Merry Christmas

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. (Luke 2:1-21 ESV)

Merry Christmas!

Dirty Santa Party

Weekend update from the Mayfield's!

I had the day off on Friday (which I am always excited about)! I began my day doing a little cleaning, wrapping gifts, watching Hallmark Christmas movies and then like everyone else I saw the horrific news from Newtown.  I was glued to the tv for the rest of the afternoon with a broken heart for those families that lost so much. It is truly unimaginable what those families and students are going through.  My prayer continually has been that this would wake up our nation to turn back to the only ONE that can heal this world (gun control, help for the mentally ill, more security in our schools won't fix our nation's problems - only HE can).  Our prayers have been and will continue to be with them in the days ahead.  

I was off work Friday due to our Dirty Santa Party that we were hosting.  Hopefully we can make this a yearly tradition because we had such a fun time.    

   

Lots of gifts piled up ready to be had!   

And lots of good food!  Our friend Liz made this cookie cake - so cute!

Our house was packed and we loved it!

Time to play!

Russ was hoping he wouldn't get stuck with the purple scarf!

We moved all of our furniture around to accommodate our very full house!

 

Russ was thankful he did not end up with the purple scarf!

One of the more popular gifts - mustaches :)

Michael ended up with the Dirty Santa - thankfully it was the best gift - a Best Buy card!

We have some of the best friends around!  We are so thankful for them.  As our friend, Karen, said on her Facebook status after the party...

So thankful to have such a great group of friends. Thankful to be able to sit around and talk about the good and bad, funny and sad and know that we couldn't imagine going through any of it without Jesus. Blessed with so much more than I deserve. Fun night!

It really was a fun night! 

Ooey Gooey Butter Cake

A few years ago I heard my friend, Stephanie, talking about making an ooey gooey butter cake.  I had no clue what she was talking about.  So, I looked it up and decided to make it - wow - that is a good cake!  Now, its a recipe from Paula Deen, so needless to say, its full of butter and calories - but its good.  That has become my go to dessert to make and I have requests from friends to make it all the time.  

I made it for our Handley Christmas - so I decided to document everything while I was making it and post it here...hope you enjoy!!

Ingredients needed - full recipe is below

Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer. 

Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan.

In a large bowl (I always use the same bowl to save on dirtying up more bowls), beat the cream cheese until smooth.  Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter and beat together. 

Next, add the powdered sugar and mix well. 

Spread over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. 

Finished Product = yummo

Cake:
1 18 1/4-ounce package yellow cake mix
1 egg
8 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 16-ounce box powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer.  Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan.

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth.  Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter and beat together. 

Next, add the powdered sugar and mix well.  Spread over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes.  Make sure not to over bake as the center should be a little gooey.

Little Cabin in the Mountains...

This past weekend I took my first Mayfield family vacation!  Michael's aunt and uncle have a cabin in Clarksville, GA (right outside of Helen) so, Michael's parents, his sister, her friend and Michael and I went for the weekend.  We had such a fun time!  The cabin was picture perfect!  3 bedrooms, fireplace, screened in porch with a swing - just lovely.  

Absolutely adorable!

 
Michael and I got there around 10:30 Friday night and caught the end of Home Alone 2.  On Saturday, we drove to Helen, GA - that was my first visit there.  I wasn't that impressed but it was still fun seeing the town.  We drove to Highlands, NC - which was really nice (and expensive).  We didn't get to stay there as long as I would have liked - but that was probably a good thing because I would have spent a lot more $$ otherwise.

 

 

This was the view from a pottery shop - breathtaking!

 

 

Feeding the trout

 
After Highlands we drove to Dillard and went to a restaurant called the Dillard House - OH MY WORD - the food!  You didn't order - they just brought out what was on their menu for the day and served it family style.  It was like Thanksgiving!  4 meats, 8 vegetables, fruit, bread and dessert.  STUFFED but oh so good!  They also had a small animal farm which was adorable too!

Oh the food and I couldn't get the entire table in the photo!

  

 
 
Our evening was a night of Christmas Vacation and playing a competitive game of Aggravation - fun times!

On Sunday we slept in, packed up and had leftovers for lunch!  Then had to head home. What a fun weekend we had!  I look forward to many more Mayfield vacations!!