Joys of Christmas

David and I decided to get some Christmas Cards out at the last minute - so if you didn't receive yours - here it is... Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a happy new year! It took several trys, but we actually get Ditto to hold still for the camera to click!

Christmas Party at Sterling House

Mary, the Activities Director, with the decorated cake.
You can see that some of the ladies sat on Santa's lap - but not mom! She was okay with him coming to her table and getting the picture taken, but that was as far as it went.

On our last day of work before Christmas, the new Dir. of Development, Forrest, and I went to the Guenther House for lunch. The decorations were fabulous and the famous "gingerbread" house was a site to see! We wandered through the gift shop and enjoyed our 30 minute wait for lunch. It was a nice way to start the holiday.

That's me, standing in front of the Gingerbread House at the Guenther House

Christmas Eve at our House

Our tradition is to have everyone at the house for Christmas Eve. We usually have a ham and lots of chips, dips and sweets to munch on before we start opening gifts. This is my favorite time of the year - being with my kids and their families and just watching everyone opening their presents. I love Christmas!

AustinStephanieJason, Allison and David

The grandkids - Madi, Taylor, Ashton, and AustinTaylor & Ashton

Then comes Christmas Morning...

Mom spent the night with us, so we got up on Christmas morning and had our traditional Christmas Morning Casserole.

Then we opened gifts from each other...

What a blessing to be with family on Christmas! Now it's time to put it all away and get ready for the new year - 2010. From our family to yours - we wish you a blessed new year.

Read a Good Book Lately???

I am in the most awesome book club. It's a LifeGroup with CBC. We started about 18 months ago when my upstairs neighbor (in the apartment) and I found out we both loved to read! Kimberly and I started talking about having a book club and the rest of history. Every month we choose a book written by a Christian author and then meet to discuss our thoughts on the story and how it relates to our lives. We started with The Shack. That was life changing for me. I would recommend that book to EVERYONE. If you haven't read it - pick it up at Sam's or Wal-mart. It will be one of those you read over and over again.

Anyway, back to our book club... at Christmas time we have a tradition (if you can call doing something twice a tradition), of coming to my house in December, discussing the book we just read and then have a book exchange. It's been a lot of fun, and we have each gotten a great book to read that we might not have chosen.

Kim is finding out which book she has been blessed with - and we do this as a Chinese exchange - you know the drill - the item can be "stolen" from you and you have to pick another one! Her book turned out to be the Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd.

Lee got an awesome book by Rick Warren.

Ann got the Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck. I manged to end up with that last year and just loved it. David and I even went to the live telecast at a local theater last year.

Claudette received a set of Karen Kingsbury books. I had read those as well. You will notice that there is not a picture of me opening my gift... well, that's what happens when the photographer (David) wasn't in the room, but I did get one I am anxious to read.. The Christmas Secret by Donna VanLiere. In fact, there were no exchanges done this year - everyone was very pleased with their book.

Now let me explain the red gloves. Kim had chosen our Christmas book this year - Sarah's Song by Karen Kingsbury. I was a little hesitant about it - the cover was very old fashioned and I just wasn't sure it was "my cup of tea". Boy, was I wrong! It was totally awesome and consequently the red gloves - my gift to the gals who came to our gathering. I don't want to spoil any of the story, so I'll leave it at that - but you must read it. It was one of the best books ever. And I'll remember the story for many years every time I see my red gloves!

If you are a reader and would like to join our group - just give me a holler and I'll get you the information on when we meet -

Deck the Halls and other Holiday Traditions...

Mother loves Christmas. She always has. It's her favorite time of year. All the decorations and festivities. It's just such a happy time. When she was younger, mom used to decorate the Santa Fe Building where she worked in Amarillo. She was "in charge" of all the centerpieces and holiday flair! And she was good at it - in fact, she was the best. After she moved to Chicago, she was busy decorating her home and having parties during the holidays. I remember a favorite cookbook she helped create while she worked as a real estate agent after retiring from the Santa Fe in Downtown Chicago. I use it to this day to pull out all the old favorites that mom used to make.

Mom was thrilled when I brought over the holiday decorations for her to use in her new apartment this year. David and I had a small 4 ft. tree we used when we moved into the apartment a few years back. It was the perfect fit for her apartment this year.

Putting those first decorations on the tree was the best. She lite up before we even turned the lights on!

I had packed all the Christmas decorations last year after she moved out of the house. It was fun seeing her unpack those things and see her excitement over the Fritz & Lloyd cookie jar! It is one of her favorite possessions.

We are still working on some of the decorations, but you can tell she is very happy with what we accomplished in a Saturday morning! Her new nativity on the table is getting some additional pieces and it should complete the decorations for her apartment.

Her friends have been down to see the decoration in her apartment and they all oohhh and aahh over the way it looks. Now the administrative staff will be calling on her to oversee the holiday decorations at Sterling House! And she will love every minute of it!

Merry Christmas to all!!