A QUIET CHRISTMAS

Christmas is such a sweet time. It's been quiet and peaceful with good conversation and lots of love. We do so love our family and missed those who aren't here. Jeff called from faraway London and I realized how much we miss him, but know he's having fun there. Take a look at his post at pictures of London. Enough said--enjoy the pictures.

Everybody bonded with Dawniella.

OUR SOJOURN IN OHIO

Ohio is a magical place! We had a "bodaciously" wonderful time with Janeen and her family and friends. Even the weather cooperated. Prior to the trip, I told everyone that I was worried we'd be stranded in Chicago because of the weather, but we were stranded there for several hours due to mechanical problems. We finally arrived in Cleveland and had no luggage--even our carry on stuff was missing for awhile. After many calls to both American and United Airlines, our luggage was delivered the next day to Greg and Janeen's house at exactly the same time Greg and Garth were standing at the American Airlines counter in Cleveland!

You can see Christofer's smiling face at his birthday party. He is well loved by all his family and friends and we had a truly great time at the party. We lost count of how many birthday spankings he received. Every morning we were there, he faithfully practiced the piano and played a piece for his baptism. He looked great in his Cub Scout "stuff". Do you think they have a merit badge for shirt buttoning? Trey got in the act, too, and helped his Mom and I bake cookies. He's the "ham" in the family.

The baptism was wonderful. Father and son are handsome in their whites. We are truly blessed. We enjoyed visiting with Greg's folks and good friends J and Debbie.

Our plane ride home was long especially for Garth who was squeezed into a middle seat. Our trip home from Seattle took nearly seven hours! Snoqualmie was bumper to bumper, icy, slushy roads from North Bend to Cle Elum. Garth's wrist has ached for two days because of swinging a hammer with Greg (They did an awesome job of putting lighting in the basement) and gripping the wheel in sheer terror on the way home.
Ooops. I almost forgot to put in Trey's picture!!

SANTA'S (AND MINE) GRANDEST ELF

Once upon a time in Gunterland, there was an elf. An old, semi-retired elf who wore not a green hat, but a cowboy hat. This particular elf was a Scrooge who often exclaimed, "I hate Christmas!!" I know, I know. English teachers always say not to use more than one exclamation point, but, hey!, I don't have to listen anymore--and he hated Christmas a lot. However, he was, after all, an elf of some experience and renown and he knew that Christmas chores were not only inevitable, but necessary. So this year, he outdid himself:

• He made new stands for the Father Christmases.
• He's made innumerable trips to town for whatever is necessary (even as I write he's in Othello buying new pajamas for pajama day at school.
• He's put up the Christmas tree.
• He's made cookies.
• He helped make ornaments.
• And as the King said: etcetera, etcetera, ETCETERA.

Now don't you think he is the grandest of Santa's elves. I DO AND I LOVE HIM FOR IT.

HER MAJESTY, MISS NIPS

I'm not sure what blogs are supposed to be about, but this one has been a long time coming. Garth recently read the following in a little cartoon: Dogs have owners. Cats have staffs. Our cat has a staff of two. One who really, really loves her and does her every bidding and one who tolerates her with clenched teeth and murderous thoughts (sometimes!) Now Miss Nips came into our lives by default. She is, truly, Jennie's cat, but she would have to pay $100 to take her home as well as figure out how to defend her pitbull, Jude, against Miss Nips because the cat would be the clear winner in that battle.

After Jennie and the kids moved, Nips declared her undying love for Garth. She waits for him in the hall (or in the bathroom) while he showers, she whines for him to let her in at 2AM and he rushes to the door, he rubs her tummy, he feeds her, he sneaks her onto the bed, etc. etc. etc.

He bows to her every whim. He bought her a scratching post (which she used only when he rubbed catnip on it!) and he put in a 2-way cat door (which is now 1-way because she brought several "pets" in with her.) She is dour when he leaves and elated when he returns. He tries to lessen the gap between she and me to no avail.

She is jealous of me and protective of him. Now here's the real crux of the matter--she sleeps on my bed, in my chairs (including my sewing room chair), and on my side of the bed! Go figure.

THE MONSTROSITY!

Had a visitor:

Finished:

I chose this title because my DH (Darling Husband) said and I quote, "I don't want you to take a picture of me on my back under this monstrosity!" He's a Scrooge. What can I say? He did help create the little mountain stream (which took two days) and he bought two more tables for the setup, and he plugged everything in (which was my incentive for taking his picture). DH just doesn't get the importance of the village but one of his visitors did. John said, "Your grandchildren must just love this village because they live inside one of those houses there!" No one in the family loves the village as much as I do, I suppose, but it's fun for me. I blame my sister Julia for my addiction.

PRESERVATION & PERVERSION

How's that for a title? It came to me in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep and it isn't nearly as bad as it sounds. I thought you might enjoy hearing a couple of really outrageous tales in a short blog--one of perversion (mine) and one of preservation (just because it's an alliteration with perversion).

Let's start with preservation. When Janeen and Greg first married, they made us a wonderful Father Christmas. Later, when Mother went to the nursing home, I inherited hers and these two fun Santas have been an important part of Christmas for me. For the last couple of years, they've been pretty rickety on their stands and Garth has promised to fix them for me.

This year I insisted. I heard him working away on them in the garage and expected some fancy new stands for them. His solution: Gorilla Glue! Great stuff. You can see both Santas sitting on my little Western display. The metal cowboy Santa also came from Greg and Janeen and the Western nativity is a favorite gift from Julia.

Now for perversion. I often tell my sister Julia that I'm a perverse person because of all my little idiosyncracies, but, remember, that she and I are twins and we are very, very much alike and think alike. Anyway, I am probably my Avon lady's best customer. She's been my Avon lady for probably twenty years off and on. I bought the cute little Santa you see to greet our holiday guests. He talks! He says: Welcome to our home! Happy Holidays, etc. He has become a pain in the neck! If I take a picture anywhere near him he talks. If I move something on the village display he talks. If I let the cat in he talks. Then I find myself telling him to shut up! Isn't that perverse. But I found my own solution--good one isn't it?

So now my Santas are preserved for another several years. And I'll try to remember that my talking Santa is just doing his job! I'm going to blog soon and tell you that my village is finished.

PS. Just a note. Please pray for our newest granddaughter. She and Julirae were flown to Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane because she has RSV. She's a little preemie since she wasn't supposed to have been born until the 8th. Her signs are good, but she'll need our faith and prayers.

Thanksgiving was a blessed day of family, friends and food! I didn't get a good picture of all of us, but here is part of the group. We stuffed ourselves on traditional foods and funny conversations. Two of the "wits"--namely, David and Kat--kept us in stitches. Adaon added a bit of "wisdom". Tank and Tess, the "puppies", added their drama when Tank (who is as big as our kitchen table) bumped some of the ham off the table. Steve prepared a great traditional treat from England which, as he said, "took 24 hours to prepare and was gone in two minutes". It was wonderful! Jeff and his adoring fans (his nieces and nephews) entertained themselves with the Wii. We just kind of chilled for most of the day. Isn't that what Thanksgiving is all about?

RETIREMENT IS MY FAVORITE THING

This is a fairly strange looking blog. I'll get better I promise.

My title for this blog is a little optimistic, perhaps, but is true right at the moment. I guess I need to learn how to write the blog first and then title it. Well, actually, I need to learn to get the @#$$blog written correctly. I've spent two days trying to write the first one and I think it's now lost in cyberspace and I've plastered personal information all over the Internet. Ah well! Technical stuff has never been my strong suit. In fact, I don't know why I decided to start a blog especially since I read that it's similar to birthing a new baby. (Speaking of which, Dawniella Joan Castleton made her appearance this morning. She's beautiful.) I certainly don't think I'll blog every day or even every week, but we'll see. I feel it's a better alternative than MyFamily (which, thankfully, expires pretty soon) or the weekly e-mail. At least I can add pictures (maybe!!!)

We're adjusting to retirement and, as many other retired couples say, should have done it years ago! Yesterday we spent a wonderful day visiting museums in Tacoma. I wanted to see the Gee's Bend exhibit and it exceeded my expectations! The Gee's Bend exhibit is of quilts, but there are other exhibits in the Tacoma ArtMuseum as well which were also interesting. We both loved the model train exhibit. It gave me some new ideas for my village! We also had a nice chat and lunch with Jeff who doesn't really want to return to California any time soon.

Life is good with all the Gunter folks. I'll try to add some of my favorite pictures from the retirement party. It was so terrific! Hope this works!