This is a photo repeat from our August Colorado vacation. We are certain the great majority of you checking us out after receiving a Christmas card don't want to blog backwards post after post after post to see how well (?) (HA!) Gregg and I are aging. So I offer this up as a help.
In the meantime we wish you well
as we celebrate the birth of Jesus and close out 2007.
Merry Christmas Y'All...
Gregg, Elizabeth, Brynne, Lacey and Jacob

Jacob is a huge Patriots fan...which baffles us since we are in Cowboy country and he has Bronco blood. At any rate he knew that Sam's Club did NFL cakes. However, what we didn't realize was that the Patriot cake was a monster 13 lbs. of cake that will be consumed post birthday from the ziplock baggies in the freezer!

Oops...9 boys...one boy was sick.
They had a good time weaving their way through the park from roller coaster to roller coaster. To their delight the lines were not terribly long and to my delight nobody got sick!
The biggest mishap of the night occurred when 4 boys who opted out of a ride were climbing on a wood fence around the perimeter of the ride. One of the boys accidentally hit a button that was the emergency shut-down button. (Which needs better placement if you ask me.) Thankfully the ride was not in progress when it shut down, but it did cause a bit of a headache for the ride operator...and the folks already loaded
on the ride...and the folks in line...all of whom had to leave.

Chaperons extraordinaire!
Lacey and her friend Jamie gave up their Friday night to help corral 10 5th grade boys.
To celebrate Jacob's 11th birthday we went to Six Flags, Holiday in the Park.

The high school let out at noon on Thursday. We had about 50 Students Standing Strong kids here for lunch and a preview of their next big event.
A student officer introduced us to a ministry that originates in CO.
It is an amazing program of illusion that speaks to the deceit (illusion) of the world and culminates with the truth found in Jesus. Our guest did a few things as a preview of sorts and to say the kids were amazed and excited about the February event would be an understatement.
And how he got the red diamond card across the yard and into the water bottle with the lid on it is beyond me...and how did he know it was a 9 of diamonds to begin with?

Brynne has found herself to be extra helpful in her 2nd grade class lately. The teacher recently had a baby and will be on leave through early spring. Brynne has helped make the transition easier for the permanent sub in addition to whispering a bit of Spanish in her ear when the word just doesn't come to her. I stopped by for a short visit last week and was warmly received. They seemed to be fascinated by my blue eyes and
really excited that I was bearing Christmas treat bags.

Christmas card photo shoot...is there a greater challenge in the weeks leading up to Christmas?
We halted our flash after a mere 90some shots. Over two "sessions"...one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Some inside, some outside. Some with Lacey on the right, some with Lacey on the left. Inside, outside, sitting, standing, this tree, that tree, upstairs, downstairs, touching, squawking, poking, bumping....aaargh!!! Deep breath...
Merry Christmas!!

I have enjoyed participating in a Recipe Club for about 8-9 years. Our theme for December was Homemade Christmas. I took Gregg's mom's Oven Caramel Corn.

15 cups popped corn (3bags)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

Heat oven to 200. Heat brown sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt to simmering over med-high heat, stirring frequently for 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in baking soda. Pour over popped corn; stir until well coated. Bake 1 hour stirring every 15 minutes. Doubling the caramel coats the popcorn even better.

Helpful Hint: Gregg taught me to dump the popped corn in a big brown grocery bag. It makes it much easier to shake, toss the popcorn before baking.

Last night Brynne and I returned to Beautiful Feet to participate in their annual Christmas giveaway. This is a long standing tradition of going deep into the surrounding neighborhoods with trailers loaded with volunteers, bikes and gifts. We had about 35-40 SSS kids and parents, some of whom have taken part in this previously. There were 9 trailers towed by large pick-ups. Over 200 bikes were divided between the trucks and the gifts for boys, girls and adults went down the center of the trailer.

Each trailer had a highlighted route and the participants would literally hop off, knock on a door, sing some carols, gift the occupants with age and gender appropriate gifts before offering prayer if desired. At times we found it to be touching, shocking, generous, disorganized, slightly scary, funny, encouraging and loving. I think it is vital however, to not get stuck on the assessment from our perspective, but to look at it from the other side...what did those who received think? I saw some delight, curiosity, apprehension, confusion, boldness and gratitude.

Upon our return the Beautiful Feet organizers had cornbread, hot chocolate, Christmas cookies and venison chili. Part of my amazement for the evening was to see our generally meat hesitant daughter enjoy her bowl of chili, while I took a pass.

Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Jacob is 11!
And he had fun planning out December 6th.
Lots of thought went into the meal planning.
There were special requests for breakfast (donuts),
and lunch ("lucky soup" homemade by mom), which by the way
he forgot about and so he bought his lunch...oh well...and finally dinner.

Egg Nog
Caesar Salad with Croutons
Marinated Steak with Mushrooms
Broccoli
Aunt Suzanne's Cheesy Potatoes
Texas Toast
Pecan Pie

How old is he??

He is now looking forward to a delayed birthday party with friends on 12/21.

Today the kids and I (Gregg had to work) went to a homeless church in Fort Worth.
It is called Beautiful Feet and it is a long standing mission.
It has been important to me that our children worst case see,
best case enjoy the opportunity to serve others in a greater community.
This is something that I recall as a very young girl in Pennsylvania.
My grandmother loved to serve the elderly with homemade goodies.
I would accompany her at times and not only enjoyed the occasion to be with her,
but for me it established a significant comfort around the much older generation
while at the same time developing a genuine interest in new, albeit short, relationships.

Celebrating 48 anos (that's years for those of you
who don't live in Texas)
with coconut cream pie!