Today is a lovely day... I'm just rattling around the house enjoying my last week of Christmas vacation before I go back to work next Monday. It's been raining, so things are wet and cold outside. The perfect day to make a big pan of veggies for lunch with grated cheese on top, read a good book, chat with Hilary on the phone, and just generally recharge my batteries! We've had such a nice time over the Christmas holiday! Having Jim and Erin here has been delightful! Gretchen and Chris even spent the night on New Year's Eve, so we've just been enjoying family! We can't wait to get out to Texas in February to hang out with the DeHarts and see how little Garrett has grown since he left here. We got the nicest Christmas thank you note from Madeline! She has quite an elegant signature!

Last night we had a precious time of sharing and chatting and eating dinner at mom and dad's house as we celebrated daddy's 84th birthday! He attributes his good health to many things, including all the produce in their backyard which they eat most of, home cooking, going to the gym and the fairly stress free life lived under God's grace. (We also added good genes!) They're planning to take a ministry trip to Mexico in February and a cruise of the Mediterranean which will include a four day visit to Malta in April/May. Isn't that nice?

Tonight is the last/best New Year's football game (Ohio State vs. somebody, not sure), so David and I are going to watch it. I'm going to make guacamole to go with chips and homemade chile. Ahhhhh, nice. We love to wrap up in our big feather comforter while we watch TV!

The photos below show some of last weeks activities. Last Friday David and I, along with Erin, Jim and Garrett paddled out in the rain to the Reagan Library. It was so interesting to see Air Force One as well as the exhibit of many of Nancy's beautiful dresses. I could have stayed a little longer! The other photo is of a treat I made for Erin's website recipe collection. David named it "Pooh Bear's Delight." It's equal parts of whipped honey and crushed up roasted hazelnuts with a bunch of finely chopped orange peel added for wonderfullness! Yum.