Christmas Cookies

Every year on the Saturday before Christmas Ken and I have an Open House. Now if Christmas is on a Sunday, Monday or Tuesday we usually push it back another week so as not to interfere with Holiday plans others may have. I was asked the other day by a co-worker how long I had been doing this and why I continue to do this year after year. I had to stop and think about how long I have been doing this but not the reason why we started this "Tradition".
We moved from California to Kansas in 1971 and in 1972 we lived in McLouth, Kansas. Since we did not have any family close by other than Ken's brother Jim who lived in Topeka, we thought about inviting the Church members who were in town to stop by for some cookies and punch on the Saturday before Christmas. I don't remember how many people dropped by that afternoon, but it sure was cute to see Christy in her fancy Christmas skirt I had made running to the door and crying out "Merry Kissmas and Happy You Near" to each of the guests as they arrived. The next May our family grew by one with the birth of Jason. Once he got old enough, he would race Christy to the door to welcome the visitors.
In the years since then, there have only been two or three times when we have not had our open house. The menu has changed from just cookies and punch to include such regulars as Meatballs & Summer Sausage, Cheese Wreaths, Chocolate Peanutbutter Balls, and of course Cookies and punch. I usually over prepare and have tons of left overs.
Each year I try to find at least one new receipe to try out. Some have been huge successes and some. . .well no one actually got to try those. . .they were a total disaster. Last year I made Christmas Eve Mice. Huge success! ! Except that they were so cute no one wanted to eat them. They all asked for a napkin to wrap it up in so they could take it home and show it to their friends.
This year both Christy and Jason will once again be back home on the Saturday before Christmas. Once again we have invited friends and family to drop by for some home made goodies. This time, no doubt, some of their children may race to the door to welcome our guests and wish them a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
In the 36 years that we have been holding our Open House we have been blessed to have many friends and family share in our Christmas Tradition. The one thing that we try to share with those who come to our house is that the reason we celebrate Christmas is NOT about the presents we give and receive from our friends and family. The reason we celebrate and open our house is to share the greatist Gift ever given, The Lord Jesus.
So if you are in the area between 1 and 5"ish" on the 20th of Dec. stop on by and share some Christmas joy with us as we celebrate the Reason for the Season.

Back to the Real World

Well. . . Vacation is over and it is back to the real world for me.

I had a great time with Jason, Karyn, Nathanael and Matthew, and Sharon. I missed having my Hubby Ken with me though. I would have loved to see him Parasail with the rest of us. That experience was the highlight of our Cruise for me. We have Cruised to Mexico before but have never parasailed. I thought I would be scared since I have a fear of heights but that was not the case in the least.

When we got back to San Diego on Saturday, I called Ken to let him know we would be getting off the Ship in one of the first groups. That way we could get to the Santa Fe Train Station and get our tickets for Amtrack and make our way to Irvine. (That was the original plan) Ken told me that Southern California was experiencing major fires in numerous places and that we needed to try to change our (Mine and Sharon's) Train to the earliest possible train because the Freeways were being closed and it might take us longer to get home.
We went to breakfast and after we had eaten we started to make our way to the waiting area for debarcation. I spotted one of the Cruise Directors and decided to talk to her about our delima. She was able to move us up to the first ones off after VIP. We were in the group of passengers who had early "Flights" to catch. Thank You Weezey! ! ! I called Ken to up date him on our progress and he said to try to get the ticket changed to take us all the way to Santa Barbara and they would meet us there.
Getting off the Ship was quick and easy compared to some of our other experiences. We then made our way to the Train Station and stood in line for about 10 minutes. We were able to change our tickets and take the next train (it was waiting on the track) and we were able to take it all the way to Santa Barbara.
Let's see Car-Ship-Boat-ParaSail-Train-Car. . . .yep, that pretty much says it all.

Not packed yet

I guess I SHOULD be getting my stuff together so that I can start packing my bags. I am going on vacation but I haven't started to pack yet.

I guess I SHOULD be thinking about what I want to take with me, so that I can start getting my stuff together so that I can start packing.

I did make a packing list. So. . .I guess I SHOULD go print it off so that I can start thinking about what I want to take and I can start getting my stuff together and start packing.

If I keep this up much longer, I will have to start un-packing. . .so. . .good-by for now. I will let you know later how wonderful my vacation was.

Did I tell you I am going on a cruise with Two of my Grandsons?

I'm such a lucky Grandma. ;-0

Near Catastrophy - Times Two

Yesterday I worked at our office in Cambria. It was a pretty UN-eventful day until about 15 minutes till closing time.

It had been a relatively warm day in Cambria and one of the employees had oppened the front door and the back door in order to let the nice ocean breeze blow through. Unfortunatly a humming bird flew in the back door and couldn't find his way back outside. He kept flying in big circles close to the ceiling and weaving in and out of all the halloween decorations that they have hanging from the ceiling. It was wierd watching him go around ghosts, bats, spiders and pumpkins. It was also very dizzing because humming birds fly very fast.

Add to the equasion that there is one of the staff that is petrified of birds, and you can just imagine the site. Here I was trying to swat at the humming bird as it sped past me and then losing my balance due to the fact that I was spinning around trying to keep my eyes on him. Finally two of us were able to shoo him out the back door and lock him outside.

Then it was time for me to balance my cash and secure it in the vault. Without revealing too much about the workings and layout of the vault, let me just say that I was not visable to the other staff members at that time. I heard someone yell "Don't shut the vault yet. Mary's still in there!!!!" Whew. . .that was close. . . .if that person hadn't seen me walk into the vault, I might still be in there. HA HA HA

Sunday Morning Special Music

Have you ever practiced something and were confident that you had everything just right only to have something go terribly wrong? Well that is what sort of happened to me this past Sunday. I got to Church early and went over the song that I was going to sing that morning. We got the volume just right and I knew the words by heart. This was a song I had sung many times before and I was ready.

By way of introduction I mentioned a time in 1969 when someone at work asked me what song I was humming and I said "He Touched Me". The person then said with a very "worldly" tone, "that sounds like fun" . I was too shy at that time to reply that the Song was about God's Touch on our lives and not about man's touch. Then I nodded to Ken (he was running the sound board) to let him know I was ready for the music. And then. . . . . . nothing happened. I told him "Trac 4" He said "Nothing is happening". . . so I said. . . "Well, I think I know this song well enough to sing it without the music. . . . .I began to hum the intro to get the key, and then I sang the song a capella.

It went very well, and it just proves that God's Hand truly is on us when we trust in His power to accomplish things for His Glory and not our own.

Looking Forward To. . . . . . .

Vacation. . . . .

In November while Ken is at the State Convention in San Diego, I will be taking a Cruise with Jason, Karyn, Nathanael and Matthew. Oh yeah, and my BFF Sharon is going to be my room-mate. Yippee, Yay, Hoorah!!! Sharon's hubby Dewey gets to spend the week with Ken. (Will they go to the convention or play hookey????)

To get to the Ship we will be driving down the night before and staying at Jason & Karyns house. Then we will caravan to the port, say goodby to the two guys and board the Carnival Elation. I will have to fill you in later on details of our trip but once it is over Sharon and I have to get from San Diego to Irvine because while we were gone our Husbands will have attended the afore mentioned Convention and will have traveled to Irvine for a 3 day (?) training class. My wonderful Husband got on line and booked us on AmTrac from San Diego to Irvine so that we will arrive close to the time they will be finished with their training.

In the span of one week we will have traveled by Car, Ship and Train.

I think I will need a vacation from my vacation once I get back home.

Right & Left Grand then Prominade Home

Well here I am in my finest shirt , fancy pants and red bandana, doing my best to keep up with the caller.
This was taken at the Mother-Daughter Retreat that Christy and I went to this month. She is in the center of the picture on the far side also wearing a white shirt and fancy pants. Someone in red is blocking her.
We had loads of fun even though it rained all day on Saturday.