From Our Family to Yours

 Merry Christmas!

And an Angel of the Lord Appeared to Them Saying, "Fear Not"

I'm just staring at the screen, not sure how to start this. Not that there's anything major going on, probably more the opposite.

I've been taking time in the evenings to watch Christmas movies and drink hot chocolate and really just try to enjoy this season. It sure is going by too fast! We finally got the tree decorated and I have about one-third of the Christmas cards done. We're getting there!

 

We all went out antiquing last week, walking through Snohomish, then having lunch at The Cathouse. It was very eclectic and so fun! The tables were shellacked with all sorts of things, and they even had a full drum set on the ceiling!

 

 

 The small town of Snohomish

 

 

We've had a lot of parties at work the last couple of weeks. our staff party was so fancy! Our office manager really went all out! She had a full charcuterie board (a full 6' table!) plus steak or salmon, brussel sprouts, mashed potatoes... even the decor was so cute. We had a raffle, and games, plus lots of worship. It's such a fun party and I look forward to it every year.

 

I don't know why this has suddenly moved to center align, and it won't let me change it! Ah, you gotta love technology.

We're having our first Christmas this Saturday. Diana and Peter are going to New Jersey for Christmas this year so we're exchanging gifts with them this weekend. Everyone will be here for gifts, then Peter is making lasagna and bread sticks, yum!

Then on the 25th, Sharaya and Ally will come over and the 5 of us will exchange gifts. We didn't want to wake up on Christmas morning with nothing really to do! If I don't get back on here in the next week, I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

 “Glory to God in the highest,
    and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Late

Today I finally finished putting up the Christmas lights outside. We pulled the tree out of the box and got it put up last week and I froofed it a couple days ago. Tonight I got the lights on. We got a Christmas card from my nephew and his family and I told Chuck I haven't even started on ours. Even he was shocked!

I've never been this late preparing for Christmas!

How are you doing? Are you completely decorated?

Chop Chop, Twelve, and Snow!

This past week for me has been much more manageable than last week. I hope you've had a good week too.

Beth and I spent a day shopping. Went to the mall for the first time in a very long time. I was hoping it would be all decorated for Christmas but all they had was a few lights hanging from the ceiling. That was a little disappointing. But we found a few gifts and after a while we got hungry so we stopped at our favorite place, Auntie Anne's! It was a fun mother-daughter day!

 

Diana and Peter found their tree! They drove up into the mountains a cut it down themselves. Their first tree on the west coast. 💖

 

Ally turned 12! This beautiful, smart, funny, kind girl is twelve years old! She came over Thursday afternoon and we made chocolate chip cookies. She didn't want cake for her birthday, she wanted MY chocolate chip cookies! I love this girl! Afterward we all met at Red Robin and she opened her presents. She's growing up too fast!

 

The next day she and Sharaya left for a weekend up in the mountains. They woke up the first morning to snow!! I was a little jealous. They had a fun, relaxing time with friends. (I pulled these from her Instagram page.)

 Do you have your tree yet? 

Do you celebrate Hanukkah?

Turkey Toss, 70, and No Surprise About the Winner

Sorry it's been so long. I've been thinking about you and hope you had a great Thanksgiving.

Last Monday through Thursday I worked 40 hours and walked more than 70,000 steps preparing for our Thanksgiving Outreach. We served 850 people on Thanksgiving Day! A delicious meal, great entertainment, family photos, games, prizes, then those that wanted to could go upstairs to our clothing bank. And everything throughout the day was free. Every year I'm a little more sore at the end of the week, but it really is a privilege to serve our community.

 

A few weeks ago our office manager decided to do a turkey toss. We all went out to the south parking lot and... tossed a turkey! I tried to hide in the back but I was spotted and called to the front. 😁 It was fun though! It was definitely the topic of conversation for the day!

This is me. Gotta love my good form! 😂

 

This was Diana and Peter's first Thanksgiving with us and he brined the turkey. We'd never had it that way but it was really good. The white meat was juicy and tender, like it was falling off the bone. Did you ever brine a turkey? Or eat one? We had all the usual food: green bean casserole, dressing, rolls, Sharaya made the mashed potatoes... for dessert I made an ice box pie and Diana and Peter brought a pumpkin cheesecake. That's something else we'd never had before. 

Then we played Mexican Train. Sharaya won. Again. She wins a lot and we always take the opportunity to tease her about it!

We ate way too much and laughed too hard! Exactly like time with family should be. I hope you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!

Surprised by a Chicken

 I walked into the main storage room at work last week and this greeted me!

Just hanging out by the bleach and the vacuum cleaner bags.

I've asked some of the custodians where it came from but they don't know. We don't know who put it there but it sure puts a smile on my face every time I see it!

We'll be at church on Thursday, helping with our community Thanksgiving outreach. Then our family will have Thanksgiving on Saturday.

I hope you have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Six Month Scan

It's been 6 months since Chuck's last scan, when he was declared cancer free. He feels great and all the side effects from the immunotherapy have disappeared.

He'll be getting these scans every six months for a while so we headed downtown early this morning.

 

We had a few hours between the scan and when we would get the results so he made a different appointment for work since we were already down there. We did a lot of sitting! But we got back to Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and met with his doctor. Bottom line... 

He's still cancer free!!!! 

All of his organs look good, his blood counts are all normal... what a huge relief! The Lord has been so good to us!

Pine Needles, Cozy, and Laughter

I hope you're all having a good weekend. We've got a break in the rain today so we've been cleaning pine needles - millions of pine needles! - off the roof, the storm drains, the driveway...

Almost done!

 

We went over to Diana and Peter's last night and played Chronology. We laughed so hard! Just over the most random things! Laughter really is a good medicine!

I'm home today. The first Saturday in many weeks that I'm not at work. It feels good to just be at home. The rain is supposed to begin again this evening and I plan to be on the couch with the fireplace going and eggnog in my Christmas mug. My house is still decorated for fall but come on, it's not too early for Christmas mugs is it?  😊

Alerts! Peace, and So Grateful

At work yesterday around noon we started getting alerts on our phones about a tornado near us! What?!? This is Seattle! But on the peninsula about 30 miles to the west of us, there was a sighting! We kept track of it but never took any action. A while later they canceled the alert. It sure woke us up though! The weather's been so stormy lately and at 1:15, we lost power. No computers, no printers, we all just hung out in the hallways and offices that had windows. An hour later one of the pastors told us we could all go home. We're at our desks getting our things and wouldn't you know it, the power came back on! We spent the rest of the day talking about how close we were to having the afternoon off! 

I'm still working 6 days a week so I try to keep Wednesdays my own. Today I worked on some greeting cards, the first time in almost a year. I pulled up YouTube on my phone and listened to some quiet worship music while I made them. It was so peaceful.

 

I worked around the house this morning and then took some chairs out to the garage. While I was out there I found all my Christmas mugs! I brought them in and washed them, then had some eggnog and watched a Christmas movie!

I've been thinking of my dad this week. He was on the USS Dixie during WW II and repaired the giant cranes onboard the ship.

 

I'm thankful for all the men and women who have served this great country for centuries. And for all those who are serving today, thank you. May God bless you and your families, and keep you safe.

With Friends Like That...!

Two days after Diana and Peter's reception, we loaded up a Penske truck and moved them across the country. 

We packed up the last few things from Diana's house and Peter came with the truck. His parents arrived and about the time we started hauling things out to the truck... it began to pour!!

I spotted Diana waiting in the car hoping it would slow down before she ran back to the house!

 And about the time we finished, the rain let up. Ahh, life. 😊

 

We all went out for brunch and then the 5 of us headed west. But I want to tell you about a site we saw just outside of Bozeman, Montana. They were doing some construction on the highway, not much, most were just getting off the highway and getting right back on again. But for some reason Google maps took us on this 5 mile detour. 

We're cruising along, trying to enjoy the sights when a pick up pulled out in front of us. We could tell they were locals and we drove along for a few minutes when all of the sudden...

 

This massive dog pops up from the bed of the truck! We couldn't even tell he was back there until he stood up. He was so big and was moving around the back... then we see this little dog pop up on the left side of the truck. I couldn't tell you what kind it was, a terrier I think. It looked like he put his paws up on the wheel well and we could see it's little head. 

And then all of the sudden....