Annual Christmas Party

We enjoyed our annual Christmas party here at our home. the theme was "JOY TO THE WORLD" The traveling gift was changed into a beautiful JOY with a wood cut out J and Y and Nativity for in the center. This had been a Ellephant for the last years White Elephant party. You can search the 2010 Christmas if you want to see it. It was a great evening with lots of good friends, food, wine and gifts. A blessed Christmas to all filled with the Joy to the world, the Christ child born for you and for me.

Memorial Wreath Day at the Black Hills National Cemetery

Saturday we drove to the Black Hills National Cemetery to watch the presentation of wreaths in honor of each military branch and all those who have fallen while protecting our country. It was a beautiful day and the program only lasted about 20 minutes or so.
The Veterans were dressed very nice with their feather hats, shinny swords and satin lined capes. If anyone knows what these hats are called, please let me know. We thought maybe "cocked hat".
It was a different group of presenters for each military branch. I also don't know if things are always presented in the order they were here or why? Maybe each branch according to the age.
Here you can really see the Ostrich Plumb and also some who had very special wreaths for important graves. One was a beautiful cross shaped wreath of fresh greens.


This 4th wreath was in honor of all the US Air Force.

These are all the people who were there taking fresh donated green wreaths to either graves of a loved one or someone else per tag on some of the many wreaths.
This is a pile of the fresh wreaths that were there for the taking to be placed on someones grave.
I thought this was beautiful with the glistening white snow. Some areas had a good foot of snow to trudge through.

Some wreaths were layed under the cremation Niche, they are a newer addition to the Black hills National Cemetery.
Always lots of flags!
The USAF memorial wreath.
I took one to place on my cousin's mother's grave. Irene "Behm" was my mothers first cousin. Her birthday would have been today and she past away on Christmas day 2009.


Her grave is now adorned with a beautiful green live wreath, reminding us of the Life eternal we will have after God takes us home.

John 3: 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.
Christ came down from Heaven as a infant baby boy that first Christmas day. It was His very blood that cleanses us from all our sin that we might have life eternal in Heaven with Him.

Merry Christmas and take time to Prepare the way of the Lord. Prepare our hearts for Jesus.