It’s an ornament made from an illustration in the book Farmer Boy, by Laura Ingalls Wilder! This one is a picture of Royal and Almanzo drinking apple cider and eating popcorn by the fire in the chapter “Winter Night”. 

On the other side is the more of that same picture. Father Wilder is scraping a new ax handle and Eliza Jane is reading the newspaper aloud. 

This ornament is so special because my family and I were able to visit the Farmer Boy home in Malone, New York, last September! After we returned, I read the book, Farmer Boy, aloud to our children. This gift is one I will treasure each and every year as long as I live.

Here is the package it was wrapped in. It’s two pages of a Little House book, sewn together and tied at top with this multicolored ribbon. It was made by a Laura Ingalls Wilder enthusiast that Ava knows. The padding in the box was a page from the De Smet News, of De Smet, South Dakota. This is where the book, Little Town on the Prairie, takes place! What a cute touch!

Thank you, Ava, for starting my Christmas season off in such a special way! It’s been a long year, and part of me has been dreading the upcoming season. What a special blessing for the Lord to give me a gift on His birthday! But, that’s what Christmas is all about – His gift of love on the cross. What a blessing to be loved.