Pcasso's Page: TABLES ARE READY, WE'RE RARING TO GO, WAITING ON SANTA ... HO, HO, HO!!!

We have nearly completed this blessed season of Advent. The waiting is almost over and the birth of Our Lord is just around the corner. The third week in Advent is called Rose Sunday and we celebrated the Eucharist on the special occasion where Father Matkin was our Celebrant at St. Alban's.

It's now time to get busy with the gift buying. Holiday shopping can be such a chore, so I have made this my motto for the holidays.

To start the week off, I met with three fellow artists and we celebrated both a birthday and Christmas with a great lunch at Piranha which is a great place for tempura. It's always a special time when you are with friends.

Frank attended a party at the hospital last week for the volunteers and they gave him this wonderful gift that will become part of our Christmas tradition. It's a gift that will last forever and you don't even have to open it! It's made from glass tiles with Christmas lights inside. I think it's so clever and we will use it over and over again.

This past Saturday night the Cowboys played their last game in Texas Stadium. Matt, our grandson-in-law, went to the game with Frank. That was a very bittersweet time but they had a great time and the post game celebration was a great tribute to the team and all the past team members that had played in that stadium. We have had season tickets there since the day it opened and will have tickets at the new stadium as well. We can almost see the new stadium from our house.

The next day, last Sunday, was a celebration of Father Kresowaty's 25th Anniversary since his being ordained to the priesthood.

My photograph of him is a little grainy and I apologize but I was pretty far away from him, so I couldn't get the detail that I wanted.
The ladies at the church did a wonderful job on the food and flowers and a good time was had by all.

When we left a meeting at the church one night last week we noticed that one of our neighbors had gone all out with their Christmas decorations. It's a little over the top but great fun to see at this special time of year.

As I was going through some boxes looking for a special photograph, I ran across these old photographs of the boys with Santa that were taken a long time ago. It's hard to realize that they have changed so much over the years. It's fun to look back at old times. They were so little and cute and now they're so grown up. I miss the younger years but there are so many things that we can do together now, that each year of our journey together is special.

Ethan will be 14 on his next birthday

and Ian and Connor are 9 and 11 now. Time flies!

Speaking of the boys, Connor and Ian were supposed to come to the house to make candy on Monday. Ian had spent the weekend with his friend, Billy, so he didn't get here until later in the afternoon. They had been deer hunting and after all, first things first, especially when you can spend quality time with your best friend on a ranch!

Connor and Beth came over that morning and we made Bourbon Balls together. It was fun and messy as well.

You have to roll the chilled filling on your hands to form a ball, and then you wait for GrandmaMama to bring over the melted chocolate

and the dip the powdered sugar, nut and bourbon balls in the chocolate until each one is completely coated. It's a fun process an anyone can do it.

Ian didn't get here in time to help, but judging from the look on his face, I think he may have eaten one Bourbon Ball too many!

Our good friends, the Mitchell's, always bring us a homemade delicacy to share on Christmas morning. It's become a tradition to go over to Franklin and Beth's and have coffee and this wonderful baked treat while the boys open their presents. They came by yesterday and brought ours as it had just come out of the oven. Can't wait until tomorrow morning to taste it!

I got up early and set the tables before we went to exercise. They look pretty festive if I do say so myself! Each of the girls will wear a crown of stars and the boys will have Santa hats. Connor gets to be Santa this year so he's excited about that.

The boys will have their Christmas Eve dinner in the kitchen and we will sit at the "big table". Snoopy Claus has been in the family for years and will be at the table with them this year.

We will go to the early service tonight and then come home, open our gifts and have our traditional Green Chili Enchilada, Posole, beans and tortilla dinner. The tree is laden with gifts that are just waiting to be opened.