When I got the email from Katie reminding me I had signed up to provide the cover article for this

newsletter I quickly turned to Google to try and find a fitting article. However as I started to read

through articles I decided I could come up with something to write and my mind turned to my

daughter Ava. It is always easy for me to talk about my children – I am so proud of them – they are

so cute! And I can brag because their cuteness has absolutely nothing to do with me!

I feel truly blessed to be able to write that the Lord has already gotten a hold of my daughter’s heart.

It is my sincere prayer that she continues to follow Him and allow His love to be a part of her entire

life here on earth. It has been so fun to watch Ava tell others

about Jesus. She believes in Him, believes He died on the cross

for her sins and believes she is going to heaven because of His

gift. The Bible talks about this kind of childlike faith more

than once. In Mark 10:15 we read that Jesus says,

“Truly I say to you, whoev- er does not receive the kingdom of

God like a child shall not enter it at all."

I am not a Biblical scholar, but I do believe this verse is talking

about the simple faith my daughter has that I, as an adult,

don’t always have. She trusts what the Bible says and

doesn’t question her Salva- tion.

My daughter also is childlike in keeping things simple – she understands people who accept Jesus’

gift are going to Heaven and those who don’t are going to Hell. She doesn’t want anyone to go to

Hell and lives her life telling others about Jesus – why wouldn’t she? When we keep it simple it

makes sense to go and tell everyone about Jesus before it is too late.

For example, we were at the swimming pool the other night and Ava found a friend to play with.

Before long I hear her ask the new friend, “do you know about Jesus?” Ava was ready to tell her so

that her friend could enjoy the same gift of Salvation that she has. Ava also went door to door

Find us on Facebook!

“PHCC MOPS”

www.mops.org

Meets at 9:30 and 11 a.m.

Sundays at the FargoDome

701-298-9181 www.prairieheights.com

or on our website

www.phccmops.com

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for

all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the

Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Welcome & announcements

Prayer

Guest Speaker: Shawn and

Julie Stoll, “Having a Pur-

poseful Family”

Gift Exchange Game

Discussion Groups

THE MONTHLY SPLASH

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups white chocolate peppermint candy (like Andes peppermint bits)

1 - 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350º.

2. Use a pastry cutter or a fork to cut the butter, sugar, and flour together until

crumbly.

3. Press a little more than half of the crumble mixture into the bottom of a 9x13

lined baking dish.

4. In a medium saucepan over low heat, mix 1 cup of the white chocolate pepper-

mint candy and the sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Pour over the crumb

crust in the dish.

5. Sprinkle the remaining crumble and white chocolate peppermint candy evenly

over top.

6. Bake for 20 minutes or until edges begin to just barely brown.

7. Let cool completely before cutting into bars. Notes:

*If you can’t find white chocolate peppermint candy, you can substitute white

chocolate (cup for cup) and crushed up peppermint candy (as much or as little as you’d like).

*The ingredients called for in the crumble portion of the recipe are an approximation. You can make more crumble topping depending

on your taste! I like a thicker crust and more crumble on top, so I use 3 cups flour, 1 1/2 cups butter, and 3/4 cup sugar for mine. Ex-

pect a longer baking time if you make this adjustment.

*The ingredients for the filling can also be adjusted if you’d like to have a little more filling. I’ve eaten it both according to these direc-

tion and when the filling has been doubled. They’re both good– just know that if you double the filling, it’s gooey (which is delicious,

just might not package as neatly).

Dec 12-16, & 19-23rd—Santa Villiage

at Rheault Farm. Times vary based

on the day; visit

www.fargoparks.com for schedule.

Dec 16th—Skating with Santa, 7-

8:30pm at Veterans Memorial Are-

na; 1201 7th Ave E., West Fargo. Free

event, refreshments will be served.

Dec 23rd—Heartland Community

Church Candlelight Christmas Ser-

vice at 6pm. Christmas carols, special

music, and communion. 1751 Main

Ave E., West Fargo.

Dec 24th—Prairie Heights Commu-

nity Church Christmas Eve Services

at 4pm and 6pm. Fargodome.

Dec 25th—Christ is born! Merry

Christmas!

Dec 26-31st—Family First week at

the Children’s Museum at Yunker

Farm. Various family members get in

free each day. Visit

www.childrensmuseum-yunker.org

for the full schedule.

Jan 1st—Happy New Year! May

God bless you in 2013!

Jan 4th—Elmo’s Super Heroes; Elmo

and friends teach about healthy hab-

its. Tickets range from $14-$51 each.

Visit www.fargodome.com for tickets

and info.

Jan 10th—MOPS Meeting at

Temple Baptist Church; 630-

830pm

Jan 12th—Family Winter-ific Day:

Free sleigh rides, cross country ski

rental, and downhill sledding. 1-4pm

at Edgewood Winter Chalet, 19 Golf

Course Ave N., Fargo

Every Wednesday @ Barnes &

Noble: 10am Children’s story

time with snack & craft time.

Every Saturday @ Barnes & No-

ble: 11am Children’s story time

with snack & craft time.

Hi there! My name is Mataya Heisler. I currently reside in Far-go with my 4 year old son, Braeden. I was born and raised in Devils Lake, ND. My educational background is in Dental Assist-ing, and I hold a license in ND and MN in this profession. I am cur-

rently pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting with an emphasis in Fraud from Globe University, and just started my internship at Implementation Specialists in Hawley, MN. My son is a lovable, sociable, caring individual that loves to be around people. He has taught me patience, acceptance, living life in the present, the wonderful feeling of love, and realizing life is a wonderful journey to be on with him. He truly is the reason I am here, and I thank God every day for choosing me to be his Mom. The best piece of advice that I was given would be to “live in the moment”. Today won’t ever happen again, just like this stage, attitude, circumstance, won’t last forever; so be in the now and cherish these times because they won’t last long. I came across this quote, and remind myself every day “The way we talk to our children, becomes their inner voice”. This rings true in so many ways, when trying to parent to the best of my knowledge, I want my words to encourage not defeat his imagination, hopes, or dreams. Our favorite games that we play would include anything outdoors, any sport imaginable, but now that it’s fall/winter, any board games, card games, or anything in his imagination with this toys. He loves games, just like I did when I was a child, and still do. I feel this is an important time to spend with each other, bonding. My hobbies include: scrapbooking, reading, meeting up for coffee/chai tea, movies, sport-ing events, and spending time with family and friends. My parents inspire me. They both have worked very hard to get to where they are at, along with giving my brother and I a great upbringing with a foundation of love, structure, and faith. They have shaped me into the parent, daughter, and person that I am today. Braeden gives me more joy than anything in this world. His eyes speak volumes and his hugs and kisses I adore, because I know eventually I won’t receive these as often as I do now. My favorite quote from the Bible is “Love” from Corinthians. I strive to Love better every day, and want to pass the love I was taught and received onto Braeden so that he will carry this on throughout his lifetime.

Anniversaries:

Dec 16th—Karina & Anthony Eva Koska

Dec 26th—Eliza & Dustin Jordahl

Dec 29th—Tanya & Jon Schoessow

Dec 30th—Linda & Dan Wendel

Dec 31st—Angie & Matt Olson

Birthdays:

Dec 25th—Danelle Klassy Dec 28th—Yolanda Peterson

Jan 4th—Collette Winfrey Jan 10th—Tennille Albertson

Jan 10th—Janelle Stahl

around our block this last week asking our neighbors if they had a church to go to Christmas

Eve and inviting them to Prairie Heights.

It made me question why I am not more vocal about the gift I have through Christ. I certainly

want everyone to know Him and accept His gift of Salvation, but sometimes I need to act more

“childish” and follow my daughter’s lead!

My name is Danelle Klassy, I grew up in Warren, MN, where I graduated

from

high school in 2004. I went to college for American Sign Language Inter-

preting at Lake Region State College, in Devils Lake, ND, graduating in

2006. I have been working as an interpreter since.

In 2008, I married Matthew Klassy, we have two beautiful little boys, Chandler two and a half and

Matthew Jr. six months. What brings me the most joy in life is seeing my family happy, when they are happy, my heart smiles!

The best advice I have been given as a parent is to enjoy the here and now. Don't wish away the baby years because you 'can't wait' for your baby

to walk or talk etc. Enjoy every little moment, because soon enough they'll be going off to college. :)

When I'm able to squeeze in some 'me' time, I really enjoy scrapbooking, getting a pedicure, shopping, or just relaxing with the ladies.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups white chocolate peppermint candy (like Andes peppermint bits)

1 - 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350º.

2. Use a pastry cutter or a fork to cut the butter, sugar, and flour together until

crumbly.

3. Press a little more than half of the crumble mixture into the bottom of a 9x13

lined baking dish.

4. In a medium saucepan over low heat, mix 1 cup of the white chocolate pepper-

mint candy and the sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Pour over the crumb

crust in the dish.

5. Sprinkle the remaining crumble and white chocolate peppermint candy evenly

over top.

6. Bake for 20 minutes or until edges begin to just barely brown.

7. Let cool completely before cutting into bars. Notes:

*If you can’t find white chocolate peppermint candy, you can substitute white

chocolate (cup for cup) and crushed up peppermint candy (as much or as little as you’d like).

*The ingredients called for in the crumble portion of the recipe are an approximation. You can make more crumble topping depending

on your taste! I like a thicker crust and more crumble on top, so I use 3 cups flour, 1 1/2 cups butter, and 3/4 cup sugar for mine. Ex-

pect a longer baking time if you make this adjustment.

*The ingredients for the filling can also be adjusted if you’d like to have a little more filling. I’ve eaten it both according to these direc-

tion and when the filling has been doubled. They’re both good– just know that if you double the filling, it’s gooey (which is delicious,

just might not package as neatly).

First of all, a HUGE thank you to everyone that was able to make the trip to Valley

City and make pizzas at Pizza Corner. We know taking time away from your family on

the weekend is never easy but we greatly appreciate your sacrifice!

As stated before, fundraising is a vital part of

MOPS. Money brought in from fundraising

allows us to offer scholarships to those moms

that might not otherwise be able to attend, hire

MOPPETS workers, purchase supplies for

crafts, among many other things. By fundraising we are able to keep our other costs low so again, thank you

for your help!

From Tanya S, our Finance Chair, “We got the PREMIUM payment from Pizza Corner!!! Because we were

so efficient and produced a high volume of pizzas they gave us their higher payment amount of $8.50/

hour instead of the $7.50 we were expecting!!!! Total of $765!!!! We will tithe 10% of this amount! WAY TO

GO LADIES!!!”

After all the craziness and stress of

the holidays wouldn’t it be nice to be

pampered for an evening? Join your

fellow MOPS moms for a Spa Night

at Temple Baptist Church!

On January 24th come over to TBC

between 7pm and 9pm to enjoy some

much deserved relaxing activities, girl

chat, and chocolate!

Details are still being worked out so look

for more information in the January

newsletter but for now come prepared to

enjoy some time with other moms and

bring a yummy dessert to share. We all

deserve to be treated like queens!

Plunge

groups are

a great

way to meet other moms with

similar interests outside of your

MOPS Discussion Groups.

Plunge groups are open to any-

one and you make the rules! To

sign up after the meeting, please

email Janelle at

phccmops@yahoo.com.

Coffee Lovers

Book Club

Baby Sitting Co-op

Supper (couples)

Supper (moms)

Biggest Loser

Crafting

Movie night

Walking

Outdoor Play Group

Games

Freezer meal exchange

Coupon/Frugal

Bible Study

Freezer Exchange: Exchanging meals at each monthly MOPS meeting. Please contact Sarah Underdahl at

sarah.underdahl@ndsu.edu if you would like to participate in the December exchange.

Couples’ Supper Club: The groups enjoyed a fantastic meal at Grazies in November! Meeting the third Friday

and following Sunday each month. Please contact Janelle at phccmops@yahoo.com if you would like to join the

group in December at Texas Roadhouse.

Coffee Lovers: Date for a meet-up will be coming soon! Look for an email from Teresa DeMers or get in contact

with her if you would like to be included in this group.

Biggest Loser: Weigh-ins are happening at the monthly MOPS meetings. Good luck to all those participating!

Finding a babysitter can be an incredibly stressful and intimidating venture for a

parent. Where do you even begin to start looking? How do you know if the person you hire is

the best fit for the job? How much should you pay? We asked your fellow PHCC MOPS moms

for their opinions on these questions and more. Do you have any other tips? Post them on the

PHCC MOPS Facebook page for others to read!

Do you have a sitter that you simply adore and would love to have more kids to watch? Send

his or her name and contact information to Katie McGowen (katiedmcgowen@gmail.com)

and we can include it in the next newsletter! Would you like to be listed as an available care

provider or babysitter for your fellow MOPS moms? You can send your information to Katie

as well and it can be put in the newsletter.

In need of a sitter?

Kelsey McFarlane—MOPPETS worker in the 3yo room 701-371-5674

Kelli Sjoblom wel-

comed a new little girl

to the family in No-

vember!

Welcome to the new babies and congratulations to

the families!

Christmas Symbols image and craft from www.peppermintplum.blogspot.com

Supplies:

Mini Christmas

items that represent the

symbols listed in the list

to the right (items can be

found at any craft store)

Little Ziploc baggie

to hold items

Christmas Symbols

cut out (right there ———

> )

Gather your mini Christ-

mas items, cut out the

Christmas Symbols im-

age, and place everything

in the Ziploc baggie.

Easy! Use the scripture to go through each symbol with

your children to demonstrate how the common images

we see at Christmas represent the true meaning—Jesus!

Each year I try to incorporate meaningful experiences into our holiday season in hopes that they

will become part of our Christmas traditions. My husband and I were both very blessed to have

grown up in such wonderful families, and have carried many of the great traditions we enjoyed as

children during Christmas time into our own little family. This year I really set my focus on finding

more Christ-centered experiences that we could do together to invite the true spirit Christmas into

our lives, and to remind my children of the significance of the season; the birth of our Savior– Je-

sus Christ.

I asked approximately one hundred women what they do within their families to keep Christ in

Christmas. I was touched and inspired by many of the ideas they shared with me. In fact, I loved them so much that I wanted to

share of few of my personal favorites with you.

1. Find an open basket, a crate, or if you’re handy you could construct a small manger. Look for materials that represent

hay. You can use actual straw if you don’t mind the mess, or opt for something that looks similar such as colored yarn, raffia,

strips of paper, etc. Trim into small pieces if necessary. Put the “hay” in a separate basket from the one that will be used as

the manger. Each time someone performs an act of selfless service for another, or goes above that which may be expected of

them, they have the opportunity to place a piece of hay in the manger. On Christmas Eve gather as a family to discuss feel-

ings about all the wonderful things that have occurred through the duration of the practice, and place a baby doll represent-

ing Jesus into His manger. The woman who told of this tradition tearfully shared that one year her six year old began to cry

as they lay the baby Jesus in his bed of hay. When she asked him what was wrong he responded by saying, “We didn’t do

enough to give Him a nice, soft place to lay His head. We need to do better next year. We can do better guys.”

2. One woman found a way to have a more Christ-centered version of the Twelve Days of Christmas for her family. Each night

they would read a part of narrative of the birth of Christ from Luke in the Bible, and along with the reading set out one piece

of their nativity. By the time Christmas arrived they had finished the story, and the entire nativity scene was displayed, end-

ing with baby Jesus.

3. This last one is simple, and yet so powerful. One woman told of how she had looked up all the names that Jesus Christ has

ever been known by or called. Then she printed them out on old paper and hung them all over her tree along with olive wood

ornaments that she collected on a trip she had taken to Jerusalem. She said she loves to gaze at the tree with all the pretty

lights, His names and her special ornaments, and feel the peace as she is reminded amidst all the hustle and bustle of the sea-

son, of Him and His light and what the season of Christmas truly represents.

God bless you and yours this Christmas season. May you fill your homes and your hearts with His peace and share the light and

love of Christ with all who surround you.

Second semester dues will be due in January. Please bring your money to the January meeting. Checks can be

made out to PHCC MOPS. If you need a scholarship, please speak to Janelle Stahl or Tanya Schoessow.

Sign up for Plunge groups and Around the Water Cooler features! You can sign up for these at any time during the year.

Both are a great way to connect with the group. Email Janelle Stahl at phccmops@yahoo.com to sign up.

PHCC MOPS cookbooks are still available for sale! If you are interested in purchasing a cookbook, please contact Tanya

Schoessow. Cost is $10.

The PHCC MOPS Facebook page is a “closed group” meaning that the content is only available to see if you join. Find the

page and click “Join Group” and you will be added by one of the steering team members. It’s a great place to see what is

going on with the group, find events going on around town, post prayer requests, and just get to know the other moms!

Becky’s group, the Wetsuits, is in charge of snack for the January meeting. Keep an eye out for an email from Becky about

signing up for snacks!

There is NO MNO in December—enjoy your holidays! For information about the January MNO, please see page 4.