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!