A December To Remember....

Eloise had two chorus concerts and played the violin at our church's talent show.

I always enjoy the challenge of turning little bits of ribbon and trinkets into a Christmas treasure.

This month was mostly fun, but Eloise did have to get a little dental work done which made her face a little droopy for a while. Carmen didn't want her to be alone so she made her face droopy too. After that they tried to smile....It didn't work so well for Eloise.

We made Rudolph sandwiches for Eloise's Sunday School class.

We found out what happens when you leave junk food out on the counter.....

....strange things happen....

....and you get MICE!!!!!....

(Christmas treats we made for family.)

The only things better than all the tasty treats were the smiles on every one's faces.

My Sissy, Wu Wu, and Ting Ting.

Eloise got a horse and cowgirl outfit for her doll and lots of books.

Hubby received some new boots, a belt, this book, & a pen with Eloise's picture in it.

Hubby and Eloise bought me a sewing machine and a few extras (i.e. bobbins, pins, etc..) to replace the ones I lost in the storm.

***Note: we received bunches of other greatly appreciated stuff from Gran, Grandpa, Maw Maw, Paw Paw, other relatives, and friends. The items above are simply what My husband daughter, and I got for each other.

This truly was a wonderful Christmas season for us.

We trust that yours was a delight as well.

We pray that the Lord will be with all of you and your families in the coming New Year.

SEE YOU IN 2009!

What Christmas Means To Us #5.....

Spending time with the family.....

Holiday baking.....

Smiles......

Giggles....

Oodles o' ribbon.....

Oodles o' red....

"Oh trinkles my dear. Oh drinkles and skinkles of fun. It's Christmas...Christmas...Christmas Eve Oh my there's a lot to be done!"

" Then it's zippity jingle and dash away ping. Hang holly and berries in all of the halls. Tie tassels on all of the thermostats and write Merry Christmas on all of the walls."

"Let's jingle to bed. Now there's a good girl. Let's have no tears of sorrow. Let's close our eyes and sleep...sleep....sleep so we can carry on tomorrow."



**Quotes from: Eloise At Christmas Time **

(we love love love this book!)

What Christmas Means To Us #4.....

Christmas means making sacrifices and giving freely

so that those who come after you may reap the benefits.

(Arlington Cemetery at Christmas)

**I did not take this photo. It was sent to me.**

What Christmas Means To Us #3.....

Acres of live oaks dripping with moss and holiday brilliance.....

Lighted horses & a tour through the rose gardens....

Friends, Family, and live Christmas music .......

(Eloise sang with the chorus from school this year.)

Carousel rides, a Ferris Wheel & hot cocoa....

Even our alligators are full of holiday cheer.

Merry Christmas from N'awlins Y'all!

P.S. I'm going to change that one picture rule....I just can't abide by it! LOL

What Christmas means to us #2.......

I know I said the rule was 1 picture a day, but I couldn't choose....Sorry!

Seasons Greetings from Louisiana!

One of the things I love/hate about southern Louisiana at Christmas is the crazy weather patterns. One day I look out my windows and its snowing and the very next day the weather is beautiful and this is what the sunset looks like from my front porch. Unpredictable weather can bring in multiple rounds of the flu, but some times it brings a lovely surprise.

What Christmas Means To Us......

I saw this Idea on another blog. The way it's supposed to go is every day in the month of December you post one picture of anything that is a part of your holidays (i.e. cookies you baked, presents you wrapped, your child's favorite Christmas book, etc...) If there is a little story that goes with your pic... do tell! I love this idea, but as usual I'm a little late. I also never posted about the banquet so I decided to go ahead and do that today. It will make up for the 13 days that I missed. So I will start tomorrow posting 1 picture a day.

Every year since I was 13 I have spent the first Saturday evening in December at our church's Christmas Banquet. We missed one year because we were on our honeymoon, but the church we visited invited us to theirs so technically we've never missed. We have so much fun. Usually we are involved with the entertainment and games, but this year I was overwhelmed with school so we let the youth leader and his wife handle it. They did a great job.

Above: Some of our youth participated in the skits.

It wouldn't be a banquet without door prizes! One year we actually brought out an old door.


Unwrapping presents with oven mitts is always a fun sport.

Kevin & Anna were so busy entertaining us that I was unable to get a normal shot, but here they are in one of the skits. Next year I'll have to make sure I snap one before you guys change.

Above: My Pastor and his beautiful wife.





Above & Below: Just Us!

P.S. I'm kinda aggravated because I took a beautiful picture of "Plain Old Kristi" and her hubby and it's missing off of my chip! I went to Walgreen's to develop some pics to give to my friends. The machine messed up and printed 12 copies of Kristi's pic and forgot to print the 11 others that I ordered of other people. Now to top that off the machine seems to have eaten the image because it's not here. Oh well at least there are several copies floating around out there!