Gifts were bought, wrapped, gifted, unwrapped and taken away!  Everyone received many fun things, necessary things and surprises!  The house looked great with a new tree and some new decorations. Our little Christmas churches were set up.  They are special editions of the California Missions that I bought while we lived in California so I think they are unique and special.  And the food!!!  Oh My Gosh!  Our daughter had our traditional Christmas Eve feast at her house.  The table was piled high with all kinds of fun "puu-puus" (that's the Hawaiian word for hors d'oeuvres); pigs-in-a-blanket, meatballs, jalepeno-cream cheese roll-ups, bacon-wrapped jalepeno poppers, tortilla chips with hot cheddar cheese dip, loompia (Philippine eggrolls), veggies with dip, and for dessert, brownies, Russian tea cakes, oatmeal scotchies, gumdrops and petit fours. It was a terrific feast!  We also had a "white elephant" gift exchange and steal.  It was a good time by all!

Christmas Day we had an early gift unwrapping and brunch at our house.  I made a ham, a Quiche Lorraine and potato lattkeys.  We also had a variety of breakfast breads and cakes.  Then after everyone went to other engagements, Steve and I sat down for a long winter's nap!  Ha!  I swear Steve slept most of the day and I managed to finish off a whole romance novel!  Good time!

We had our first winter storm on Dec. 14th.  We actually got a little snow and had to scrape ice off of car windshields.  It warmed up and we had a few really nice days.  It has gotten really cold for us, in the 30's, and today we are having another storm.  There was snow falling again when I looked out a little while ago.  It is supposed to get into the 20's tonight.

I bought more medicine for Buddy today.  The vet gave me a break on the price, only $100 for 100ml.  It is going to cost $140 next time. Buddy's leg still has an open sore on it.  I continue to change the bandage about every other day and he continues to wear his cone.  I hope it isn't for much longer.

Steve and I are also preparing for our 40th anniversary cruise next month.  We got our immunizations, hepatitis, typhoid and regular flu.  We did not have to get yellow fever or dengue fever as they are not prevalent in the countries we are going to visit.  We are trying to get a prescription for malaria pills from our doctor.  Steve has not been able to get a response from his office yet.  I assume that is because we are still in holiday mode.  We are going to visit Mexico, Belize and Honduras.  People keep reminding us that Honduras is the murder capitol of the world.  At the briefing Steve had to attend because of his job, he was told that the police in Honduras guard the tourist cruise ship areas pretty well.  They want those dollars!  So it should be fairly safe if we stay with our group and don't wander off by ourselves.  

Steve found some carpenter's pants at Walmart to wear on the trip.  I have been looking but have not found any I like yet.  I need some of those old fashioned Oxford shirts with long sleeves to protect against mosquitoes too.  I plan to take lots of pictures and, I found out, that I have my very own cruise email account so I should be able to post stuff while I'm on the cruise.  I have not been thinking of the cruise because I have been preoccupied with Christmas, but now that it is behind us, I find I am starting to get excited about seeing a part of the world that I have not been to before.  I'm especially looking forward to seeing some of the Mayan ruins!