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Hop on over to Mari's blog and send her some cheerful hellos...and please remember her in your prayers. You can read all about what's been happening there. We came pretty close to losing her and I for one am praising the Lord for her recovery.

This has been a very different "Christmas season" for us. Times have been pretty tough and let me just say...I am so glad my son has a sense of humor. What would we do without him...I am so thankful. Christmas morning was...a bit depressing to say the least....but leave it to him to give us something to smile about. After we opened what we little we had, he says..."Well, that was quick." Maybe it was one of those, "you had to be there moments" but it sure cracked us up and helped us see the humor in our otherwise icky situation.

The day got better when we stopped by Grandpa Joe's.   Was Will ever shocked and surprised when he received a very nifty meat processor. Will and Elisabeth process any deer Will gets during hunting season. They do the whole job from start to finish and I was getting real nervous about my 20 year old kitchen aid and it's ability to withstand a few deer. Thank you Papa Joe!!! Even though it was not a gift to me...it IS a gift to me in the long run.

We then went to my in laws house for our traditional Christmas dinner which my mother in law is very good at. She makes a dish called Cioppino. Here is a picture of it over angel hair pasta. I look forward to this tasty "soup" every year. It is filled with seafood....clams, oysters, crab, scallops, some kind of fish and I don't know what else...but it sure is good.

All in all we had a good day spending it with family and adopted family.

Some shots I took and some very wacky ones too....I was playing with my camera.
My in laws are avid birders and my father in law is an expert in identifying birds. Every year they organize a bird count in our area. The birders are out all day taking a count and they come back to my in laws house for lunch and then go out again. I was at Papa Joe's and we saw a duck in his pond and I was able to get a picture of it. I emailed it to my in laws to see if I identified it correctly. So here it is...a Lesser Scaup...a diving duck. She was all alone.

Here is a shot of an ornament my in laws have on their tree...which is of course filled with various bird ornaments...but here is one of "Dad's."

Mom's poinsettia...

And here are some crazy pictures of our tree and an ornament. I was playing....

Here are some shots from a Christmas event I went to a few weeks ago...

an old train wobbling along

a cotton tree

victorian bear

Lastly....here is a stunning sunrise I caught by hanging out my dining room window.   It was simply gorgeous!



ALSO......Thank you to those who voted last week for your favorite in the photo contest. I won!!! I had some tough competition. I entered again this week so if you have a moment...stroll on over and pick your favorite.
I've been terribly absent but for a good reason.

The Sunday evening after Thanksgiving my adopted Papa was taken to emergency by ambulance. A friend drove Elisabeth and I to the hospital and we stayed until Papa was admitted and settled into his room. That was about 12:30am. I was too upset to drive myself. I am very grateful for the ride there. So then for the next 13 days I was at the hospital, sometimes for up to 10 hours and one day even more. After many tests and so forth, Papa ended up having quadruple bypass open heart surgery. THAT was a very long day. I got there at 5am so I could be with him before he went for surgery and I was there when they finished and brought him back to his room which was also his recovery room. The surgery from start to finished lasted about 6 hours. I got to put my long ago nursing skills to work and play private nurse while he was recuperating. Then it was my pleasure to drive him home. Now we are traveling twice a week to cardiac rehab. Somehow we missed the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas and here it is already and you know....times are tough and the presents did not get bought but next to Jesus, we received the best gift of all. Papa J came home to us and he did not have a heart attack and he is recovering very well. He is here with me and for that I am so very grateful. I do not need any other present. We've been cooking some meals and doing grocery shopping for he and his wife and it has been a delight to be there for them.
So, that is what I have been doing. It got a bit stressful trying not to worry about it all but the Lord was so faithful and answered our prayers and now we need to encourage the drs. to allow him to go about this lifestyle change in diet naturally and holistically instead of the millions of drugs they want him to take. The first check up with the surgeon is coming up this week. These drugs are good for some things I know...but the side effects are so nasty. There must be alternatives...I know there are and know what they are....it is just scary when you are dealing with something as serious as this. But bless his heart...Papa is willing to try anything and has been so good at eating the right foods and maybe when it is all said and done I will have him eating vegan yet. Shhhh...don't let him know that is my plan. Oh and yes...I am doing it right along side him. There is no way on this earth that I want to go through what he went through.....it can all be avoided by diet and lifestyle. Right Papa? I know you said you wanted to get the word out to younger folks....don't put off doing what you can do now to avoid a crisis later.

I miss you all and I am so sorry I have not even been around to visit. The computer was the last thing on my mind but I have been praying for you my friends. I have not forgotten any of you and you are heavy on my mind. May you have a most blessed Christmas!!!!! Hug each other tightly and love deeply.

PS....Picture taking has been kind of sporatic but I have managed to get a few shots in and entered this weeks contest...Christmas Cards. The contest will be up by Monday afternoon. You can vote for your favorite here.
I am not a fan of winter,
but I must admit that the fall is beautiful.

The Path to the Gingko Tree

Is this one tree or many...I don't know...but it is the most beautiful Gingko tree I have ever seen.

This week the photo contest is Reflections......They are fabulous!

I loved this assignment and had the hardest time deciding which picture to enter...right Papa?
It was a very cold week here and wow, was I freezing while taking my shots....but it was lots of fun too.
Go check out the photos entered and vote...anyone can vote, even non xanga members. Also, anyone can join in .....just write for the rules.
From one of my favorite CDs...I felt like sharing this with you....just in case you are facing "Hard Times..." and you don't want them to "...Come Around No More". We all are facing them in one way or another, aren't we? Sometimes I play this song over and over when I am driving. So this is the mood I am in right now...leaning heavily on the Lord....and listening to James Taylor sing. Melancholy mood....that would probably sum it up...with sporadic bursts of laughter too...you have to get them in or else...well...just or else.
Be blessed my friends......

PS....I've got another photo in the contest this week....but it is not near as good as some of them...wow...go look!
They all are good...but then there are some spectacular ones too.
I found this on Elisabeth's site who found it on Kate's site who found it on........
So, if you want to do it...please do!
If you don't have a blog you can still participate by leaving it in my comments.
Enjoy.....one word answers are really difficult for me.

Where is your mobile phone? purse

Where is your significant other? driving

Your hair colour? blonde
Your mother? Heaven

Your father? Heaven

Your favourite thing? beach

Your dream last night? a cruise

Your dream goal? own a vw bus

The room you’re in? dining

Your hobby? photography

Your fear? drowning

Where do you want to be in 6 years? Greece

Where were you last night? home

What you’re not? feminist

One of your wish-list items? donkey

Where you grew up? suburbs

The last thing you did? talk

What are you wearing? clothes

Your TV? none

Your pets? Oh, are they pets?

Your computer? Marge

Your mood? whimsical

Missing someone? Yes
Your car? black truck
Something you’re not wearing? shoes
Favourite shop? "How To Live"

Your summer? loverly

Love someone? passionately

Your favourite colour? blues

When is the last time you laughed? Friday

When is the last time you cried? today

Have fun, everyone!
Look what I found.I love to listen to James Taylor and this is the perfect song to go with this slideshow...in my opinion anyway. This is from Rebekah and her is her link...

Boohoo...I cannot find my JT cd anywhere....it was chock full of all my favorites too.
We've been a busy lot this fall.....you know the ocean stole me away....and now the projects include...well....I will leave that up to Elisabeth to share.......

My camera broke back at the end of September and someone blessed me beyond measure by arranging it so I could purchase a brand new camera. After much searching and reading reviews and window shopping to hold cameras etc....I decided on...*gasp* a Pentax. Now you Nikon and Canon users....don't throw any eggs at me please. I love Nikons and I love my son's Canon Rebel...but I needed something that was weatherproof and this was it. It also has a few other perks that the other's did not have. I am so pleased with it. I know I have not even tapped the surface yet.....and yesterday I was on a little field trip and could not figure out the self timer. Duh! How hard would that be? I am getting there. Oh I am so tickled to be able to take shots I never could even imagine before. I will share some of them soon. The new contest on iliveinmycamera site is coming up and I have one for that. I am experimenting and just really enjoying this. Will and I are in cahoots together coming up with ideas to make some money with our photos.

The other latest thing I am doing is teaching a 5 year old boy to read. This is not just any 5 year old. This is E-man. He is a miracle. When he was a baby he somehow contracted botulism and nearly died. It was the quick insight of a dr. who rushed him to a special hospital and they were able to obtain some kind of antidote something which seemed to take forever to get here from the other side of the country. But after many days of a lethargic dying baby....he got better! He is one special boy and when you look into his eyes you can see he is like no other child. It is my privilege to have him here every week to get him "learned" as he would say. After the first lesson he was reading the whole little book by himself. He is one bright little blessing from God. We've been reading some Curious George phonics books and the other day I was out taking a ride with my Papa and Momma and we stopped to take some pictures and look what we found. This shot is for E-man.
That Curious George...he is always getting himself into jams!

Here is a pic of my Papa and I.... We realized we did not have any of us together. How sad is that! He's been my trusted camera companion so he is ususally on the other side of the camera with me. But this day we got someone else to take the picture. Papa is not my real papa....but I adopted him...or he adopted me....both of those...yes...and he is soooo much like my real daddy I cannot even believe it. My kids love him like a grandpa and he does all the grandpa things with them too. I am so blessed.
New week, new contest.
New camera.....I entered.
Please vote.

More to come.
I've been AWOL...scooped up and taken to the beach every week this month. I keep pinching myself to make sure it is real. It IS!
Now...reality has set in and I have to get serious about being home and home things....but I can hear the sea calling me always.
I am looking forward to sharing my pictures and my camera story.
FYI
This man really concerns me and my freedom. How about you?
Is there no honest man alive any more?
Check it out....HERE

Meanwhile....I will continue to praise the Lord and HIS CREATION!
Meet The Family!

I was away...and now I am back and found out that I took second place
in the photo contest. Yea! I had so much fun trying to find pictures
for this contest. Here are some of the other ones I took...from the
same family.
I just read an article...thought I would share it.

Baroness Warnock: Elderly with Dementia have a "Duty to Die" Called "a regression to the brutal ancient world, when enforced suicide as a punishment was commonplace"

The link to the article came from here...."Elderly with Dementia have a "Duty to Die"

My very brief thought...

Has it ever occurred to people who think this way that it just may not be about the elderly person with dementia or the invalid, but that it may be about living a selfless life serving others to the best of our ability? It just may be about pouring ourselves out to nurture and care for the sick and elderly in some way. I don't think it is about the dementia or "drain on public resources."
The real burden here is the mentality that someone else is a burden.
We are a selfish lot, aren't we?

Lord Jesus...please cleanse our hearts of all unrighteousness.