Christmas!

Our Christmas week started with a night of caroling on the 21st. A group from church met at Glenwood Gardens and while Justice played his guitar and Tim played his violin, the rest of us sang carols and passed around cookies. What a fun night!

On Wednesday we had dinner with our good friends the Leamans and DeCarlos. Would you believe this is the only picture I took?! Sad. But we had a great time. :-)

On Christmas Eve, we headed to Santa Maria to spend the evening with Patrick & Debra! Debra made her amazing runzas pictured here. Someday I need to learn how to make these!!
We also got the chance to see Uncle Bill, who we haven't seen since our wedding! It was a fun evening and so good to see everyone.
We got back to Bakersfield late, later than planned due to some nasty fog as we got close to home. But we made it and the pets were all glad to see us back. Patrick and Debra gave us a beautiful Family Bible that we used the next morning to read the Christmas story.
On a little side note, the fog was really annoying to drive in but made for a dramatic and gorgeous Christmas morning! Erik called me to come see when he let the dogs out in the morning.
When I went to unlock the front door I discovered that a package had been delivered while we were away. It was like Santa had come to our doorstep!
Surprise--it's a kitten! (the box was the best Christmas present Nuri could have asked for) Ha!
It was full of goodies from Mom. :-)
It was such a lovely morning that I left the door open for a bit. I had to grab the camera when all four pets lined up and looked out together.
In the early afternoon we had some wonderful friends come and celebrate with us!
The girls were excited to pull out the Barbies after lunch.
The little ones came in their new Dr. Seuss pjs--how cute are they?!
We played some paper games . . .
and sang some carols while Connie played the piano.
Evalyn brought some crocheted gifts for everyone!

Colleen

Wayne & Connie

The Gradowitz Family
It was such a nice way to spend the day!

On Sunday we heard a great sermon (not sure if this week's is actually up and posted yet), and in the evening the DeCarlos came for leftovers and some relaxed hang out time. I didn't take pictures, but Becky did snap this shot of Meredith, all dressed up and riding the rocking horse.
On Tuesday we prepared for one more celebration.
Ben & Pei came for the day! We haven't seen them for ages and it was so fun that they could come and hang out and help eat up the leftovers (yes, there still were leftovers!) Pei's back had finally started feeling better and she was back at work, but recently her shoulder has been really bothering her and she can barely lift her right arm. Please be praying for her to heal completely!
So that was our Christmas. :-) The leftovers are pretty much gone, but I have a giant pot of stock that will make some yummy soup when I get to it.

Other than that, the rain continues on and off and it's gotten pretty chilly. Erik has been watching the weather closely as his route takes him up into the mountains and snow can make his drive difficult. Snow in the mountains means chains required, and if chains are required he needs to find a different (and always longer) route to get to his stores. Tonight though, due to a Winter Storm warning and snow all the way down to 1500', they didn't even load for his store in Oakhurst. Hopefully he'll have a snow-free easy night!

In other news, we're looking forward to a visit from our friends Theresa & Anthony this weekend to ring in the New Year!

I thought I'd close with a little Tour of Trees, both near and far:

Our tree (and our new skirt!)
Patrick & Debra's tree
Noelle & Andy sent this picture of their tree
Ben & Pei's tree
April & Ben sent this picture of their tree
I hope your Christmas was full of family and friends, good food and fun, but mostly that you had time to reflect and give thanks for the most wonderful gift of all!

Happy Christmas.

And the Rains Came Tumbling Down

I miss rain! We don't get a whole lot in Bakersfield. When we do I'm the first to breathe a sigh of relief and go outside to smell the wet air. Rain dampers down the dirty air, allowing us to see the mountains that surround our valley. I'm always grateful, and I always laugh as natives of California start moaning about how we're never going to see the sun again.

Well, it's raining! It's been raining for three days. Not pouring, just raining. Slow and steady. But California isn't like Wisconsin. Ben & I discovered that in Altadena too, where there is so much pavement there isn't anywhere for the water to go--even small amounts of rain cause nervous driving and minor flooding. But it's more than lots of pavement in Bakersfield; we're built on what used to be a swamp. And after three days of rain, with a grand total of just over three inches of rain when I last heard, this is what we're seeing not too far away from us:And downtown today:
Roads are closed, we are in a state of local emergency, the back yard is completely flooded, and our roof is leaking again. Boo. But things are much worse in other areas around Kern County.

It's crazy to think that three inches of rain can wreak so much havoc, but think of it in these terms: our annual rainfall is around six inches, so getting half of that in three days makes it a little easier to understand.

On a lighter note, we've been so busy lately that the poor dogs have been neglected so we decided to remedy that on Sunday afternoon. Figuring that there wouldn't be a lot of folks out in the rain, we took the dogs to the park.

We saw some fall color . . .
And the lake that has grown up in the middle of the dog park!
Erik showing off his muddy leg and arm after a slip in the mud
Happy Dog
Muddy Dog
With everyone out of school for Christmas vacation, and with large amounts of water everywhere, this was a predictable sight:
These guys were having a leisurely paddle until someone's swimming dog caught sight of them and started making for the raft. I never saw anyone paddle so fast! Ha!
Other people had the same idea (Thomas thought he'd check things out).
Much fun was had by all. :-)
As we headed for the gate, Thomas started chasing birds. I don't think they knew he existed, but he was in earnest! I thought he was going to run into something as he raced around looking UP.
Wet Dogs
After getting them home and dried off, we headed back to church to watch "White Christmas" on the big screen, then stopped to celebrate Christmas with the youth group (REALITY) at their Christmas Party. A nice end to a busy week and weekend!

Quick Re-cap of the Past Week

Friday

• Worked at the Food Pantry/Coat Closet
• Decorated two tables for the Christmas Tea with Julie (pictured below at the tea, peeking from behind the sparkling cider and little tree)
• Heard the sad news that the best friend of Michelle (one of our good friends here) had passed away
• Welcomed Noelle & Andy when they arrived late in the night
  

Saturday Noelle & I went to the tea. Here she is with my friend Becky, who sat at our table.
We listened to the music of the hammered dulcimer . . . Ate yummy food . . . heard a great message . . . and basically just had a quiet couple of hours amid the maelstrom that is the season.This is our pastor's wife, the wonderful Kelly with her niece Mikayla (who is in my Sunday school class). Kelly is the organizing force behind the annual Christmas Tea!The mouse cookies were so cute I had to take a picture.Ella and Cora were the creators of those beauties!Their mom Amanda (pictured with their new sister Lillian) may have helped a little.One of my favorite parts of the tea is when we light the candles and sing Silent Night at the very end (there are more pictures from the tea on the church Facebook page).
When we got home, we played a rousing game of Munchkin with the boys (I WON!) and then they headed out to Man vs. Food (they ate grilled tri-tip and a lot of other food and watched some UFC--much fun was had by all).

While they were gone, Noelle & I went and got a Christmas tree! The boys worked on the lights when they got home while we cleaned up all the china from the tea.
On Sunday, we had an impromptu Thanksgiving-ish meal after church. Mmm . . . that turkey was MOIST! Then Noelle and Andy hit the road and we got ready for the Christmas program and potluck--no rest for the weary! The program was cute and the kids did a great job. I have no pictures because I was busy shoving angels and shepherds on stage from the side. Hopefully there will be some on the church Facebook page soon.

Monday night we had our First Aid/CPR class, one of the steps in becoming certified to provide respite care for our friends' foster kiddo(s). This Monday we're getting fingerprinted!

On Tuesday, Becky called to say that they'd gotten a call and she needed to drive to Madera (a little over 2 hours away) to pick up their first placement. Dominic couldn't get off work early enough, so I was lucky enough to go along! We were so impressed by the staff at the Children's Hospital--what wonderful folks. Now we are praying alongside Becky and Dominic as the roller coaster of foster care begins!
That's all I've got. This Saturday we're helping Michelle with the funeral. Say a prayer for her and her family, and for Amber's mother who lost her husband only a couple of months ago.