The Christmas Card Saga

Every year we send Christmas cards.

Which means every year we take pictures for said Christmas cards.

For the last several years we've had friends come over & I take pictures of their family & she takes pictures of mine.

We get everybody into coordinating outfits & threaten them encourage them to smile & stand up straight & not dork around.

And we pick 3 or 4 backdrops & several poses & then we take, oh, I dunno, maybe  12 million shots & we almost always get at least 1 or 2 that don't totally suck.

Because small children.

And, being the glutton for punishment that I am, combined with my PollyAnna tendencies I not only pose my kids but I add the animals in as well.

Because hey, what could possibly make taking photos of small children harder than adding in 3 or 4 dogs, a couple cats & an equine or 2???

But who can resist photos with puppies & ponies? Seriously.

After all, those are memories right?

Like this one here. The "before" shot...

Which led to this one which is absolutely perfect except for decapitating the dog. Darn it.

This is one of those squirrelly bob moments...

Which led to this one which ~ buy golly! ~ is a keeper!

Moving to a different spot & chaos ensues. See the crying child? Dad made him let go of his kitty. *sob*

But a few threatening encouraging words & we were back on track. Another keeper.

This is the one my daughter wants to use for the card. No. Just no.

I have no idea.

But this one is awesome.

A little too much enthusiasm going on here...

Recovery...

Chastisement...

Success.

Merry Christmas. Happy Hannukah. Joyeux Noel.

Blessings.

Election 2016

I woke up this morning to my 10 year old shouting "Hallelujah Donald won!" And giving me a hug.

He may have been a little caught up in the election process...

But the little boys & I still went to bed long before the results were in. And we had spent the day avoiding election coverage as much as we could.

As a survival mechanism I've had to keep this election process on the periphery of my life. For the last 2 years (rolling eyes) I have tried to keep it arms length.

Not because I don't care but because I care too much.

And the ugliness of politics starts to reflect off my soul if I get too involved. So I have to not get too involved.

So the 64 Million Dollar question (reference to an ancient television show. I'm sure you can google it.) this morning is "How do you feel about the election results?"

Technically **we** won. I voted for Trump. But was he **my guy**?

No.

Early on in the election process there was a candidate who was very much **my guy**. For the first time in a looooonnnggg time there was a candidate I believed in. One I thought would be a great choice not just the lesser of evils.

But, sadly, he didn't make it through the primaries. That took a lot of wind out of my sails.

The election went from having such promise to being something to be feared.

So am I elated this morning? No.

I am sobered.

Am I relieved? Yes.

Am I thankful? Yes.

To be honest, the other candidate scared me.

Not because of the title "democrat" or "republican" because I am neither.

But her vision of what America should be is frightening to me.

Her utter lack of reverence for life is horrifying to me.

So I am exceedingly grateful this morning that God did not raise her up as our leader.

I am saddened too.

Saddened by the choices we gave ourselves.

Saddened at the lack of respect & honor within & for the office of president.

Saddened at the lack of respect & honor our once great country receives from the outside world because of our choices.

Saddened at our fall.

I do not think Trump is a bad man. But he is brash. He is foul mouthed. And he is on his third marriage. Not attributes I look for in our Commander in Chief.

It is my great hope & prayer that he will be an excellent president.

That he will bring our greatness back.

I love my country.

I am thankful I was born here. Born free.

But we need revival. We need to turn our faces back towards God.

We need to become a God fearing country once again.

We do that thru prayer.

I pray for our new president. I pray the Lord will use him to restore our country.

I pray for revival.

I pray we will become a Christian nation once again

I pray you will pray with me.

God Bless America.

Blessings.