" Goodness... and a Goodie "

This beautiful painting is done by Greg Olsen and the poem was written by him too...

~~~" The Spirit of Christmas "~~~

By the magical light of a small Christmas candle a little old man tries to carefully handle
The small porcelain manger which serves as a bed for the wee baby Jesus to lay down his head.

In wonder he brings the manger up to his view, smiles at the baby and whispers, "I love you!"
I love you for bringing this season of joy, I love you for growing to a man from a boy;

For being our light and leading the way, for being the spirit which makes Christmas day!

You've been my mentor, my model, my hero and guide, please continue to help me and stay by my side.
I've tried to follow your teachings and give as you gave, reminding all to be kind and that it's wise to behave.
Help me to serve others and bring then your light, especially the children, please bless them tonight!
Some have so very little, scarce food for their table, you know how it feels-you were born in a stable!
Bless all their mothers and fathers with a knowledge that's sure, the best gifts they can give is their love.. strong and pure.
Thats the spirit of Christmas when alls said and done, God's gift of love, that came as his son!

Then back to his mother the child is returned the nativity glows as the candle is burned.
In a wink the little old man slips quietly away...
Some say he goes up the chimney and climbs in a sleigh.
Whatever the case, His mission is clear..
Give unto others, bringing love and good cheer.
He flies into the night and bids us adieu-
doing for others what Jesus would do.
~~~~~~

" All I Need to Know About Christmas I Learned From Santa Claus "

*Believe in Magic*

*People love you when you're jolly*

*Everybody loves surprises*

*The more you give, the more you get*

*You can never have too many toys*

*There is a little child in each of us*

*If you're going to pout, you better watch out*

*A few extra pounds keep you warm in the winter*

*Wear red and get noticed*

*It's a Wonderful Life*
~~~~~

I love to make these at Christmas time, they make a delish gift to give to friends and neighbors too...bet you can't eat just one!
~~~~~

"Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake"

Place 24 Vanilla Wafers flat side down in paper cup cake liners in 2 muffin pans.

Beat together til smooth;
2 packages (8oz.) Cream Cheese, softened
1 Cup (8 oz.) Sour Cream
1 1/4 Cup Sugar

Add;
1/2 Cup Baking Cocoa
3 Eggs
1/2 to 1 tsp. Almond extract ( or)
1 tsp Vanilla

Fill muffin lined cups 3/4 full

Bake at 325* for 20-25 minutes
Cool on rack-then refrigerate to cool

Top with a scoop of Whipped cream (or Cool Whip)
And a scoop of Cherry Pie filling (or a maraschino cherry)
Serve or put on a cute plate to give!
~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am so enjoying this Christmas season with all it's many joys...I hope you are too.
This year, I'm going to try my best to keep all the good going right through the next year too!
Why leave it all behind us, only to try to find it next December...I'm holding on to all this love and joy! I think if I keep my heart filled with love for others and give and serve, it can remain with me, all year round!

I hope you have enjoyed your visit here today...Have a wonderful Christmas season my dear friends!

FINDING CHRISTMAS....

This awesome singer came to Salt Lake City, Utah... to record a song for his new CD with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

He said; "When I heard this song with your voices, I had the impression the music came from the sky!"

David Foster and Andrea Bocelli were in Salt Lake recently to make a recording with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
David said ; " This was the nearest thing to Heaven that I have experienced in my life time."

This beautiful temple took the settlers 40 years to build...to stand right next to it is breath taking! It is unbelievable to me that such a structure could be built by hand in the 1800's. The granite for the walls was cut by hand and hauled out of the mountains by pioneers.

Temple Square is totally lite up at Christmas time to symbolize...The " Light of Jesus Christ"

Family is everything...this is what makes Christmas for me~

This Nativity display sits on calm, still water

Temple Square is filled with the spirit of Christmas which is...Peace and Love~

Life size figures of The Nativity...so beautiful to behold as one stands there listening to the story of the birth of Jesus Christ

~Beautiful....Peaceful Temple Square~

Natalie Cole will be in Salt Lake City this month to be the guest artist with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Guest artists like this are here several times a year to sing with the choir.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir..."America's Choir"..filling the world with beautiful music! Every Sunday morning this choir is broadcast all over the world...it is called; The Morman Tabernacle Choir and The Spoken Word. If you haven't heard it, you have got to find it..go to (www.lds.org/broadcast) to find how you could listen to it in your area.

This is picture of one of the first Mormon Tabernacle Choir performances. One of the first things the Pioneers did after reaching the Salt Lake valley was to establish a choir, it has been going ever since the 1800's.

The beautiful Salt Lake Valley...settled by pioneers back in the 1800's. Surrounded by magnificent mountains..the best snow on earth for skiing. My gg. grandfather helped settle this place, today it is the most beautiful city. It has hosted the Olympics...it is the cleanest city I have ever been to. It is the home of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir...if you ever come to Salt Lake City, don't miss out on visiting Temple Square, it it the most visited tourist site anywhere in the world.

I HOPE YOU ARE LOOKING FOR THE LIGHT OF CHRISTMAS...IT'S THERE EVERYWHERE AROUND YOU..LET IT IN AND KEEP IT WITH YOU EVEN AFTER CHRISTMAS IS PASSED.

" CHRISTMAS SPIRIT "....and how to find it

"This Christmas"

This Christmas..mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend.
Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust.

Write a letter. Give a soft answer.
Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed.
Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge.

Forgive an enemy. Apologize.
Try to understand. Examine your demands on others.
Think first of someone else. Be kind.
Be gentle. Laugh a little more.

Express your gratitude.
Welcome a stranger.
Gladden the heart of a child.

Take pleasure in the beauty and
the wonder of the earth.

Speak your love...and then,
Speak it again.

(Howard W. Hunter)

I am the Christmas Spirit.

I enter the home of poverty, causing pale-faced children to open their eyes wide in pleased wonder.

I cause the miser's clutched hand to relax and thus paint a bright spot on his soul.
I cause the aged to renew their youth and to laugh in the glad old way.

I keep romance alive in the heart of childhood and brighten sleep with dreams woven of magic.
I cause eager feet to climb dark stairways with filled baskets, leaving behind them hearts amazed at the goodness of the world.

I cause the prodigal to pause a moment on his wild, wasteful way and send to anxious love some little token that releases glad tears-tears which wash away the hard lines of sorrow.

I enter dark prison cells, reminding scarred manhood of what might have been, and pointing forward to good days yet to come.

I come softly into the still, white home of pain; and lips that are too weak to speak just tremble in silent, eloquent gratitude.

In a thousand ways I cause the weary world to look up into the face of God, and for a little moment forget the things that are small and wretched.
I am the Christmas Spirit.

Go gladden the lonely, the dreary; Go comfort the weeping, the weary;
Go scatter kind deeds on your way--Oh, make the world brighter today!

Forget yourself, and give from your heart;
" For when ye have done unto the least of these my brethren,
Ye have done it unto me. "

Getting into the real Spirit of Christmas....how about you? It is all about love and others....

Let my dolls be made of rags,
Fireman hats of paper bags.
Just write "Love" on the Christmas tags;
That's what I want for Christmas.
-Irving Caesar-

Sending out "all my love"...TO...all of you,
hoping you will find the Christmas spirit
and keep it in your heart now... and always!!!

SIX DAYS OF HEAVEN....

Our family had such a great few days together. They started coming on Wednesday evening and the last ones left last night! I have been putting Thanksgiving away...cleaning house...putting Christmas up, listening to Christmas music all day. I am so tired but it's a good tired, it was SO wonderful to have a house full at this time of year...love all my family so very much!

Me and some of my daughters and daughter in laws...we talked of planning a girls get-a-way this coming spring...that will be fun!

Some of us gathering for dinner...Ron's Mom joined us, she is 97 beautiful years old!

~An after dinner nap always feels so good~

~Hours of fun crafts for the grand kids after dinner~

~Little Pool Sharks...Natalie, Stetson, Cloe and Brickelle~

~Little boy cousins are so cute...Caleb..Kelton..and Brody~

~It's SO fun to have a baby in a family...nothing like it!~

~Nothing feels as sweet as a little baby after her bath~

~Baby Ella, all bathed and smelling SO sweet!~

~My daughter Lindsey shooting their Christmas tree down...(her husbands family tradition)~

~All of us, and our dogs, out in the mountains to cut a Christmas tree!~

~Natalie and Cougar...she loves animals!

~Brody and Emry...."hiding"~

~Grand kids making a fort under the pool table~

~Brickelle cuddling with little Ella~

~Cloe and Emry watching cartoons in my bedroom chair~

~Caleb playing peek a BOO with me while I was getting ready ~

~Caleb in his "New Pepsi" shoes~

Grandma Julie and little Ella Mae

Our kids started coming last Wednesday and the last ones left last night.

We had SO much fun, we ate...laughed...played games...watched movies...played pool...cut Christmas trees...shot guns...hiked...talked and laughed...made crafts...the grands ran and screamed through the house...played in the hot tub...hugged...ate and ate some more...

AND so many more moments of family fun that ties us all together with LOVE for this life and the life to come because, " FAMILIES ARE FOREVER "...Thank you God for families!

SWEET FLAVORED BUTTERS...

IF YOU ARE HAVING ROLLS WITH YOUR THANKSGIVING DINNER, TRY ONE OF THESE FLAVORED BUTTERS... THEY ARE SO EASY TO THROW TOGETHER AND I THINK THEY ADD A LOT TO THE MEAL.

" CRANBERRY BUTTER"

1/2 C. fresh cranberries
1 3/4 C Powdered Sugar
1/2 C butter
1 T. orange juice
Puree cranberries and sugar in blender. Add butter and orange juice, blend til smooth. Place in mold or serving dish and chill til firm.

" CINNAMON BUTTER"

1/2 C Butter
1 C Powdered Sugar
1 1/2 tsp. of Cinnamon
2 tsp. milk
Cream butter and sugar. Add cinnamon and milk, mix well, chill.

" FRUIT BUTTER"

1 C. Butter
2 T. fruit flavored gelatin
Soften butter to room temperature. Add gelatin and blend well, chill.

" HERB BUTTER"

1/2 C. Butter, softened
1 T. dried or fresh minced herbs
Combine herbs and mix well. Shape if desired and chill.
Serve with vegetables or hot bread.

" HONEY BUTTER"

3/4 C Butter
1 1/2 C Honey
1 tsp. Vanilla
Soften butter to room temp. Place all ingds. in blender and whip til well blended.
If you want HONEY-LEMON BUTTER,
substitute the vanilla for 1 tsp. grated lemon zest.

HOPE EVERYONE HAS A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING

I MOST LIKELY WILL NOT POST FOR S FEW DAYS SINCE MY HOUSE WILL BE FULL OF KIDS..AND GRAND KIDS FOR 4 DAYS. IT WILL BE A BUSY AND A VERY FUN TIME. HOPE YOUR HOME IS FULL OF WARMTH..LOVE..LAUGHTER...REMEMBER TO GET OUT AND GO FOR THAT WALK, IF YOU'RE LIKE ME, YOU'LL NEED IT! :D

" HAPPY TAILS TO YOU "

Just wanted to share something I'm grateful for...our animals! This is our golden retriever Cougar, as a puppy. Such a bundle of love who still thinks he can fit in my lap! We've never had a dog so full of love. He is my walking companion too, how can you beat that!

~Cougar...one year old~
~~~~~~

"Animals in Our Lives "

We aren't house-proud. If we were, we wouldn't abide the scratches on the door frame, the holes in the screen, the darkened shine of worn spots on the chair. We would wince at the mottled carpet and fret at the hair clinging to our clothes.

We don't. If anything, we lovers of animals are a tolerant lot, finding greater value in the unabashed affections of our friends than in immaculate sofas. Shoes can be replaced, but heroic dogs and animals are timeless.

Without animals, our houses are cold receptacles for things. Animals make a fire warmer with their curled presence. They wake us with cheerfulness , greet us with big smiles, protect us, and ultimately carve a place in our hearts and our history. On reflection, our lives are often referenced in parts defined by the all-too-short lives of our pets.
-Paul Fersen-

My horse Mr. Red...see that kind eye? Thats a sign of a good horse!

Our horses...Jeff and Mr. Red...best friends and our riding buddies

My little dog, Bo and the cat Praline....Sun bathers!

Praline was a little wild cat that came starving and begging at my door...so glad I took her in! She loves to play games with me through this chair.

Sage, another teeny-tiny lost baby, found her while I was out walking in the fields..my dog went to see, and her hissing scared him. I found him sitting on her...had to hand feed her..she's a love.

Bo just loves to come to the potty with me...waiting for me to give his toy a toss!

Bo and new kitty Jack. This little guy came meowing up to me as I was out walking. He had been hurt and we've had him now for a month, he limps, which looks to be permanent...he is such a sweet, calm peaceful cat..we just love him!

Praline...having another nap. She loves me to death, follows me everywhere!

This is new kitty Sammie..short for Samantha. She is Jacks best friend, a little wild baby that has come to call our home...her home... We love her!

Bo after his hair cut..he shivers so he has to wear a coat. I'm not a very good groomer but at least I'm free!

These little birds, Poppy and Paisley brighten my home and sing for their supper!

This little mama is doing her thing...best little mom ever!

The bond between people and animals is one of the strongest and most beneficial friendships in history. Now researchers are beginning to learn more about this unbreakable connection. I have noticed that more and more hotels are allowing pets because pets are family and people want to take them everywhere they go. It's comforting, makes us feel safe and it's enjoyable to share everything with them.

My Dad taught me all about animals...how to read what they are thinking and doing. How to train them. How to love them and allow them to love me. I have noticed that my children are loving their pets...it has been passed on.

I think God gave us pets as a little bonus...the frosting on the cake so to speak. I have always believed that; "The outside of an animal is good for the inside of man." Can one really touch or pet an animal without feeling the love?! And their love is so unconditional...they take our neglect and abuse and keep on loving.

The thing that really jerks at my heart is sweet, innocent animals..or children who are neglected. I pray everyday for the " beasts and the children...for they have no voice." God bless them!