Rylee's First Christmas! 2010

Rylee had a wonderful first Christmas. She had a blast opening up all her gifts, (of course she needed some help from her mama). Then later she got all dressed up for pictures but she just wasn't interested in getting all dolled up or getting her pictures taken. In fact she was very very upset about taking pictures. She sure looked cute though!

Her over all first christmas experience was a success and I'm so blessed to have a wonderful daughter! I love her to death and only want the best for her.

This is What Christmas is About

Admittedly, this picture is a little fuzzy, but I can't go back and take it over. However, the message is one that we need to remember at all times. Isaiah's words sing with the wonderful message. May everyone's Christmas season be blessed with those things that you need the most.

Ron's Christmas Present

There has already been quite a lot of use for the snowblower this fall, and with winter beginning today, there will be more. Ron got tired of coming into the house looking like the Abominable Snowman, so when he got an advertisement for this wonderful cab to attach to the snowblower, he bit - says it's his Christmas present. It came promptly, but he found that the parts to attach weren't compatible, so it took him a day to figure things out and go get more connection parts. Ta-Da - he was successful, and it works! Pretty classy, don't you agree? See how the snow blows - and never back on him anymore! You could get a real snow bath in this one!

Rylee and her teeth!

These pictures were taken a week or so ago. She's showing off her 4 teeth!

More Depictions of the Nativity

This lovely cornhusk Nativity Scene with Mary Joseph and baby Jesus came from Ohio. This is part of my Nativity set made by the Petersen family (no relation). One wise man and only a part of a shepherd are missing from this picture. I fell in love with the beautiful olive wood carved nativity scenes in Bethlehem, but gulped at the price, so I ended up with this tiny silver-plated one found in a shop in Jerusalem. This set was lovingly painted by its owner - children found it appealing.

The Celebration of the Nativity is Worldwide

This poignant reminder of the Flight to Egypt reminds us that life was never easy for Mary and Joseph after the birth of Christ. We think that he was older than depicted here when they were warned to flee into Egypt. A look at the map tells us that it was a way of hardship to leave Bethlehem and travel the long way to Egypt. And artist Jim Shore combined quilting patterns and the figures for the Nativity scene for a pleasing effect - especially to all quilters. The background to this charming scene was all in gold. Difficult to photograph, but you get the idea. I loved the e-mail we got where one of the wise men in a Nativity pageant announced that they brought gold, common sense, and fur to the baby. May we all have that middle trait to smooth our path along the way.

Unique Creches

As I said before, many cultures and countries were represented in the 261 scenes in last weekend's display. Obviously from Peru - This one is a little difficult to see, but I loved the furry camel and the wonderful donkey. This Lego Nativity set was a family project - enlarge this picture so you can see a little bit of the story. In fact, enlarge all of the Nativity scenes - more details become apparent.

Another Group of Creches

The interpretation of the scene for the birth of the baby Jesus is widely varied. This one was painted on white-washed wood, and is lovely in its simplicity. I thought that this set was made of clay, but when I enlarge it, the texture looks like some kind of felt fabric. This Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus was enclosed in a large evergreen wreath. As you can see, the lighting did not help with the photography. This charming home-made set fits in nicely with the counted cross-stitch sampler. These figures were hand-crafted by a friend of mine. She said that when her children saw them, they begged for a similar set, but she felt that "once is enough". Each figure was between six to eight inches tall, and the stitching on the hands and some of the details can't be seen in these pictures.

Creche Display for Christmas

This afternoon, we enjoyed a cantata performed by about 140 teen-agers with a sprinkling of adult singers to bolster them It was beautifully done, solos and all. As a part of the two-day celebration of preparing for Christmas, there were 235 creches on display. It was a breathtaking display, and a very diverse interpretation of the Nativity. People who live in this valley may seem provincial, but, amazingly, they have lived in Africa, Europe, South America, Central America, on Indian Reservations, and almost any place you could think of as they served missions for our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Here are a few of the nativity sets in the group. I do not have the histories of all, because, although they were written out by each set, it is a feat of memory that I don't possess. This decorated gourd, hollowed out, and prepared with a special Nativity scene, came from Africa.

Winter Doesn't Wait for December 21st

Our little boy garden statue looks very cold, indeed. He is holding a frog that is covered up with snow. Not to worry - when spring comes, he will warm up again. Note the snow embedded in the brick wall - the wind did blow hard that way, but that's probably snowblower snow. This is a picture of the sundial last week - before more snow fell. It's too cold to go repeat the picture today. A neighbor from the Big Horn Basin were we Blood children grew up was complaining that it never snowed so much in Wyoming - I seem to recall a few snowstorms of mammoth proportions. Snowed all day today, but finally stopped, so Ron has gone out to blow the snow off one more time - the third today. Isn't winter fun?

Updates on Rylee

We have been getting ready for the cold weather here in Bend, It sure came early this year!

Rylee sure loves to wear her daddy's hat.

Rylee started crawling at 5 1/2 months and started sitting up at exactly 5 months. She is already climbing things, getting into trouble, and falling down hurting herself. She is 8 months old and took her first step on Friday Nov. 19 2010. Shes such a big girl!

She also has been sick the 3-4 weeks. She kept getting ear infections while her top 2 teeth came in. Now she is on antibiotics for the sinus infection she has. Poor girl!

Snow on the Mountains

We've had a couple of snowstorms so far - both on days when we were supposed to go to Salt Lake for appointments. The mountains look cold and beautiful - and the autumn foliage still on the apple trees is a nice color foil for them.

Visitors to Preston

We recently had a visit from Ron's sister, Evie and her husband, Dick, from the Lake Stevens area north of Seattle. She is, without doubt, a human dynamo. Family is very special, and we had a great time together. Evie used to paint pictures, but her passion for the last 10+ years has been in gourding. It has become an incredible art form, and she is a member of the Washington Gourd Society Board - Gourders travel all over to take and give classes, and learn more about the art. She tried to get me involved some years ago, with the result that I have a big number of dried and cleaned gourds, and have completed a very few into some sort of an art form. There are so many things of interest to do in this world, and sometimes I am greedy and want to do them all. Oh, well, I might have a quarter of a century left. (My two new dental implants are guaranteed for twenty-five years, and the roof on our house for 30 - do you think we will make it?) Anyway, it stirs us up to have people around us who love to do different things. The world is full of possibilities!

Fall is Fading Fast

These bushes are now gone - but their beauty lay in the fall color. I don't know what they were, but they became a trash bush, so some of the neighbors came and helped Ron pull them out, leaving the north side of the house a little bare. I'll miss the color and the little birds that enjoyed the berries; controlling the wildness is a good trade-off. Now, we are trading them for the snow that has come and is coming. The mountains are white, and at 17 degrees F this morning, we don't expect to have a warming trend any time soon. Glorious October has verged into chilly November, so we gird up for winter.

The Glories of Autumn

The Sedum Autumn Joy is in full bloom. And, the frost comes almost every morning, sprinkling glittering diamonds everywhere, and making fallen leaves look like something very special. This is certainly a miracle. This planter sits in the corner by our front door. Amazingly enough, after many nights of upper 20's temperatures, these plants keep on giving. They are certainly not cold-hardy. We appreciate the extra days of beauty, knowing that soon they'll succumb to the cold nights.

The Big Carrot Harvest

I laughed when I pulled this huge carrot. Perhaps it grew for Harvey? Last year in my square foot garden boxes, which were only one box high, my carrots formed 45 degree angles, as the root hit the bottom and then grew sideways. This year, Ron increased the height of my box, and I had the greatest carrot harvest yet. But this big root was amazing. I laid the foot-long ruler by it so that you can see the size of this thing. One carrot alone would make carrot pudding. Victory!