Cookies baking, pecan pie in the oven, Christmas music softly playing... the sights, sounds and smells of Christmas.  They conjure up so many memories, so many expectations, so many hopes and plans for the future...

This is our first Christmas in our new house.  After 11 Christmases in our last place, this feels strange.  But we have grandparents here and that makes everything right!  And I listen to a CD with the voices of old friends singing and I feel right at home.  And yet I miss our old home and our old friends and cooler weather.  But the Lord has us here for now and we are where we need to be.

My sister now lives in our city and we will spend the holidays together - all of them.  It is good to be so close especially to one who is so dear to me.  She is my sweetest and best friend!

There is still so much to do - presents to wrap, dips to make, floors to mop and tablecloths to iron, but for now, I am enjoying the sound of the cooling rain on our porch, the delectable smells from the oven and the melodic voices of folks from our old neck of the woods in Oregon.

Have yourselves a merry little Christmas!  We will indeed!

Terri