What a Joyous Time!

Everyone had a fantastic Christmas - it is so enjoyable to see the boys really old enough to enjoy, and yet still believe in Santa. This year no one was "crabby" or "whinning"~ everyone laughed and had a great time. My favorite line was from Cindy when she told me she took Sam to see Santa on Saturday, he took one look at the line and said, "no thanks, I will just go home and email Santa". That is exactly what Sam did.

Chocolate~Chocolate!

Tanner and Sam loved the big bear and rocker outside the Chocolate store. They were really all smiles this afternoon and they were so good~I think Grandma and Grandpa will have to take the three on more outings.

Boys and Trains:

It was so much fun to here theme talking about each of the train layout areas. This particular corner was called the junkyard.

Grandpa with boys!

This afternoon the boys were off school, so we took them down to Union Station in Kansas City to see the huge train layout. We really had a great afternoon with the boys.

The Candle of Hope

This candle has been circulating around with so many of my friends. I think and pray for each of you that this cancer has touched, may the strength of our Lord surround you. The percentage of my friends that have had Breast Cancer is almost overwhelming ~ I pray that in '08 they find a cure and then maybe our daughters, grand daughters , nieces and friends may never have to deal with this disease.

Merry Christmas

This Christmas Card reflects warm and beautiful thoughts for each of you that I hold so dear. Reflections of a time of our youth, with memories I hold so dear. I pray that '08 brings you each the peace of our Lord, good health and the enjoyment of family and friends. Each of you have touched my heart and you bring me such joy each and every day through your blogs. May the Lord bless and keep you through these holidays.

Jimmy and Katie

Finally, I have their pictures to post -

Paxton and Tanner

This is the best I could do~ they just kept moving because they wanted to be with their friends. You do have to admit that I can claim these two guys. Paxton looks just like his Dad at this age - I have no idea where Tanner got the redish hair.

Tanner and His Best Bud!

Here is a picture of Tanner and his best bud, Cadin. These two are inseparable and it was fun to see them being so angelic.

Paul's Family

Tonight my grandson's, Paxton and Tanner had their Church Christmas program. I am so thrilled that Paul's family is now very active in their church. The program was darling~ especially the 2 year olds that came in on their Dad's shoulders and were dressed in white robes with red bows and they were flapping their wings. Tanner's group is led by Dawn ( my daughter-in-law) and they sang "Away in the Manger" and Paxton's group(3rd Graders) sang "Joy to the World". It was a really enjoyable, fun evening.

Mike with Santa in 1948

My Mother-in-law gave me this picture of Mike right after we got married. Here is Mike with the same Santa, the same year. It looks like we were about 1,000 children apart, but I guess this was just fate that we would be there the same day. You will notice, that Santa looks so much more pleased with Mike and of course, his mouth is shut!

1948 visit to Santa

When I was 6 years old, a visit to Santa at Famous and Barr was a really big deal. Mom and I rode the Street Car to downtown St.Louis and waited in a very long line to see Santa. Also, it was a very big deal to buy a picture of me sitting on Santa's lap. I remember when the picture came, Mom was really upset because I had my mouth open so big, and I told her~ "well, Mom, I had to tell him everything on my list"! This was the last time I had my picture taken with Santa.

Our mantle - '07

The big Santa picture is new this year. I found him down in St.Louis and put him up right when we got home. The stockings are hung by the chimney with care (Sam put them up for me and arranged them the way he wanted them).

Our Christmas Tree - '07

I haven't got the hang of cropping yet, but I will get better. I have collected Santa's for a very long time, and my tree is filled with Santa's. This is the tree that Mom bought for us back in "82. I just love it because it is a pre-lit tree. Now I have the tradition of my daughter helping me renew the tree each year - we usually end of laughing so hard that we have to stop to catch our breath. Betty - you said you were a visual learner - so, finally, here it is.

Skip and LouAnn

We spent the evening with Skip and LouAnn enjoying pizza and laughter! You will have to notice the picture of Laura and George on the refigerator (which was for my benefit)! I just ignored it and they didn't say a word.

Jimmy and Katie

Katie and Jimmy are growing up so much. Katie is in the 5th Grade and Jimmy is a 7th Grader. I am so happy that they are family!

Snow, Snow and More Snow

I have just finished cleaning off our double wide, steep driveway for the second time today~have I told you all how much I would love living in Florida. I love to walk on the beach and collect shells~ I do not like shoveling snow and chipping ice!
I'm hoping with our new 4 wheel drive that we can make it to church tomorrow morning and then attend Paxton and Tanner's Christmas program in the evening. There have been so many things cancelled over the last week, but my family really can count there blessings because we have all continued to have our power on. I have several friends up in St.Joseph, MO that have not had power for a week. I think I heard something about winter starting on the 22nd - I don't think Old Man Winter has looked at the calendar.
I hope all my family and friends are warm and safe this December night!

I'm thinking a Miracle!

This new program surely has a mind of it's own - maybe while I am iced in I will be able to figure it out, it sure likes to block everything and this old dog is not smart enought to jump over the firewalls. The kids are all out of school today and so many programs cancelled today~ I just hope it all clears out before the Christmas break.
I just enjoy all of my cousin's pictures so much - I am determined to master this. Right now everything I scan to blog comes up as wallpaper, so I am enjoying the pictures of Jimmy and Katie - just can't get them to you all.
Hope you are staying warm, we have dogged the big bullet like Oklahoma and right now it is just raining and melting away the 1/2 " of ice. The temp is staying above freezing right now and should drop back down this afternoon - it is really pretty outside right now ( you just have to take my word for it)!

Welcome to my 2nd Retirement!!!

I finished my long term sub. job just before Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful family gathering here at the house - just our kids and grandkids. Then on Friday we headed down to St.Louis for a great visit with family and friends. We did go over to Skip and LouAnn's house for one evening. I just can't get over how their kids have grown and we sure enjoyed our evening with them.
I have a new computer and at this point I'm not greatly impressed with the new Vista program. It is really giving me fits, but I will try to post this and a couple of pictures of Skip and his family.

Today is dedicated to my special Cousins!

ATTITUDE IS EVERTHING

There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror and noticed she had only there hairs on her head.
Well, she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today", so she did and had a wonderful day!
The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed she had two hairs on her head.
"H-M-M" she said, "I think I'll part my hair down the middle." -so she did and had a grand day!
The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed she had only one hair on her head.
"Well" she said, "today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail." So she did and had a fun, fun day!
The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head.
"Yeah!" she explained, "I don't have to fix my hair today!"
ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING
Be kinder than necessary for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly~
Leave the rest to God!