Small Group Christmas Decorating...

Pat, Chris, Stephan, and Jennifer take on the task of decorating the foyer at church....

Jennifer untangles lights.....

....our Minister of Atmosphere works hours (or was it a minute!) on this project!....

And what's with that HAT?

Zoe is Teeing It Up In Basketball Again This Year...

....and her Dad puts them in stiches with his officiating!

Last Evening Pat and I Attended Tree Lightings With the Kids and Grandkids.....

......Pat, Meg, Alyssa and Hailey enjoyed the lighting of the Courthouse in downtown Newark........

...while I visited the Longaberger Homestead

.....to be entertained by members of the department I used to work for..........

........reunited with friends Angie Jordan and Amy Stockdale.....

......and enjoed time with Sandra, Cheryl, Wes, Zoe and Addy.

.....the two stars over the Crawford Barn created a beautiful night scene.

......... fireworks exploded.........

....to the music of Oh Holy Night........

..........as Zoe and Addy looked on......

.....and finally .....the coming of Santa.....in a horse drawn wagon.....reminiscent of days gone by at the Homestead.

Thanksgiving is For Family...

Traditionally we meet at the house on on Quentin Ave which is where Pat's Aunt Fran and Uncle Kenny lived for years. Dave (Pat's brother) and Kim live there now and provide outstanding hospitality. The picture is of Dave and Claudia.

Alyssa bumped her lip and had to be attended to by Nurse Heather.

Fun and Food....

The Girls Enjoy The Evening

Those of you who follow our life adventure know....

.....we love to stay in touch with our French kids and grandchild using Skype on line teleconferencing. (This is me on screen bottom left watching Eloise summersaulting!) The neat part is she watches our antics and we watch her antics....laugh together....throw kisses....and the call usually ends with her hugging us around the neck (computer!) Pat talked to them this week and Nancy, Mel's Mom, was there as well. Today Nancy sent an article from the New York Times describing this very phenomenon!
Check it out here.

3 AM....Couldn't Sleep....

......so I got up...went to the kitchen....got a cup of coffee which Pat often has waiting for me at the touch of the "on" button....picked up the latest edition of National Geographic Magazine...sat next to the fireplace....and pretty much read and mostly looked at the pictures cover to cover! If you haven't guessed already this is a picture I did NOT take on our 2004 trip to Yosemite!!...however...a guy named Doug did....and I had to share it with someone .....so I picked....YOU!
As any of you who follow this blog even occasionally know...I love nature! God (my paradigm!) created some of the most magnificent scenery on earth right here in the good ol US of A! This National Geographic picture immediately traveled through the millions of my brain cells and synapisis to the location in my brain where the sights I saw at this magnificent location are stored. It caused me to recall the gradeur I observed through this very set of eyes on the day in May of 2004 I took the picture below......

.....I can only think of one word to describe the scenes these eyes have taken in and the amazing technology of this brain to find and recall it....Magnificent! Allow me a moment this Thanksgiving eve to acknowledge thanks for His Grandeur and Magnificence!

Guess Who Is 2 Years Old Today????

..........THE ONE ON THE LEFT!!

Our little Parisian Eloise! She delights the day lights out of us a quarter world away.

For more shots of her and her family click here.

I Love Our Small Group!!

Every other Sunday night Pat and I meet with a group of Christians we enjoy doing life with together.

Tonight was special since we enjoyed a prethanksgiving feast.