A Visit with Santa

 Desert Boy had a chance to visit with Santa the other night. He wasn't at all shy about visiting him.

 He whispered the one item he really wants into Santa's ear. Of course Mom heard. And it's something he's been asking to receive for awhile. (Unfortunately for him, Mom doesn't think he's quite ready for it, so she's also whispering into Santa's ear. Shh, don't tell!)

Desert Boy is definitely a Santa doubter, but he'll go along with it for fun. And there's still a glimmer of uncertainty--maybe, just maybe, Santa does exist, and in case he does, he wants to make the most of it!

Cookie Decorating

This last weekend we went to a cookie-decorating event sponsored by the local 4-H club. The kids went right to work.

 Well, except for Willow, who just enjoyed the atmosphere and smells of sugar.

It quickly became obvious that this was very much an art event.

 Who can resist?

 Yum, sweet bliss.

 Soon the frosting mustaches (and beards) were evident.

 And why bother putting frosting on the cookie when it can go straight in the mouth?

 These little friends decorated diligently.

 How high can a cookie be decorated? Or maybe the question should be how high can it be and still fit in your mouth?

 Caleb gave a little talk about what 4-H is. Cloverbuds are the youngest 4-H members, and need to be just 5 to join.

Warning: the next photos may cause you to gain five pounds just by looking at them.

 Desert Girl's final creations. Which one would you choose?

Desert Boy's decorating. I think he had a theme going on!

Here's to a sweet Christmas!

Living Each Day Fully

I've read a couple of books over the last few months that made me think about how I'm living and how I want to live. Generally, I feel like I'm in a better place in life now than a year ago. I've grown as a person, have better figured out my priorities, and feel God's blessings daily. Nevertheless, there's always room for improvement.

In The Happiness Project, author Gretchen Rubin has some great suggestions about how to be happier. Some of the ones that struck me were to declutter, sleep more, don't expect praise or recognition, quit nagging, be silly, remember birthdays, be generous, don't gossip, make new friends, and give something up. She's got lots of great stories and it's impressive how she reads so much and retains so much from that reading and is able to incorporate it into her book.


A friend gave me Still Alice by Lisa Genova. It's about a woman who gets early-onset Alzheimer's and proceeds to show her point of view of what it's like to live with the disease. There are good days and bad days, and on the bad days, life is very tough. I appreciated getting to learn more about the disease. The book also showed that even though your existence is going along smoothly, you may get a hiccup in your life that changes it more than you ever thought possible.



These two books, along with a variety of blogs I read and talks with friends, have really stressed the importance of living every day to its fullest. Over the past few months, we've had a number of local residents pass away and a number of others get seriously ill. With such a small community, we really feel the impact. No one could have guessed that this December we would be missing so many of our friends.

So I want to reach out to everyone I know and give you a huge thank you for being part of my life. You make a difference. And I am working on taking the time to express my gratitude, to live in the moment and smell the flowers and enjoy the smell of those flowers, and to spend my time on things that matter to me. There will never be enough time to do everything, so I might as well do what I really want to do.

As I continue on my journey of life, I'm continually looking for advice for living a happy, meaningful life. And advice on good books. Let me know if you have any of either to share!

Getting Ready for the Christmas Bird Count

Monday is our annual Christmas Bird Count for this area. It started here in 1997 and has been going on every year since, and it's been interesting learning about some of the trends (which you can see in an article in this publication).  Worldwide, the very first Christmas Bird Count was in 1900, which makes this project the longest citizen science project in existence.

To get ready, we started putting bird feed in our feeder about a week ago. It didn't take long for dark-eyed juncos and pinyon jays to find it. The pinyon jays come in a huge flock and stay until they eat everything.


They are beautiful birds, although a little aggressive so they keep out the other birds. I was surprised by how the photos I took captured them in so many stages of flight.

 A neighbor's feeder also gets the pinyon jays, but also lesser goldfinches, and at the top, a white-crowned sparrow.

To expand the citizen-science aspect of this project, I visited Desert Boy's school and put up a bird feeder for them. They are going to help watch what shows up on Christmas Bird Count day and contribute to the effort.

 They were fascinated with the binoculars I brought. We also practiced a few bird calls (e.g., Canada goose, mallard, raven, mountain chickadee, great horned owl, red-tailed hawk). I was impressed how well they knew them. Although most thought the red-tailed hawk was an eagle because that's what television dubs in--a real eagle call is rather weird and unimpressive sounding.

 Then we made bird feeders they can take home with them. First, find a pine cone, tie a string around the top, goop it up with peanut butter, then roll in bird seed. Put in a plastic bag to get home, then take out and hang up outside.

The kids seemed to really enjoy it. Hopefully they will see some neat birds at home!

If you'd like to help in your local Christmas Bird Count, it's not too late to sign up. They are lots of fun, and you can participate even if you're brand new to birding. Trust me, it's more fun to look at birds for the day than you might imagine! You can also just count birds in your yard or on a walk and submit what you find.

Some Holiday Preparations

 We've been focusing on homemade Christmas items this year, and that's been a lot of fun. Desert Boy got a lesson on how to wrap presents the other night. He asked where I had learned how to wrap presents, and I told him "My mom." He said, "Your mom taught you a lot." I agreed.

 Meanwhile, Desert Girl was enthralled with a craft project putting together gingerbread people made out of felt that allowed her to use glue. Glue is a special treat in our house now, after several glue incidents. It is a carefully controlled substance.

 Desert Girl was trying hard to make her gingerbread dolls just right.

 We've also made some Christmas ornaments out of a sticker kit. It's funny how the kids can make even a simple design have some extra character!

 You can tell that these were kid-made! They will be happy reminders of this stage in Christmases future.

We had an extra form in the package, so I let Desert Girl do whatever she wanted, including using scissors. This is what she came up with. Notice the ponytail on the snowgirl. She was very proud of that.

Desert Boy wanted me to open a present early. This is what I got:

I asked him where his club was, and he said he was making it. Once it's ready, I've got an exclusive ticket!

 Here is one of the finished gingerbread people!

I so much appreciate the extra smiles and chuckles the kids share and create!