Happy New Year

Wow! We have had a very fun Christmas Vacation! We have spent most of the holiday entertaining but we love it. We had Dave's little sister here for a short visit, his brother and his girlfriend and some of her family.
Today we have Dave's cousin, her husband and 5 kids coming for New Year's Eve. We are planning to go to the Hot Springs in Fairmont, Montana. Then tonight we are going to Fondue. We love to fondue, it is a great way to entertain and it takes forever to eat!!! :-)

The kids (and all of us) we had a Great Christmas. The kids loved their gifts and entertaining too!
Here are a few pics of the Holiday.

Have a fun, happy and SAFE New Years.
Hope you are thinking of all the things you want to accomplish in the New Year and/or even in the New decade. Can't believe it is a new decade already, where did the 00's go?

Merry Christmas....Another Christmas Story

Old Tradition Based on Good Example Debra Oaks Coe (c) all rights reserved Most people are aware that the origin of Santa Claus is Saint Nicholas, but many aren't completely aware of who he was and what he represents. Saint Nicholas was a very real person who was born as the only child to wealthy parents around 270 A.D. in what is now Turkey. Upon the death of his parents while he was yet relatively young, he inherited a rather large sum of money. It is said that he was already a religious boy and that soon after the death of his parents, he dedicated his life to serving Jesus Christ. He became very well known for his love of children and generosity to the poor. His method of giving was generally more in the form of throwing a bag of money into a window, or putting gold coins in the stockings of the needy as they hung out to dry. There are many legends that go with the type of person St. Nicholas was. One of the better-documented accounts of his generosity tells of a family who was starving with no money for food much less money for a dowry so the father could marry off his three daughters. The father was considering sending at least the oldest out to earn money as a prostitute. When the young Nicholas heard of this, he went during the night to a window of the home and threw in a bag of gold coins. In the morning they found the gold; they now had money for food and a dowry as well. The daughter kept her honor. Because there were two other sisters, the young Nicholas threw in two more bags of coins on two other occasions. By the third time, the father wanted to know whom the benefactor was and watched until finally he caught the lad after he threw the third bag of money. It is reported that Nicholas was very upset that someone knew of his acts of charity and made the father promise not to tell anyone who had helped his family. Eventually he became the bishop of the church in Myra where he was known for more great acts of charity. One legend said that some children were captured by a group of pirates that threatened to take the children to be sold as slaves if some large amount of money was not given to them. This bishop is said to have gotten the money himself and given it to the pirates to save the children. During this period of history, the Romans were still persecuting Christians with their infamous cruelties including throwing them to the lions, etc. Although the worst persecution of the Christians had just taken place about 250 A.D. under the reign of Decius Trajan, there had been relative peace in the later part of the century. But in 303 A.D., the last of the great Roman persecutions began. The Roman Emperor Diocletian was persuaded again to suppress the Christian religion. Those who would not give up following the Lord, Jesus Christ, and turn over their sacred books would be either killed or put in prison. Those who went to prison were cruelly tortured. According to Elder B.H. Roberts in Outlines of Ecclesiastical History, page 128: "The constancy of all the Christians, no, not even that of all the their bishops and clergy, was equal to this trial, and many voluntarily surrendered the sacred writings in their possession to save themselves from punishment and death." During this period, charges were made up that allowed the government to throw all Bishops and ministers in prison. An edict authorized the officials to use severe torture to force these church leaders to make sacrifices to the pagan gods. The hope was that if the leaders could be defeated, and forced to give worship to other gods, their people would follow. Many great men suffered and died in defense of their faith in Christ. St. Nicholas was among these bishops. This part of Saint Nicholas is not legend, it is part of history. While he lived in a world where apostasy from Christianity was all around him, he stood for what he believed. Saint Nicholas was one of the few who survived Diocletian's torture chambers. This is where he gained his title Saint; for those who did survive were called "saints" by the people in honor of their great devotion to Jesus Christ. Saint Nicholas was freed when the new Emperor Constantine came to power. It is said that as he reentered Myra, the people flocked around him in his honor. He may have been beaten and tortured, but he was not broken. He went on to serve the people for many more years giving service and adding to the legends of his great goodness. To me this is a story of a man who did his best to serve his God and apply the principles taught by Jesus Christ. It is one that is worthy of being pasted down to our children. How we went from stories of this ancient priest to our present day Santa Claus, is yet another entire story. However, I found it interesting to learn that many of these changes began in New York in 1822 just as the true gospel was about to be restored. We had the good fortune of spending over seven years in Germany as a family. In this country, Saint Nicholas is still called by that name, not Santa Claus. He is a priest with a normal sized body who wears a plain robe, without fur, that is not necessarily red. He has no magical powers or magical reindeer and elves -- he rides a donkey that he must coax along. Our children attended German school for several years. In these schools they still tell the legends of this good man and his love and concern for children and the poor. Saint Nicholas day is December 6th, the day that the real Saint Nicholas died. On the night of the December 5th is when he leaves his presents and the children put their shoes by the door for him. Because this Saint Nicholas is more human, he doesn't come down the chimney nor can he put his finger to the side of his nose and go back up to the roof top. December 25th and 26th (they have two days for Christmas) is a time only for the celebration of the birth of Christ. We have adopted many of these German customs. We tell our children about Saint Nicholas rather than Santa Claus and we celebrate his example on the 6th. I explain that it is the example and spirit of generosity that lives on. We try to give our children opportunities to play this secret role of giving to other families so that they too can feel of this spirit. I believe that as Christians ourselves we should be promoting a Christian emphasis for the holiday. Statistics show that only 21% consider this a time to think about the birth of the Savior. For most people in America, Santa Claus is the only level celebrated. But even Santa Claus is a thread for these people back to Christianity. Perhaps we can spread the word of who this man was and help them understand that if the real Saint Nicholas were here to celebrate with us, he would tell us to look to the Son of God. I believe he would also be reminding us that we are celebrating a Holy Day and that this is the original meaning of the word Holiday. As Christmas draws nearer I hope we can all keep the true Spirit of Christ in our celebrations. Merry Christmas to you ALL!

Charlie Brown

Well, we finally got our tree up! After realizing time is running out and that we weren't getting anymore of it....no matter how much I wished. Reality set in and I went to the local hardware store and bought a Christmas. It is the Charlie Brown-"iest" tree you have EVER seen! But after a little bit of love it actually is pretty darn cute. I haven't taken a picture of it yet, so stay tuned for pics. Many to follow. :-)

It is really beginning to LOOK and feel alot like CHRISTmas!

I am so ready for Christmas Vacation, days off and just hanging out with the family. I hope we have lots of snow, so we can play outside.

Here is a Christmas Story for you today:

True Christmas Spirit

Author Unknown

It was only four days before Christmas. The spirit of the season hadn't yet caught up with me, even though cars packed the parking lot of our local discount store. Inside the store, it was worse. Shopping carts and last minute shoppers jammed the aisles. Why did I come today? I wondered. My feet ached almost as much as my head.

My list contained names of several people who claimed they wanted nothing but I knew their feelings would be hurt if I didn't buy them anything. Buying for someone who had everything and deploring the high cost of items, I considered gift-buying anything but fun. Hurriedly, I filled my shopping cart with last minute items and proceeded to the long checkout lines.

I picked the shortest line but it looked as if it would mean at least a 20 minute wait. In front of me were two small children - a boy of about 5 and a younger girl. The boy wore a ragged coat. Enormously large, tattered tennis shoes jutted far out in front of his much too short jeans. He clutched several crumpled dollar bills in his grimy hands. The girl's clothing resembled her brother's. Her head was a matted mass of curly hair. Reminders of an evening meal showed on her small face. She carried a beautiful pair of shiny, gold house slippers.

As the Christmas music sounded in the store's stereo system, the girl hummed along, off-key
but happily. When we finally approached the checkout register, the girl carefully placed the shoes on the counter. She treated them as though they were a treasure. The clerk rang up the bill. "That will be $6.09," she said. The boy laid his crumpled dollars atop the stand while he searched his pockets. He finally came up with $3.12. "I guess we will have to put them back, " he bravely said. "We will come back some other time, maybe tomorrow." With that statement, a soft sob broke from the little girl. "But Jesus would have loved these shoes, " she cried. "Well, we'll go home and work some more.

Don't cry. We'll come back," he said. Quickly I handed $3.00 to the cashier. These children had waited in line for a long time. And, after all, it was Christmas. Suddenly a pair of arms came
around me and a small voice said, "Thank you, lady." "What did you mean when you said Jesus would like the shoes?" I asked. The boy answered, "Our mommy is sick and going to heaven. Daddy said she might go before Christmas to be with Jesus." The girl spoke, "My Sunday school teacher said the streets in heaven are shiny gold, just like these shoes. Won't mommy be beautiful walking on those streets to match these shoes?" My eyes flooded as I looked into her tear streaked face. "Yes" I answered, "I am sure she will."

Silently I thanked God for using these children to remind me of the true spirit of giving.

Long Live Cowboys

This past weekend Dave and I, along with another couple friend went to Vegas. We left very early Thursday morning and got to Vegas around noon! Perfect time to hit Vegas! Nothing happens in Vegas much before evening time. That city never sleeps, it is so true.

Thursday we tooddled around the BIG city. I had my first Hooters restaurant experience, actually, gotta admit the food wasn't that bad. The waitresses were awful but the food.....not too bad!

Then we went out the South Pointe and checked all that out.

Friday we took in Cowboy Christmas at Vegas Convention Center......needless to say it was awesome and we got some great autographs. Went to Flint's Outside the Barrel show. It was a riot! Bill Engvall even showed up. I was star-struck. Need I say more?
Friday night rodeo and then Downtown Vegas.

Saturday we took in Cowboy Marketplace, more Cowboy Celebrities and shopping. I made some sweet purchases on Saturday (I am spoiled)! Saturday night rodeo and then it was the stripe and our last night there!

The weekend went way too fast....I wasn't ready to go home.
Home greeted us with freezing temps oh and that thing called REALITY.

Vegas was great and I hope we can do it again, in about 5 years. Dave and I went about 5 years ago to the NFR and had such a blast I was glad we had the opportunity to go again.

Needless to say, I am completely star-struck by all the Cowboy Celebrities that we got to meet, greet and have autograph pictures for our children! :-)

Here are a few pics from the weekend.
Enjoy! I know I will.

Vegas BaBy!

We are going to Las Vegas tomorrow morning, flight leaves at 7:30am......yikes! That is going to be an early morning. But it will be well worth it right?

Earlier this fall our friends won the bid on some tickets to the NFR and they invited us to go along! How could we pass that up? We really have NO business going to Vegas right know but sometimes you just gotta Do IT!!!

It will be a fun little trip, will be fast but weekend get-aways are always worth it!

I'll post pictures of our trip when we return.

Until then, stay warm.
And enjoy the beginnings of your holidays season!
Just in case you were wondering 23 days until Christmas.....................YIKES!

Some Random Pics I found on google images