It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Let it snow! Katie decided to adorn our mailbox with a tiny snowman.


Mariah built a snow bear in the back yard.


And after they got too cold, they watched it come down some more.



And, it wouldn't be Christmas without The Nutcracker! Here's Katie and some of her other ballerina friends from the show. Katie, Clara, and the Sugarplum Fairy.



Kitties love Christmas, and Rillian is no exception. The tree is his favorite. Soon we'll have the train up and he loves that, too. It's fun to tackle!


Here he is trying to make some Christmas music, but he can't get any sound out of this horn. Maybe in 2009 he'll learn to turn on the stereo--it's easier. Isn't my Christmas tree skirt beautiful? I made it a few years ago, and I still love it!



Here's the lobby of the downtown Hilton, where Doug's company Christmas party was held. Wow! Talk about a shindig. The whole night was incredible, beautiful, and magical.

Just in Time for Christmas

There are three days left over on Open Book for you to enter my latest book giveaway contest. Suspense lovers won't want to pass this one up!

Christmas Questionnaire- join the fun!

My Aunt JoJo put up another fun questionnaire. Comment and let me know if you answered it. You know the drill, copy and paste, erasing my answers, putting in yours, and yada yada.

1. 'Tis the Season to be? Cheery
2. Wrapping paper or gift bags? wrapping paper
3. Real tree or Artificial? Doug says artificial over his dead body, so... real
4. When do you put up the tree? mid-December (after the kids' shows)
5. When do you take the tree down? sometime after New Year's, whenever I'm sick of vacuuming up needles
6. Do you like eggnog? yes
7. Favorite gift received as a child? my first bike
8. Hardest person to buy for? My dad
9. Easiest person to buy for? My girls
10. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes
11. Mail or email Christmas cards? um, do I hafta?
12. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? can't think of one, unless you count that dreaded fruitcake
13. Favorite Christmas Movie? It's a Wonderful Life
14. When do you start shopping for Christmas? started making presents in July
15. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? no, not that I'll admit to online, fps!
16. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? homemade sweets
17. Lights on the tree? Yes--lots
18. Favorite Christmas song? Silver Bells
19. Travel at Christmas or stay home? stay home
20. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? yes
21. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel
22. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Both--Kids gotta have new Christmas PJ's for the AM pics, right?
23. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Grouchy people and excess traffic
24. Favorite ornament theme or color? I need a theme? How about "The best of... ornaments through the years" I have one starting in 1971 and have gotten a new one each year. So have Mariah and Katie
25. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Turkey/stuffing, and let's not forget the pie
26. What do you want for Christmas this year? Healthy family
27. Who is most likely to respond to this? hmmm.... hopefully lots of people

Merry Christmas, everyone!

7 Things Meme

My Auntie JoJo tagged me on this, so here are seven random things about me:

One of the most frequent things I say to my kids is, "don't waste water." I can almost hear my Grandma Lil's voice in my head! She probably said it to me a few thousand times as a youngster :-)


I am never, ever eating ham and beans again. I was really, really sick (I think from a church potluck) on Mon and Tuesday and guess what I ate Sunday night? Yup. Many reasons to make it: I grew up on it, it's an inexpensive, healthy dinner, my husband loves it, but... YUCK. No way.

My most favorite Christmas memory is when I was six or seven years old. I got my first bike ever! It was sitting under the tree all shiny, white and blue with a butterfly on the banana seat. Even had a gigantic gold bow on it! It was the coolest ever. Grandma Lil was sitting on the couch when I got up; she had fun telling the story all day of how my jaw dropped when I saw it.

My idea of paradise is the Oregon Coast. I know there are going to be craggy shorelines like this with big, powerful crashing waves in Heaven.


I finally broke down and got a new cell phone. It flips open for easy texting! Should have done it a long time ago. (But I waited for an awesome deal.)

I'll be spending my first Christmas in Tennessee at our new home. Here's one of the resorts on the way to the Smoky MT. National Park. It's called The Inn at Christmas Place. Not that we're staying there, I just think it's cool. Maybe someday!

We spent Thanksgiving with some great friends who also moved from the Oregon Coast to Nashville this year. They served an amazing meal and played some incredible music for us. The top picture is Kim and Joe with Doug at the piano. Kim and Doug are playing a Sleigh Ride duet. The bottom picture is Steven and Spencer with Mariah and Katie; the boys were able to play some of their own compositions for us, as well as some more familiar tunes. Very talented, nice family!

More vacation pics

So where did I leave off? Ah, yes... the donut party on Halloween. Well, as you can see it got a little wild.



Ahhh... the smells of the ocean air, the waves crashing on the rocks, and seagulls sailing overhead. Man, I sure do miss that! Even on a grey and cloudy day, my heart soared to be near the beach again. This is near our old house. See the lighthouse waaay out there?



This is the table setting on the first morning of our stay at the bed and breakfast in Seal Rock. Talk about pampered! What a fabulous, relaxing time. Resting on the Rock is certainly an appropriate name.

This place is called Elephant Rock. You can't see it in the picture, but it's covered with pelicans this year. Apparently they had become almost nil on the Central Oregon Coast, but they're now making a comeback. Wish I could've gotten a better picture of these beautiful, graceful birds.



And here's another shot nearby, down the beach a bit. Isn't it gorgeous?



Here's Doug with one of the many special people at Newport Nazarene. Nine years ago, Doug was at rock bottom, broken and hurting, and Don welcomed him and showed him around the place. That was the first church he'd stepped into in years...and never considered shopping around for another one after that day. We weren't surprised that Don was the first one we'd see as we pulled in. He's still faithfully waiting to greet people with that big hug and exuberant welcome after all this time.

I have lots more pictures, but not on my camera... I'm hoping for some to be emailed, so if I get some more, I'll post them!

Happy Veteran's Day

This is my favorite vet, my Dad. From my youth, he taught me to honor the dead by serving the living. Ever since I can remember, he's worked at doing that by serving in the VFW. In Buffalo, where he lives, the VFW POST raises money through Bingo and concessions at the fairgrounds to help people in the community. They supply car seats and medical equipment to people who can't afford them and wake up early to put out flags on patriotic holidays.

Love you, Dad! Wish I could be out there with you to put flags up and down Main St. today!

A little love goes a long way

Our much anticipated vacation is even better than I expected it would be. Doug worked the Dave Ramsey Live Event in Portland this year, and we got to tag along! Here's where we stayed the first few nights...


Our first night with our wonderful friends, the Foley/Connor clan. Patti and Josh are making Bobobe (ba HOE bay), a dish they learned how to make while serving on the mission field in South Africa. Yummy!!

Naomi and Katie playing dress-up for the Halloween donut party. Mark and Patti made fabulous donuts while the kids tried on costumes, waiting for the guests to arrive.
One morning we went to help Naomi move and clean her apartment. We had wayyy too much fun! Patti couldn't just paint the wall white without showing off her artistic nature.

There's lots more to come, but this is probably enough for one post.

Happy Birthday, Doug!!!

Wow, forty-two years and I've gotten to spend the last nine with him. Am I a lucky girl, or what? Katie has quite a way of expressing birthday affection.


















As you can see, someone went a little wild with the decorations this year. Doug and I were gone an hour an a half to vote, and the girls spent the entire time taping up balloons and streamers.










































Doug was happy to get a homemade carrot cake (his favorite).

Here we are at Doug's choice of restaurant for his birthday dinner. Poor Mariah is put out that she can't have Tabasco sauce until she is 18! (It's the law, you know).

P.S. This blog is a few days late, but I'm so glad we got to celebrate all day Saturday!

Day Out

The girls were at a youth retreat this weekend, so Doug and I took in a bit of sightseeing in Nashville.
















We drove by a large private high school, which happened to be hosting a huge marching band contest. Doug was pretty nostalgic about his marching band days. He lamented that he didn't stay in DCI longer. All the bands were pretty impressive, though--much more like DCI than the marching band days of our youth. Fun afternoon!















This nice man with a horse and buggy sat on the side of the street, just waiting to give someone a ride.

Here we are, sitting right where Carrie Underwood and Bette Midler have perched!














After some incredible Japanese food, we took a stroll over to catch our first professional hockey game. Here's Doug standing outside the arena in front of the Predator's big air slide.
















Here's the Preds, beating the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-3. I don't know who's more brutal--the players or the fans. Quite an ending to quite a day!

Quote of the Day

Something to consider:

A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away.
Barry Goldwater

Saved by Lipstick!

As if Monday's bill wasn't insulting enough to the American people, the Senate decided to "sweeten" up the deal by adding all sorts of pork to it. Now, in addition to $700 Billion dollars, we the taxpayers will get to pay for all sorts of new programs and projects tacked on.

I guess a couple Senators from Tennessee aren't interested in another term. They may think we'll forget all about it before they come up for reelection in a couple of years, but some prominent and outspoken Tennesseans (and little ol' me) aren't going to let it go.

My Representative voted "no" in the House, so we'll see if he caves or not this next go around. As of now, he's got my vote in November...the first time I've voted for a democrat--ever.

And what about the presidential nominees?

"Let's not call it a bailout, let's call it a rescue," Senator McCain says. Puhleeze. So, if you take a pig, make it even fatter, and put lipstick on it, it's not a 700 Billion Dollar barrel of pork? What happened to, "I'll make 'em famous" for the first person who tried to pass a bill with earmarks?

Senator Obama voted yes on the bill, too. More wasteful spending, billions of dollars to special interests, fiscal help for the rich... Is this the kind of change we need? I don't think so! Talk about "lockstep with Bush."

I'm mad, ya'll...And neither major party candidate will get my vote. Yeah, I know that McCain will still probably take Tennessee in the election, anyway. But this year I'm voting on principle. Hopefully the House will do the same. If ever a bill needed to be killed, it's this one.

If you want a common sense approach to the financial crisis, click here.

Are you the woman in the house?

If you can relate...try this!

Question: What makes a great president?

Or any sort of leader... congressman/woman, mayor, governor. What qualities should we look for?

When I was a little kid, I remember telling my Grandpa Darwin that I thought he should be president. It must have been during the Carter administration and we were sitting there watching some news on TV. I admit, I idolized him. To me, Grandpa was one of the smartest, toughest guys on earth.

Almost thirty years later, I still remember what he said. "I wouldn't want to be president. You have no privacy, no time with your family..." and I think he continued, but my little blond-headed, six-year-old brain was already overloaded.

He didn't WANT to be president? Wow. I'm sure he was amused at the sight of my little blue eyes looking up at him, wide in astonishment. That was the answer I least expected from him.

He had that in common with George Washington. Did you know our first president used much of his personal wealth to finance the revolutionary war? Martha spent the war years supporting her husband, traveling much of the time to be with him where he commanded his troops, rallying other women to join in her efforts to sew the soldiers' shirts and blankets. None of it was a political ploy; they simply were putting country first.

Fast forward about 232 years. I've emailed my representative, senators, and presidential candidate of choice--some of whom will appear on the ballot in a few weeks--and told them they would not get my vote if they voted to spend my hard-earned tax dollars to bail out the incompetent and greedy bankers lobbying for $700 billion dollars. (And I'm so proud of the house democrats and republicans who voted against and defeated the bill today!)

Answer: The people who vote!

It's time to vote in some more senators and representatives (and a president) who have the same attitude of George Washington. They would serve because they believe in the well being of our country and they're willing to sacrifice for it.

No matter which side of the aisle you sit on, you can't help but be disgusted by how things are being run in Washington and your state capitols. It's easy to complain about the government, but the fact is that we are the government. It's not up to "them." It's up to us. I for one, am going to get off my duff.

You with me? Start calling and writing your elected officials, both federal and state. Look at their voting records before you go to your own ballot in a few weeks. Let them know you're going to hold them accountable.

Cookie Monsters

We're hard at work with schooling, but here's a fond memory from our summer break. Mariah and Katie are making "Barefoot" cookies for Doug's old company picnic. Lots of flip-flops! We were staying with dear friends, the Browns, and Michelle let the girls help decorate the night before. It was so cool to be invited, even though Doug doesn't work for them anymore.

I left my purse in the car, so I didn't get any pics of the picnic, but they had awesome blow-up equipment, a snow cone machine, a cotton candy machine, and amazing prizes. It was a hot but beautiful day and we could see Kentucky on the other side of the Ohio River where we played. It was all green and gorgeous. A very fun weekend!

And as a P.S. for Velvet on my previous post: that was actually the sunrise on our way to Casper really early in the AM. But yes, I agree--very pretty. It made it harder to leave.

Goodbyes are hard

On Tuesday morning, as the sun blazed over the Kaycee hills, spilling onto the prairie, I drove south toward the airport, the Big Horns in my rear view. As ready as I was to get back into a schedule and my own bed, I felt the familiar sadness that accompanies leaving my hometown. Though I haven't lived there for over a decade and I get to visit only way too seldom, it still seems like home to me.
These are my two traveling companions. One of them is old enough to need a fishing license! They liked hearing about my A&W days as a high schooler. This is the A&W at Wheatland.

Here's baby Keegan again. He's just the cutest! It doesn't seem all that long ago that his mother was this size--now she's carting around a new baby and all the responsibilities of adulthood. I'm quite proud of her, in case you can't tell.
I'm pretty proud of how Mariah is growing up, too. Here she is doing crafts with Madison and Makayla. It was her idea to buy the stuff (with money she earned) and take it up to the mountains for the girls. All you had to do was say the word and they were all over her with impish grins, begging to make something else. We all got several pipe cleaner bracelets, made in colors for every occasion. They also had fun making animals and creating inspiring works of art with stickers.Some of you might recognize this place. For those that don't, it's a wonderful restaurant to find breakfast called Pistol Pete's. All over Wyoming, it's expected that the heads of deer, elk, antelope and moose are mounted and displayed on the walls. This creature must have been hunted and captured before I was born.

As for Katie and my Dad, those will have to be blogs for another day. I'm still waiting on some pictures and they are stories of their own. More later!

Nieces and Nephews

My siblings and I planned a get-together camping trip up in the mountains. Matt is not only a terrific host, but a very welcome new member of the family. He and my sister Nicole are the proud parents of this sweet little baby to the left.

Here I am holding Keegan by Dullknife Reservoir. I've been waiting since February to see him! He's so sweet and lovable. He loves to talk and smile. Not that my hair was all that beautiful while camping anyway, but the wind wasn't helping any.



Here are all the Olson cousins (from left to right):
Keegan, Katie, Makayla, Madison, and Mariah.


















Madison and Makayla have grown up so much! Madison started kindergarten this year and they are both so smart. I loved getting to catch up with them and give them lots of hugs. Mariah and Katie also had a great time doting on their younger cousins! Today I have to get caught up on laundry and groceries and an eye appt. for Katie. (That's a whole other blog!) More to come for this trip. Thanks Nicole, for the pics!

Lookin' Good!

Yeah, it's come to this. I didn't really want to have to resort to such extremes, but he forced my hand. I bought him a scratching post, which he didn't touch. A bucketful of toys, which he does play with but it doesn't fill his need to scratch. Instead, he prefers the couch, the loveseat, the side of the bed, and the carpets. Honestly, I feel bad for my little Rillies. I do. But he has what my Grandma Lil used to call a mind of his own. Stubborn, not prone to bend his will to mine.

So I fixed him. Fixed him good. These are Soft Paws, a veterinarian recommended fake fingernail set for cats. They come off when cats normally shed their nails, every six weeks or so. Then you reapply them. In the meanwhile, they can't scratch your furniture. They're non-toxic and completely harmless, even if they happen to swallow them.



He was not amused. I only feel mildly sorry for him. Scratch to your heart's content, kitty boy!


It wasn't a fun process. But, I have to admit, the red is sorta flattering. Goes with his collar.
I think he'll recover, maybe start talking to me again in a few weeks. Or when he needs another scoop of kitty kibbles.