Posts Tagged ‘christmas’

Christmas in Apple Ridge is a three in one collection containing The Sound of Sleigh Bells, The Christmas Singing, and The Dawn of Christmas. If you love Christian themed Amish romance novels, I promise you’ll probably enjoy this heartwarming holiday collection very much.

I can vouch once I started reading this collection it was hard to put them down! I really enjoyed how each of the stories were uniquely different and yet were all tied together beautifully by community and character. The author did a fantastic job in painting the Amish giving us a wonderful visual and taste ( there are full recipes in the books!) of the Amish community!

Many traits are shown and displayed out this book . I love that the characters are real and the story doesn’t stray from that fact with God all things are possible and will work out for the good for those that love and chose to serve him (even when we can’t really see it!). Having a second chance in the eyes of God is the greatest gift. In this readers realize forgiveness and knowing and accepting that gives us the chance to keep on living life and loving those around us.

Overall these books are a fun, light-hearted read. They were a bit predictable in how the stories came to pass but none the less, a joy to read. What girl doesn’t love to read a tenderly sweet love story? I’m looking forward to seeing what other great book Cindy has in store for her fans!

Buy it: You can purchase Christmas in Apple Ridge: Three-in-One Collection: The Sound of Sleigh Bells, The Christmas Singing, NEW! The Dawn of Christmas
at Amazon.com for print at $12.00 and for Kindle $9.99!

Disclaimer: My copy of Christmas in Apple Ridge was provided by WaterBrook Multnomah Press in exchange for a fair and honest review.

What a month we’ve had with parties, random stomach flus, trips to special places like the zoo and aquarium, Christmas Eve Service and celebrations with family and friends! I haven’t been very vocal over here lately and have finally found some time to sit down and share some of the fun things we’ve been doing together. 
The kids had great fun this year helping make and bake our traditional Gingerbread cookies!  I’m glad I had more than one rolling pin because if BIG SISTER is doing it, little brother wants to do it too! We made three batches to enjoy among ourselves as well as to share with family and friends! Three batches is more than I typically make but next year I know to make a much larger batch instead of splitting it up into three different ones. I also think with both kids being a little older that i might opt to do a Christmas Gingerbread House and possibly a train too! Since my daughter Melody knew Winter was to arrive any day she’s been anticipating snow! We don’t often get snow in the area where we live in Oregon but if we wanted to get out in it, we’d only have to drive 30 minutes to an hour down the road toward the mountains. To our surprise we did get just a wee bit! And it made our Christmas Eve Church that much more memorable  as we arrived it started snowing big fat fluffy flakes! Who knows, maybe we’ll get some more before the season is over.

So, I’ve had people ask what my kids got for Christmas and what they’ve still been pretty much been engaged with hours and days after receiving it. My daughter Melody received arts and crafts kits, a Nintendo DS with a few games,  Pinypon toys, a Tinkerbell make up kit (she loves make up!) and a couple of Beanie Boos.  I’m pleased to say she’s still been very interested in them all! When she’s not playing her DS from her Grandpa, she’s pretty much making up little stories and games with her PinyPons most of the time so far.

My son Owen whom is turning 2 in a couple of weeks got lots of Thomas the Tank Engine things! He loves trains and anything Thomas the Tank Engine. He got board books, a farm train,an Innotab Thomas game, a train track set from IKEA, and lots of Thomas the Tank Engine Wooden Collection engines and diesels. He loves everything and his been playing with his trains for a very long amount of time! He’s not one to play with a toy for very long so I was pleasantly surprised to see how much he loves his train set.

I still can’t believe Christmas has come and gone for 2012. I had so much more fun this year making it special for the kids and wished it could have lasted just a bit longer!  We made cookies, special felt, foam and perler bead decorations, sang songs, read stories, enjoyed movies and cartoons, and had some great foods and desserts together! I haven’t decided when the tree is coming down. But for sure  it’ll have to before the upcoming Birthdays in January (mine and Owen will be turning 2!).

Everywhere you look it is holiday time!

Adding to this year’s celebration of the season, Grammy Nominee Judy Pancoast has released her new CD, Christmas with Mrs. Claus.

The songs include a mix of traditional favorites and original songs from Judy with Mrs. Claus popping up throughout as she keeps the North Pole humming along and reads from Santa’s Book of Good Girls and Boys.  Judy does a fabulous job of capturing the magic and wonder of Christmas; the album is certain to ignite that starry-eyed spark that kids get when thinking of a visit from Santa.  This collection is sure to become a family favorite Christmas CD.

The CD includes a remix of Judy’s YouTube hit “The House on Christmas Street”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7uRl07K4H8&feature=share

Which brings us to The House on Christmas Street International Tour 2012.  This unique concert tour for charity has Judy traveling the country performing at houses with animated Christmas displays.  The hosts in each city have gone all out with their Christmas decorations and Judy performs right in the midst of it all.  The best part is it’s all for charity.  Each house hosting a concert involves a charity to benefit from the event.

Here are the cities Judy will visit this year: (http://judypancoast.com/2012_tour.htm) 

December 10: Grand Bay, AL * December 11: Orlando, FL * December 12: Celebration FL * December 13: Mauldin, SC * December 14: Pilot Mt., NC * December 15: Ennice, NC * December 16: Anderson, IN * December 17: Lincoln, NE * December 18: Fairmont, MN * December 19: Hudson, IL * December 20: Livonia, MI * December 21: Toronto, ON (Canada) * December 22: Manheim, PA * December 23: Nazareth, PA

Our Thoughts on the Album…

My family and I found Christmas with Mrs. Claus by Judy Pancoast a fun album to add into our mix of favorites to listen to during the Holiday season. This album is full of cheerful songs both original and traditional with a dash of story telling in between. This album sounds great and will totally get listeners into the mood of Christmas. Judy does a wonderful job delivering an album that’s sure to lift the spirits of those both young and old.

 Social Media: Facebook,  www.judypancoast.com  and watch theYoutube video of  Christmas with Mrs. Claus – Judy Pancoast:

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned products in exchange for my opinion of them. This review is 100% my opinion and has not been edited or reviewed by anyone. I was not compensated in any other way for this product review.