Wednesday, December 5, 2012



In October, we gathered sweet gum balls at my grandparents' home, knowing that we wanted to make these ornaments, my favorite for over thirty years.


Yesterday was the day!  We invited a couple of sweet families over to make ornaments.  I met one of the families when we attended the Pacific Orientation Course in Papua New Guinea, and the other family are new friends who are getting ready to serve in Bible translation in Africa.






"Uncle" Aaron enjoyed playing with little one who didn't quite have the attention span to make ornaments.



We also made cinnamon applesauce ornaments.  The house smelled SO good!


Since our Advent tag today said to make star ornaments, we also put some books about the Christmas star in our book basket:




Inspired by Wild Olive's beautiful ornaments, some from last year and some from this year, we pulled out the felt, embroidery thread, and embellishments and let loose with creativity.
What a gift to be able to fellowship with others who understand what life in a village can be like and to compare language learning stories.  Thanks, friends, for spending time with us and helping to make our celebration and anticipation of Jesus so special.


2 comments:

Herding Grasshoppers said...

Those sweet gum / star ornaments are really fascinating. Are you (just) sticking the toothpicks in the holes, or is there a special technique?

They look like wonderful stars, (and a little bit like Sputnik ;D) !

Julie

Choate Family said...

Julie
Guess I could have been a little bit more clear. Just dip the toothpick into some Elmer's glue and insert the toothpick firmly into the hole. Let it dry for a few minutes, then spray paint with the color of your choice!

Joanna