More X-Mas Pics and News from Colfax

There are so many good pictures left over from the holidays, I just had to update the blog and post a few more.

Here's a shot of our family at Pat and Ann's cabin, taken during Grandpa Bud's birthday party.

As much as we enjoy December's festivities (the kids and I consider it our favorite time of year), it's always nice to get the tree down and drag it out of the house, vacuum up the last of those pine needles, and say goodbye to all the excess for another year.

Jon always props our used Christmas tree outside by the bird feeder, where it sits until spring. When we lived in town this struck me as a bit of an eyesore; but out here, an extra tree fits right in. Song birds like to perch on it and use it as cover from more predatory birds.

Just now, thinking of that, I glanced outside at our discarded tree and spotted a red cardinal nestled in its branches. It looks like a Christmas ornament! This is the best picture of it I can get (if I get too close to the window it flies away). Can you spot the living jewel hiding in our old tree?

Another positive feature about the end of the holidays is having the kids return to school, of course. After almost two weeks off the kids start to crawl the walls, and no amount of new toys, books, and games is sufficient to occupy them once the holiday is over and the visitors are gone.

So we ALL looked forward to the start of school this week. And we had one "perfect" day of it. But Monday night, after her first day back, Emma discovered that her back and tummy were speckled with some suspicious looking spots. Sure enough, it was chicken pox.

Emma's been vaccinated, but it is still possible to get a mild case of chicken pox, despite the shots-- and that's what she has. She doesn't have any on her face and they aren't spread all over her body like pox typically are, but she has about 25 of them (resembling bug bites) on her back, stomach, and underarm.

There's been mild itching, but no fever, and overall she feels pretty well. But what might be a mild case for her could be more severe in an unvaccinated child, and her school's policy on contagious conditions is pretty strict (as it should be). So she's stuck home another week.

Yesterday Michael brought home a folder full of school work from her teacher.

Leila likes having her around. Hopefully our little un-vaccinated Leila doesn't get them (I checked with the doctor, and that was NOT one of the shots she's received), but she probably will. I called Hope in Arkansas to give her a head's up, and she said Stephen has already had that shot, along with the booster. So hopefully we haven't spread illness to the folks in Arkansas.

Here's Leila holding a doll she received from Grandma Jane this Christmas. We were given many thoughtful, well-chosen presents from family members this holiday-- including this special doll. It's hand-made: the porcelein face and limbs were forged from a doll mold by long-time Hurlburt family friend, Virginia Spletter.

I met Virginia only once before we were married, but Jane assures me she always had a soft spot for Jon (Jon and her son were about the same age and very good friends). Though she wasn't invited to our wedding in 1995 (it was a tiny wedding with only immediate family present), she gave us a beautiful afghan and pillow set that we still have and use almost 14 years later.

Virginia passed away shortly after our wedding, so the afghan stands out as particularly special.

Jon's mother was Virginia's friend and had been given the unfinished doll Virginia made. Jane recently had the doll finished, and gave it to Leila as a Christmas present. We like to think that Virginia would have been pleased.

Here's big sister Susan holding a living doll.

I was going to mention to Hope that we had fun playing Pictionary on the day before the kids left. We played "Girls Vs. Boys", and the Susan-Emma-Lisa team WON (but not by much). It was a lot of fun.

We've also been working on the 1000 piece puzzle that someone gave Michael. Right now it's spread out on the dining room table and probably 10 hours away from completion. But we're not giving up!

Our holiday guests had fun fiddling with the metal link puzzle that Uncle Bill gave Michael. It looks easy, but figuring out how to un-link the two pieces will drive you nuts.

We've been enjoying our holiday reading. I like my stained glass books from Mom! Leila likes her little books, and is starting to turn pages and make noises like baby Michael used to do.

My brother Don gave me shells and petrified wood he'd collected with father-in-law Rich Pruden on one of their canoe trips down the Saline River in Arkansas. Since Michael's social studies class is talking about archaeology, yesterday I let Michael bring a potsherd (piece of broken pottery), petrified wood, and arrow head chippings to school, to share with his class. These were all things given to me by Don (he participates in archaeological digs as a hobby, and is president of his state's archaeological society).

Here's Don and his little guy, Stephen (who seems to be putting his newly acquired teeth to use by chomping down on a good book-- another future scholar?).

Well, I still have enough decent pictures left over from Christmas, I'll probably post more later. But that's it, for now!