Ready

I think I am ready for Christmas.  Earlier this week, I went on my last shopping trip.  We even took a walk through the mall during the week before Christmas!  Brave!  And did some shopping there.

Our first Christmas is tomorrow night in Gridley.  The California box is here.  There will be gifts!

Last week, I went on my first Washington Christmas House Walk.  The neatest house was the old mansion on Main Street that for many years was a funeral home.  The current owners (only the third owners) have done an excellent job of restoring it back to its former glory as a home.  I was in it years ago when it was still a funeral home and it was even impressive then.

Son #2 has finished his Mechanical Engineering degree and has left the hallowed halls and has moved back home.  Along with all his stuff.  Fortunately, he was offered a good job, and has accepted.  I am not sure when they give him his "yellow blood" transfusion.

Tonight I helped decorate gingerbread cookies.  The frosting wasn't cooperating, so the artistry is not up to our usual standards.

One of the Christmas letters that we received this week from our favorite nomadic cousins had this quote in it regarding health.  "The older we get, the better we were!"

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,  Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
Matthew 2:1,2

Twice

We went to Abby and Tyler's wedding in Leo two weekends ago.  We had a nice trip, but we had more deer cross the road in front of us than I saw from my stand during hunting season!  Nate and John did chores for us so that the whole family could go.  The church house was full, the service was nice, the vows taken (pay attention Tyler!) and they were married. The reception was in the historic Allan County Court House.  It was the first time I had to pass security guards and go through a metal detector to get into a wedding reception.  It is a working courthouse and all the courtrooms were open for us to tour.  It is a very beautiful, ornate building.

This past weekend found us on the road again to Leo to take Dad and Mom to see their grand kids in their Sunday School Christmas program.  We enjoyed a relaxing time of fellowship at my sister's house.  Saturday night we shopped at Barnes and Noble (you shouldn't let me do that), then ate at the Flat Top Grill (my first time).  We finished the evening with frozen yogurt at YoYo's.  We came home on Monday, and thankfully we enjoyed good weather both ways.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
Psalm 100:4
 

Trashed

When I stepped into the hog house office/supply room this morning, I was greeted by a mess that looked a lot like a tornado had touched down.  That was after I was able to get the door pushed open.  It seems a pregnant sow had broken out of her crate and decided to nest and farrow in there.  Now we had shut up the feed storage room just in case something like that would happen - sows do like feed, but the door to the office/supply room was left open.  She had gone into one corner and rooted up in the air and snapped a water line on a wall so that the room was being flooded.  She pushed our high pressure washer into the middle of the room and snapped that water line and ripped the electric cord apart.  She overturned storage shelves, buckets of supplies, and spilled various jugs of liquids (oil, chemicals, disinfectant, etc.).  There were spare parts all over the floor.  Then she laid down in the mess and started farrowing.  She had 3 pigs crawling around when I found her.  One pig had crawled into the overturned waste basket and we didn't find her until it was emptied into the dumpster!  I got her back in her crate and it took several of us most of the morning to clean up and repair the damage.
Not exactly the way we wanted to start our day.

But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
2 Peter 2:22