It’s ok to have a little ice cream for breakfast.
And lick a gingerbread house.
We went to a nearby Goodwill store to find a 100% wool sweater to make mittens and we ran into a commercial being filmed inside the store.
Playing hide-and-seek with the neighbors!
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Party at Archie & Sandy’s
Lucy & Jim Reed and neighbor Laura:
Jim, Sandy, and neighbors (whose names I didn’t catch):
Archie has a very big model train project going on, which he says will never be finished.
Archie helping a young conductor:
Val Martin and me:
Field trip with Justin
Going to Maisie Jane’s in Chico is an annual trip for Justin. This year I was invited to go along … yay!
Another of Justin’s favorite stops:
Lunch at Sierra Nevada Brewery:
In the space above the gift shop, you can see a collection of Santas begun in the 1980s by Karen Gosner, Mrs Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Days like today are so special. Thank you Justin for inviting me to go along!
Christmas program at St Ignatius
Making friends with the people in the pew behind us.
Carson loves it when you blow raspberries on his neck.
The Del Castillo row.
TK and Kindergarten classes:
Second grade:
Avery was also part of the Nativity scene:
The closing number was a rousing rendition of Go Tell it on the Mountain.
Snow globes
Cousin Lauren came over to make snow globes. She was really good with the hot glue gun.
Avery found a small stegosaurus for his snow globe but then went back to more important things. Note the Play Dough dinosaur foot nearby.
This was also delivery day for a Christmas dress I made for Sophia.
Layers of nylon chiffon, netting and tulle for the skirt – a new sewing experience for me.
Carson is really good at crawling now.
Project completed!
I’ve been working on a new directory for Calvary Lutheran Church for about one year. It turned out to be a much bigger project than I originally thought, but that’s usually the case, right? Today I passed out the finished directories! Hurray!
Christmas Hay Ride
Tonight was the Christmas Hay Ride parade in Rio Linda. Everyone seemed to really enjoy this event, so I’m sure it will become an annual event. There were more than 60 floats.
I rode on the Rio Linda Elverta Historical Society float so my perspective was a bit different. The brightly-lit Archway:
I think John Todd (former 4th-grade student of mine) was the MC near the judge’s stand:
The parade started at Westside School and ended at Depot Park, but the tractor and trailer went back to Dry Creek Ranch House for storage. The ranch house with its Christmas lights:
A day with Adrienne
Ade had to drop off some things at her daughter’s house in the Bay Area and asked me to go along. This was a great way to make the drive go faster and we got to cover so many topics of conversation. On the way back, we stopped for lunch at Amici’s in Vacaville – delicious New York-style pizza.
Please notice, I’m not using a cane. Hurray, I’m getting better!
Chocolate Covered Cherries
Last night Phyl and I were supposed to spend the night at the cabin of some friends in Old Greenwood, but the weather was going to be very cold with icy roads. Instead I spent the night at Phyl’s and made the dinner I was going to make at OG – the same dinner as Thanksgiving.
After dinner, Phyl and I tackled a new project: Chocolate Covered Cherries. The recipe came from Merrilyn. Step 1 – make sure the cherries were dry.
Wrap in fondant
and chill overnight.
This morning, we dipped them in chocolate.
Now they will sit for a couple of weeks to let the fondant turn into a liquid.
Surprise at Starbucks
I ordered my drink at the drive-through. I had a personal cup, so I gave it to the young man (Corey) who handed it to the barista. Corey stayed busy tending to tasks at his station, then he saw me holding my card for him to take. “Oh, I guess I should let you pay for your drink.”
Me, “You don’t have to if you don’t want to. I’d love to have a free drink.”
He paused and smiled, “I can do that,” touched the order screen and handed my card back to me. Wow! That just made my day! Thank you Corey.
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