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.