I am going to make it my goal next year to have Christmas shopping done by July 25th. I think it loses out on the spirit of Christmas to drag in on the 23rd or the 24th like a steam engine late to a major stop or something.

We are actually done. I could run to the store for something...I can't remember what. So, I won't. I went today and it wasn't horrifically bad at Wal-Mart, believe it or not. I just needed some buttons. I ended up with an armload of stuff (I refuse to push a cart through Wal-Mart; the last time I did a wheel fell off). I got to the register and tossed my arm load down at the self-check out and Becky called asking for one more thing. I gathered it all up again and picked out the thing she asked for. I came back, tossed it all again and checked out. When I got home something was missing and it wasn't on the receipt so I must have dropped it somewhere in between tossing, gathering and tossing again.

I would like to ask Jesus to forgive me for letting things get too hectic for His birthday!

I made little donkey cookies today to give out to people with the story of the Legend of the Little Donkey. It's a story about the donkey that carried Mary when Jesus was being born in Bethlehem which was also ascendant to the donkey that carried Jesus for his Triumphant Entry. It's just a story. I thought it would be a good way to proclaim the wonderful News of His birth.

We made cookies with Melanie and Timothy. Timothy had so much fun putting "sprinkles" on the cookies. I think he called Doug "grandpa" when we arrived. Their new puppy, Ginger, piddled when we got there, or had just piddled.

Have a wonderful Christmas Celebration! Try not to let things get confusing and think of Jesus and how wonderful it was when the Angels came to proclaim His birth! I know how exciting it was when my grandson arrived but the angels were thrilled to know that God's plan of salvation was beginning when Jesus was born!

We spent this past weekend up in San Jose. Here is Lucas in his Christmas stocking I knitted for him. He's a great stocking stuffer! Below is Sarah and Lucas and the gingerbread house Sarah and Becky designed. They are so talented. I thought they did such a good job on the roof.


Yesterday we celebrated Timothy's 2nd birthday. He liked the cake I made with whipped cream. He even said, "Good cake." What a compliment! He blew out the candles all by himself.

We said good-bye to the baby birds on Sunday. Our neighbor, Terri Lynn and Hannah came and got them. They are happy in their new home and the lighter bird seems to be a special friend to Hannah and likes to be held by her. It's back to normal for Chester and Belle and have resumed nest making and egg making again.

Well, we're home again from North Carolina. We had a great time seeing Andy and Jessica and spending a little time with Doug's family for Thanksgiving. Here we are at the Biltmore House in Asheville, NC. We had a great time while touring it. I love the Blue Ridge Mountains; it is so pretty up there.

















Here's a picture of Lucas watching the bubbles.
It was fun having a baby in the house again for a whole week before we went to NC. Also, the baby birds were just clumps in the nest before we left and when we got home, you can see how much they have grown.

That is Belle sitting on the perch and the babies sitting on Chester in the nest. They get a little nervous and run to mom and dad when I approach them.
Here is a picture of Andy and Jessica's home and our attempt at burning leaves. We eventually got brave and burned them in an open pile after we discovered the trash can idea didn't work too well. There were just too many leaves.