A Town the Boys Built

Lori's son & our grandson, Adam decided early last evening to make
himself a Gingerbread House.  He called a friend and they looked over
the task ahead and decided it would take too long to bake and wait for
all the gingerbread for construction.  So Lori sprinkled some Christmas magic dust on their heads and they started dreaming.  Graham Crackers was the solution! and one house was not enough.  So Adam and his friend called all the elves they knew and the crew of 8 began to plan their house. . .then another house,  then a skyscraper, an airport, a church, a hospital,  a casino, a river, roads, cars and even a poor part of town.  If you look close you will find all these places plus many more ingenious touches these Elves created last night until about 3 am this Christmas Sunday morning!  What a delightful village and all eatable!  I wanted to drive down the streets and taste some gumdrops, M & M's, sprinkles, nuts and jelly beans!  If you look close,  Adam still has his eyes open but barely!  When you build a town,  you either live in it, eat it, move it or tear it down!  I wonder . . .what its future will be?

Snow in Ashland

One inch of snow today and all the schools closed! Since we save all the snow for the higher elevations,  it disturbs everyone when it lingers!

All these years in Ashland,  I have never purchased boots!  But, last year, we all spent Christmas at Lake Tahoe in Nevada. . .so I broke down and purchased winter boots, with zippers and heavy linings which required two pair of double thick socks to fit my narrow feet! (reminiscent of shoe store days in Wakarusa, Indiana)  I went to Tahoe prepared!!  And last year and odd thing happened - no snow at Tahoe!  The mountains were bare!!!  Only artificial snow for skiing!  So, I didn't get to wear my new $40 boots!  This morning,  I was delighted to see the snow and rushed to put my new boots on to be sure they still fit my narrow feet!  And as you can see, my brand new boots are great with my Oregon Shovel!  The push broom is all we have to remove this enormous snow fall.  I have refused to purchase any snow removal equipment and seldom have to drag out this broom.  And yes,  there is still snow on the ground this evening! but most has melted on the roads at our elevation.  But if you coming to visit from California,  you'd better have chains for your car or fly in between storms!  Just maybe,  we'll have some snow left for Christmas!

Thanksgiving in Texas

 Our 10 day adventure in Texas over Thanksgiving was delightful.  As you can see,  the weather stayed between 60 and 80 degrees most of the time. Even the beautiful Passion Flower reminded us of the Creator's touch!   Roly and Candy live on a reservoir about 15 miles outside Corsidana, Texas.  Their lake is down 5 feet.  If rain waits too long,  their boat will be dry docked!!! Fortunately,  we toured the lake several times and were aboard to pull in the 40 pound blue catfish which was released back into the lake!  Joe,  Holly's husband had his hands full for the above photo!  Soon after we arrived,  Ashley, Zack and our new great grand daughter, Alice, arrived for the week-end!  She was an immediate hit!!  This was our first touch with Alice!!! Our babies are special! and Alice delights all of us! After everyone returned home but us,  Roly's bought their 10 foot tree and I helped  him wrap nearly 2000 lights around the Fraser Pine.  Just before we left,  all the lights danced to the tune of our child memories!  Christmas trees touch the tender spot in us all and each year we add to those wonderful child memories that we share together with family & friends!
This is in process and will be continued!!!