December

Wow, Dec. is almost gone! Now the days are getting longer already! It has been a busy month for us, as usual. My B'day on the 10th was very nice. Tamara brought me a latte first thing in the morning, Ernie made pancakes and bacon for breakfast, and then I opened his gift to me, a DVD camcorder! What a surprise. The nice thing is that I can put my SD card in it, and it's my digital camera, also.
Then we BOUGHT a Christmas tree~the first time in our married lives! Ernie's always been working somewhere where we could find a free one. But this year there wasn't anything good-looking where he's logging, so we broke down and bought one. It's lovely tho, and has the perfect full shape! The needles are so dry, we have them all over the gifts! I don't think I'll keep it up long after Sunday.
Anyway, back to the 10th. Ernie and I went out for a nice dinner at a new cafe in town, and then came back here where all the kids had gathered to decorate the tree. We also opened our Christmas name gifts, since Terran and Naomi are going to Olympia, WA for Christmas. So it was a great evening, even with time to play the 'dictionary' game. (It's Balderdash without the cards and board)
Now that alot of shopping for gifts, here in Montrose and also Grand Junction, is done, and some baking (I still want to make fudge), we're ready for Christmas. It's been nice having Ernie home this week, but not for any reason you may think of. He hurt his back on Friday, but had an appointment with the chiropractor on Monday already, so he still worked all day Saturday. That's was did him in!! All day Sunday he was down on his knees, leaning over a chair seat. That's the only position that felt good to him. He had pain shooting down his leg regularly, esp. when he moved the wrong way. He's had chirop. sessions for three days now, and we see a bit of let-up today! Tomorrow (Friday) he has one more, and then we'll see what happens over Christmas weekend.
He had way over 50 loads of logs on decks up the mountain to be hauled, and so the trucks can still haul without his being there. Wes gets the week off, too, so he's gone snowboarding in Telluride. So it's felt Christmasy with them home.
We have services at church on Chr. eve and morning, so plan to go to both. Keagan's Sunday School sings at the Chr. eve service, and Tamara is on the worship team on Christmas day. We usually have a good puff pastry breakfast pie, which has layers of potatoes, ham, cheese and egg. It's SO good! Then we'll have our turkey dinner around 1 or 2 p.m., and just veg the rest of the day!
This week was also exciting because of Aleah's arrival! We've been waiting so long, it seems! Now she's here, and can remind us of what it was like at Christ's birth. They have such lovely birthing rooms at the hospital here in Montrose~can't imagine what it would be like to be out in a barn! Thank you Lord for coming anyway!!
MAY YOU ALL HAVE A BLESSED CHRISTMAS!