Merry Christmas!

Wow, it's been a while. I thought I would share that Christmas came to our house early this year. With Randy's work schedule and planning for all of my family to be here on Christmas Eve I decided that we would open our gifts from each other tonight. This way I can get the stack of gifts for the rest of the family and from the rest of the family to us under the tree instead of in the corner.

I was blessed this year with a lot of stuff! I kept telling the family that I wanted to be surprised so they were good at keeping secrets this year (except for the things I got for myself...lol). Megan and Steve got me a nice foot massager machine. I think Megan got tired of my asking her to rub my feet. Alan got me a really nice cutting board that has anti-slip stuff on the bottom and a digital thermometer. Randy got me a bread maker, a belgian waffle maker, a food chopper, an electric can opener, and a pair of snowman salt and pepper shakers. I got myself two outfits. I had looked in the closet and didn't have as many church clothes as I wanted and couldn't pass up an online clearance sale!

Now that all of the gifts are opened and the paper thrown away I can spend time cooking, cleaning, and planning for all of the family to come. I have already used the food chopper that Randy gave me and the bread machine. The family loved the homemade bread, and I loved that I didn't have to do anything with it except throw the ingredients in the machine! I used the food chopper tonight. It was great to not have to pull out the huge food processor!

Hmmmmmm....now that I look at my list of gifts from Randy I wonder if he was hungry? Just kidding! I love getting things for the kitchen for gifts. I also recently got a vacuum cleaner, but refuse to call that a gift. Something to clean with could never be a gift!

I will put in some of my family Christmas goodie recipes in a future blog. Merry Christmas!!

Ann Beck

From Annie's Blog...

I saw this on Annie's blog and thought I would post it here. You are supposed to copy the list and bold any of them that you have done. So here it goes:

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band ....at school
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland /world
8. Climbed a mountain - Clingman's Dome in the Smoky Mountains
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (I think my crafts should count!)
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (I spoke fluent Italian when we were stationed there. I was 18 months old.)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing (I just climbed on rocks.)
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (only a home movie)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar (it's GROSS!)
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life (gave the heimlech manouver to a 2 year old choking on candy)
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Wow, I have done a lot of these! Tag, you're it!

Ann Beck