It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?

It came without ribbons. It came without tags.

It came without packages, boxes or bags.

And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore.

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.

What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.

What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.
Dr. Seuss

Well it's coming, ready or not! Christmas is right around the corner! We have been so blessed this year that it's hard for any of us here in our cozy casienda to feel Grinch-y at all. We can't wait to celebrate our first Christmas in our new house!! We've got our tree up and our stockings up and (for the first time ever!!!) our outside lights up!! This season is filling us all, yes...even me...with a deep joy and excitement.



We've already had a chance to spend precious time together. On the infamous "Black Friday", after my mom and I fought the crowds for 1/2 price socks at Fred Meyer, we had my family over for some pre-Christmas festivities. Lots of good food, good conversation and a little "Fred Claus" made for a wonderful evening. It was such a happy time to have my whole family in my home!!! We're looking forward to more family traditions like Gingerbread houses (thanks to the Amazing Aunt Brandy), baking cookies for our friends and neighbors and Christmas Eve from North Portland to Camas!

The kids have been busy too. Jenny went to her first ever High School dance on December 6th. It was a Sadie Hawkins dance with a safari theme. She went with her best friends Emily and Sheila then they came back to our house for "girls night!" I am amazed at how quickly they grow up. She didn't even look like my little girl...she's so beautiful, inside and out.

Brandon, unfortunately didn't make the basketball team at Fort so, always the positive one, he has decided he wants to try baseball. Now there is a decision I can get behind!! I'm looking forward to Spring and lots of ball games. We'll be celebrating his 17th (CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?) birthday in just a few weeks. I am a little overwhelmed by that fact! Seems like just yesterday he was hiding GI Joes in my Christmas tree!

I was handed a bit of a challenge this past month. Apparently, even nannies aren't immune to the slow economy. My current nanny family is having to scale me back to part time so I've had to venture out and find another part time job to fill in my missing hours. God is Good!!! After scanning a 4 page list of part time jobs I came upon the Smith Family (honestly...Smith!). They need the exact number of hours that I have to offer and they seem wonderfully nice on top of it. I'm excited to start working with them and their sweet little guy, Rowan in January. I'll be working two days in the Pearl District of Northwest Portland and two days here in Vancouver with a split day on Mondays. Wish me luck!

Hopefully this finds you all well and Joyful. We'll talk soon!