This is the last day of the month of November and, as you might know, it is raining, cold and so very "wintery" looking outside. I am so happy that I can stay inside of my beautiful apartment and do not have to venture outside for anything today. I spent yesterday running errands so that I could enjoy some days inside. You see, my girls came Sunday afternoon and decorated my home for Christmas. It is just beautiful and so happy and cheerful looking that I don't have a desire to go anywhere. The Christmas tree that I had used at the house on Freda Villa was way too big for this area so my son-in-law, Ray, went to K-Mart and bought me a perfect tree. The girls, Nita, Corinne, Kim, Tracey and Jacque went through all of my tubs of decorations and, together, we selected the tree items that were meaningful to me and they put them on the tree, added a big gold bow at the top, and streamers of gold ribbons throughout the branches and then added my gold tree skirt and there you have it - the perfect tree in the perfect place for the white lights to be seen inside and outside and it is lovely. They also put garland and white lights along the railing of my porch. There were several boxes of decorations that I have collected through the years that I love and I had no idea what to do with them, as space is limited, but Nita and Corinne came up with the most ingenious of ideas and now I have all of my "treasures" displayed for my enjoyment. Oh, what a blessing to have these daughters of mine. God surely knew that I would need them all of my life and most especially in these "golden" years. When I tell my young friends who are raising teenage girls and they are so overwhelmed with frustrations I just smile and tell them to hang on because the best is yet to come.

I do hope that your Thanksgiving was a happy and lovely time for you. Mine was just splendid. 30 members of my family gathered at Emily and Jackson's house at 4:30 on Thursday afternoon. Each person came with their assigned dish of food, the tables were all set with flowers for the adults and Thanksgiving decorations for the children. We "circled up" as always and each person told what their particular "thanks" was. It appeared that most of the appreciation was for Kim's diagnosis of Cancer Free. Our Blessing, spoken by Jackson, was indicative of every one's thoughts on this special day. We welcomed Mikka and Joesea as new additions to our family circle. They will be Patrick's wife and daughter in the near future and we are so delighted with them. We were also happy to have Kyle as Courtney's good friend. Of course, we missed Drew, Tara and their family and Chris and Ashley and their family. We will have them at Christmastime and then we will be complete. The entire gathering was just perfect. We ate our good food, the children played in the bonus room with toys, while the adults enjoyed a time of relaxation and conversation. We also celebrated Will Carter's second birthday with an Elmo cake and presents. All in all I would declare the day to be a huge success in every way. Not to appear morbid I do have a tendency to ask myself as I lie down to sleep after such an event "will I have many more of such wonderful experiences to enjoy". Hopefully, I will. However, I will savor each minute of being with my family or my friends and know that without a doubt God is good - all the time.