feeder was empty, as were the bird feeders!
He stayed for quite a while, probably just to encourage us to
I love a good winter puzzle. Not too hard, cute scenes, no more then 500 pieces...
These cute snowmen come every year ...
always smiling, always happy.
I love fused glass and last year our good friends/neighbors, Dave & Tracey, bought us this wonderful winter cardinal glass plate.
It's always wonderful to add some Swedish heritage touches.
This picture belonged to my dear sister-in-law Alice.
And these adorable little Carl Larsson figures are enjoying some heart-shaped waffles, all bundled up in their Scandinavian sweaters.
This is one of my favorite Carl Larsson prints.
Happy Birthday today to my sweet momma - 
