Hi friends!

Waving a hand from me to you! Hi friends! I know I've been keeping up on the #100HappyDay posts, but haven't been doing much actual blogging. I'll get back to that pretty soon. But I didn't want to overload you with my normal nonsense  and a post every day about #100HappyDays.
Let's catch up soon, shall we? 

Kelly, this one is for you!

We just chatted yesterday for the first time in forever, it seems. When we don't chat for awhile, I can just sorta pretend I don't miss you all so much. After we got off the phone, this huge wave of homesickness just crashed over me. Don't get me wrong, I love it here...but sometimes I just wish HERE wasn't so far from THERE, ya know?? I loved it when you could just drop by 38 times a week just to say hi, or drop the kiddies off for the afternoon, or pick me up for an impromptu trip to the scrap booking store. SIGH* I guess Dad was right when he always used to say that life got complicated after you turn 18...LOL! Anywho...all of that to say that I can't wait to see you when you come visit...Oh my GRAVY..all that time to visit, catch up and scrapbook...wheeeee! We also hope/plan to make the long awaited trip back to IL with all of us sometime this summer to just hang out for a week or two...catch up, hang out, have a BBQ, go visit our friends at church and maybe take a girly trip to Long Grove...no kiddies invited...anyone under 30 being considered a kiddie...ha ha ha! Oh, I am drooling just thinking about it...yeah! Tax refund, here I come..watch out! OK, enough chatter for one day I think...Kelly, I miss you!
Kristy
BTW, don't forget that I get to be the first one to read your blog, if you get one started...if you don't start it before you get here, I'll help you get it going!

Christmas Time in Las Cruces

Dear Friends and Family,
Hello once again from sunny New Mexico. It is December 21st and the weather is great by almost anyone's standards...sunny and 62. As most of you know, yesterday was my 34th birthday. It was great, so many people called or left me messages, that I barely had a chance to feel homesick at all. Karen brought me a huge poinsettia, just like my dad used to every year and Dan and the boys bought me a digital camera so that I could send pictures better and faster. We had a Christmas Dessert Party last night and we all ate WAY too much, and I made Russian Tea, which I hadn't had in way too long. We ended up having a good turnout despite several people being sick or out of town and fun was had by all. However, we have so many leftovers...does anyone want to come eat some???
As for actual Christmas preparation, we are all but ready, with the tree up with gifts wrapped and under it, and we are looking forward to going and seeing some of the nativity scenes and light decorations this weekend. The boys have a Christmas Countdown on their school chalkboard and are crossing off the days with anticipation! I love having a two year old at Christmas...they get so excited about everything! Derek is just beside himself trying to resist the urge to dig into the presents...LOL! His two favorite new words are cookie and candy and he REALLY enjoyed baking day this week. He even helped us lose one beater to my brand new mixer that I had used ONE time!!! So, Karen and I are trying to bake copious amounts of cookies with a mixer with one beater...ridiculous! It was eventually found, but not until all the cookies were done, of course. We had a good laugh about that, for sure.
Church is going really well. The boys are enjoying their Sunday School classes and meeting a few people and have even requested to start back to AWANAs come January, now that they know a few kids. Dan and I had a chance to visit with the pastor for a few minutes this past week before church and he seems great. I'm looking forward to the Christmas eve service, but it won't be the same as being there with all of you. BUT, it is better than not going at all.
Dan is almost finished with his temporary foreman job and I think he is glad. At this point, he is just supervising the other trades to make sure that they do their jobs right and so he is bored stiff. The one guy he still has under him is bringing a portable DVD player everyday and they are watching movies all day long. He comes home and is ready for a project becasue he hasn't done anything all day. And that has worked out well here, we have unpacked every box that needs unpacking until Karen moves out. We've been throught almost every box and sorted what needs to come out and what needs to stay packed. Dan reorganized the garage and now we have space for Dan's weight bench and even room for the dart board, which we all are enjoying. David and Patrick are actually quite good at it.
Oy! I just realized how long this is getting! I want to add a few pictures and then I'll sign off!
We miss you all so much and wish that we could be there with you, especially as the holidays grow closer and closer. Lost Boys, Mama K Loves you!! We love you all!
In His Blessings,
Kristy and the Man Crew

Look at all those handsome boys! They are growing so fast! David~10, Dan~32, Derek~2, Patrick~almost 9, and Tyler~14
Who is this goofy guy? This picture was already on my camera when I opened it. Sheesh! You'd think people would delete these things!
Look at this gorgeous poinsettia that Karen gave me...it's practically a tree it's so huge...and dusted with gold...it is lovely!