Finishing up NYC

On our last day in the big city we walked down 5th Ave.  We stopped by St. Patricks Cathedral.  It is a beautiful church.  It reminded me of the churches in Germany.

They had a huge nativity. 

"After the angel announced Jesus’ birth to some wide-eyed shepherds, a chorus of angels began “praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest!’” (Luke 2:13-14). The shepherds responded by running to Bethlehem where they found the newborn King lying in a barnyard bassinet.

They returned to their fields “glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen” (v.20).

Coming face to face with the Son inspired the shepherds to worship the Father."

The alter was adorned with wreaths and the stain glass glowed as the light shined through them.

But what we thought was so impressive was the organ. It had such detail and so many pipes! You can barely see the organist playing.

Next we stopped at St. Thomas Cathedral. 

Their alter was all hand carved!

Love the details!

Then we walked farther down the street to check out all the commercialism of Christmas.  The stores were wrapped in lights and the windows filled with sparklely things.

We are in the Apple store elevator.

I had to check out FAO Schwartz!

Well that pretty much wraps up our little trip to the big city.  Thanks for following along.

The Annanie Christmas

We hope you had a wonderful Christ filled Christmas.  Here at the Annanie house we were busy doing our favorite things, eating Chirstmas cookies and playing games.  After Christmas Eve church services we gathered in front of the Christmas tree for our yearly photo.  I got a new camera this year so I took a bit longer to get a good shot.  I work better with things that don't move, hahaha.  But I must say Michael and I have some good looking kiddos!

Trying to get Blue in a picture is hard. Matthew and Sarah got him to sit still for this quick picture.

Every year I try to get picture of just the kids. 

 I have given up on the serious picture and enjoy their creativity to make it fun. 

Christopher is into weight lifting right now and wanted to see if he could lift his brother and sister.  He last about one second, long enough to get this picture.

Here are the stockings I made this year.  I bought the stocking for 2.00 at Walmart.  Then I doodled everyones name onto some canvas and hot glued them on.  Do you notice anything different about this picture?????  There is one more stocking this year!  That is because .......

Matthew asked this beautiful young lady to marry him a few days ago.  Let me introduce the future Mrs Sarah Annanie.  She is a wonderful girl and we welcome her into the family! 

Christmas Cookies

This past weekend Michael and I worked

together to make Christmas cookies. 

Since our nest is empty,

we made our favorite holiday treats. 

We make a great team. 

Below are the links for the for all the recipes.

Thumbprint

Pecan Tarts

Spritz

Pecan Balls

Pretzel Turtles

Snickerdoodle

Peanut Blossoms

All of these cookies will be served at our family "Cookie Day".  Each year we get together to play games and enjoy  appetizers and cookies. 

NYC Day 2

Today we spent the day hiking around Central Park. 

This was a great respite from the business of the city.

We took some time to skate at Wollmen Rink.  I was a bit wobbley, but Michael pulled me around the ice!

It was beautiful day on the ice!

At dusk we went down to Rockefeller Center

 to take pictures of the lights.

These giant ornaments were really cool! 

 I loved how they sparkled.

Isn't this a cool shot.  Michael saw it,

and I grabbed the shot. 

Boy, is this a big tree.  This area was sooooo crowded! 

 Not too many people are ice skating.  

It costs big $$$ to skate down there.

 

Thanks for stopping by............... 
Tomorrow I will post the rest of my NYC pictures.

NYC Day 1

It has been about 6 years since we have been to New York City.  So we thought we would go during the holidays to check out all the lights and activities of the season.  Our hotel was near Times Square.  It has changed a bit since we had been here before. 

They have added tables and chairs to the area.  The roads are blocked off so it is more of a open walkway.

Of course it is still the brightest and visually stimulating place in town!

There is a new store just for M& M's, really?? 

 Just another gimick to get us to spend our $$!

They did have a pretty Christmas tree!

The screens looked so clear. 

We went to go see the Broadway play Wicked. 

 It was really good.  Tomorrow I will share all the Christamas lights and our day in Central Park.

Thanks for stopping by................

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. 

We were blessed to be invited to a friends house today.  Thanksgiving is changing as the kids are living farther away from home.  So we combined our families and had a great time hanging out. 

We worked on and finished a pretty lighthouse puzzle.

 Then we taught them Settlers. 



Luke, Bob, Kristen



 Notice how nice they are posing.  Then there is the Annanie klan.    If only I could get a picture with Christopher's eyes open.  O'well.  I am just happy he is IN the picture.

My favorite part of the meal was this delicious ham! 

Honey Baked, YUMMY!

Psalm 100:4

 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.

Garlic Beef Enchiladas

Tonight I tried a new recipe.  I took it from one of my Taste Of Home cookbooks.  I did cut the spices in half because I wasn't sure how spicey it would have been.  It was just right for us.  This one made the cut for the menu board!  Click on the link below to see the recipe.

Garlic Beef Enchiladas

Wall Art

I have been busy this week making these canvas.  I saw the idea on a craft website.  You can watch a video and read her direction on the site.  Here is how I made mine,

I used two 11x14 canvases

 I bought an old book from a used book store.  I found an old text book on the study of birds.  You could use an old dictionary (sorry I gave mine a way) or encyclopedia pages.  Tear out interesting pages and Mod Poge them onto the canvases. 

You can't see, but i drew my branches on the canvases with a pencil.

I googled bird silhouette's and printed them onto card stock.  Cut them out so you can use them for patterns.

Next I took a Sharpie and traced my branches and birds onto the canvases.

Then all you have to do is color in the branches, add leaves, and enjoy.  I would recommend using a new black sharpie.  Let the first coat dry and go over it again.  I colored mine three times to get it to look really black.

Chicken Tator Bake

Tonight we had leftovers.  Tomorrow I will be taking my favorite Veteran out for his free meal at Applebee's.  So Saturday I will be making this casserole.  It is a new one for us, so I will let you know how of we like it. 

It is from my favorite magazine Taste of Home and you can find the recipe HERE  I think it will be similar to the chicken pot pie, only with a tator tot crust/topping.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Todays recipe is Sweet and Sour Meatballs.  I got this recipe from a military wife in El Paso, Texas.  I have picked up a lot of recipes from women from all over the world.  Don't forget to check out the rest of my recipes on the RECIPE LINK tab.

 

Meatball Ingredients:

1lb Hamburger meat
1/2 cup Breadcrumbs
1/4 cup Milk
2 Tbs Onion
Dash of salt
1 Egg
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Make into 1 - 1.5 inch balls.  Place on cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  Flipping after 15 minutes. 
You can double this recipe and make some meatballs to freeze for later.

Sauce Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Tbs Cornstarch
1 13oz Pineapple chunks
1/3 Vinegar
1 Tbs Soy sauce
Chopped green pepper (optional)

Mix all ingredients in a large sauce pan and heat to a boil.   Add meatballs and simmer while you cook rice.