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.