Merry CHRISTmas everyone!

Well, it's Christmas Eve Eve, and there's a snow storm moving in, and I'm ready to go home and start getting ready for my Christmas festivities! Lots of baking yet to do, and cleaning, and ok....just a lot to do!

I want to take this time to pause and wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas! With all the busyness and sparkle of the holiday, let's remember to keep our focus on the reason for the season...the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Merry Christmas!

Beautiful Open House!

Words cannot express what a wonderful day last Saturday was! It was such a festive day and FUN! My mom and dad came down from Plainville to help us during the Open House. All three of my daughters - Chelsey, Erica and Kailey - were here to help and we had a ball! My husband, Darrin, my dad and my son-in-law worked on our lighted float for the parade all day Saturday and it was FANTASTIC!!!

I enjoyed visiting with friends and family and was thrilled to see all of you! A big thanks to Paula, Connie and Marcy from WRHS in Topeka, who came and had lunch and spent a lot of time with us! We were so happy to see my cousin, Matt and his wife, Misty, along with their beautiful children! And, it was "joy" to see my friend, Joyce, walk through the door!

We had a great time with Santa (my oldest wants some ocean-front property, my middle one wants a Hummer, and the youngest wants a puppy, for the fourth year in a row). They had no problem telling Santa their wishes, even at ages 21, 19 and 13! Got a picture too!

And the lighted parade.....Fabulous! I can't tell you how proud I was of my float that the boys put together! Thank you to them for all their hard work! It was the best!

The greatest gift of the day was the sense of community and family in our little town. It is truly a fun place to visit and to spend some time. And YOU are welcome anytime!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Musings

Saturday is our Paxico Christmas Open House! Every store is having specials, and goodies and Christmas treats....and if you received a postcard from me, or see the ad in the Alma paper and bring it in, YOU will receive a special Christmas gift from me! (If you would like to be on my mailing list, just send your info to my email address on the "Contact" page). I am making cookies and for lunch, I am planning to serve huge baked potatoes with either broccoli cheese topping or homemade chili topping! Yummy! We will have Christmas cookies and desserts too! Santa comes at 4:00 and the lighted Christmas parade is at 6:00! Come join us! We would love to see you!

I had the best time over Thanksgiving with my family! I missed Chelsey and Bryan, but other than that - it was wonderful! My sister, Jill, took her candles to a craft show in Oberlin on Saturday. My mom, Nancy, also had the CUTEST wall hangings for sale, as well as my bro-in-law's awesome shelves! The whole family hung out and browsed the other booths and I personally bought a lot of stuff! It was a nice little craft show, and almost everything was HANDMADE! I met Bob and Jeannette McConnell, from Starsburg, Colorado and bought some unbelievably wonderful hand-carved and painted wood Santas that Bob made...they are in my store for sale! I also met Georgia Chisholm and her sister, Theresa Eschliman, both of whom are extremely talented and so much fun to talk to! They obviously love what they do and it's contagious! I bought the cutest aprons from Georgia; she sews them with mostly VINTAGE FABRIC (love it) and notions, buttons...they are adorable! Again, in the store for sale! And I just went crazy in Theresa's booth - she makes the old-fashioned ornaments that your Grandma made! My whole family had a ball in her booth, picking out those nostalgic items that make you think of all the Christmases when you were a small child! I have them on my tree at home and I love them!

The Gathering Place is one of the stores featured in a two-page spread in the new edition of "The Country Register"! You can see it by clicking on my "Friends" page, and going to their website and downloading the Dec/Jan issue. It was a wonderful experience and I'm really proud of the article!

Back to work...going to bake some cookies for Saturday! I hope to see you all during this festive time!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!