The Christmas Spirit

I'm usually pretty laid back. There are some things that get me fired up. There are somethings that I have strong clear cut opinions about. Timing on holidays is one of those things. You can't start celebrating Valentines Day (my opinions of which I will keep to myself) before New Years. Also you can't start Christmas stuff till AFTER Thanksgiving day. Turkey day being over the Christmas spirit is growing here. We got some decorations up, and the lights on the outside of the house. We even listened to Christmas music while cleaning up today! We put some lighted garland around the fire place. Take a look!

We put up the tree. If you have copy of last years tree you'll notice an incredible similarity. Par for the course if you keep your tree in a cardboard box in the crawl space. It's up, lit and raring to go!
Emily organized a cookie exchange for today. Several ladies braved the bitter cold (teens) and snow to gather and trade cookies. I think I heard a rumor about some wine as well. Emily made Candy Cane Cookies. I DID help. See all those little balls of dough. It was my job to make them all and make them equal. Then Emily rolled them out and twists them together.


Then, into the oven. It was my job to pull them out of the oven and put them on the cooling rack. Sounds easy, and it is, but it's stressfull. Emily is very attached to every cookie and gets a little teary eyed if one is broken before it cools and is eaten. It is the most fragile point for the cookies short life. Here is the final product (before the oven).

Like I said. We are getting into to Christmas spirit here! With Christmas always comes the question about lists. Emily and I have decided that we would prefer you give to a charity in our, or your, name instead of presents for us. Here are some charities that we like:

Max Fund - No kill animal shelter in Denver
Leukemia and Lymphoma - something that has effected some folks close to us
The American Red Cross - It's like a savings plan if you loose your house

You can use the links above to learn more about these organizations and to donate.

The Gathering Place - A homeless women and children shelter. A co-worker of mine is collecting children's books and puzzles to donate. You can send the books to me by the 19th of December or to her by the 27th. Here is the flier with more info.


That's Cooper, her Son, in the picture! About as cute as a button! These are, of course, suggestions and you can donate where ever you would like. This way you save on shipping. Emily and I also understand that it is fun to give an actual gift. We both have "wish lists" on Amazon.com you can check out.

Jon
Emily

Hope this finds all of you well. Again, sorry for the long drought on the blog!