Merry Christmas!

Well, here it is again - already! I feel like we just packed up all the Christmas decorations from last Christmas. I've done lots of baking this year and loved every minute of it. That's mainly because of my lovely, big kitchen! It's so nice to have room to move - what a treat! Bern is enjoying it, too - the baking, I mean. I made brownies from scratch today - never done that before. They're really yummy. I also made some cookies based on shortbread, except I used 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of powdered sugar and 3/4 cup of butter. They were flatter and crispier than shortbread, but soooo good! I made up a plate of goodies for James and one for Coby.

We had a lovely call from Brent this morning. It was only 7:30 a.m. and we were still in bed - Brent was teaching class! He said his little students were writing a quiz and when they finished, he was going to let them go home early for Christmas. They don't celebrate Christmas, but since their teacher does, they got the benefit. He said he doesn't dress up as Santa anymore, though. He just passes out candy canes. Says he's getting to old!! He called to ask about marinating steak. He and Tammy found steak sauce in a store and were so excited they went in search of steak! It was great talking to him. We will call them both tomorrow so we can wish Tammy a Merry Christmas, too. We're praying that some day, she will hold the significance of this holiday in her heart.

All our Christmas lights are turned on, the candles are lit, and we're settling in with eggnog and cookies to watch some Christmas specials on TV. Bern's been feeling very ill the last few days with a bad cold and bad back - and, as you ladies all know, there's nothing worse than a sick man!! Anyway, he seems to be a bit better this afternoon. He should be good to go by tomorrow.

We're planning to be back home by Sunday so expect a nice long report on our Christmas travels.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas
and wonderful New Year.

God bless you all!