Just one more post

This Christmas has been really lovely. Not only did I get an amazing set of presents from Laurie's parents, I also was able to receive communion. Since it's snowy here at the cabin, it's hard to push the wheelchair uphill and in the slippery wetness. It's doubly hard right now, because my back is still so sensitive and Laurie can't lean into it to push me uphill, like she normally would. So we decided that it would be better for me not to go to Mass today. At home, we have a pyx so that if I cannot go to Mass, Laurie can bring communion home to me, but, alas, we didn't bring it with us. Laurie and her parents left for church promising to ask to see if there was a pyx available to bring to me. When they asked, a very kind couple volunteered to follow them home and bring me communion officially. It was so very nice of them to take time away from their family to come minister to me. It was really touching that they had gone so far out of their way and understood how it was important to me to receive on Christmas. I am very blessed, indeed.

So, some more catching up to do. These pictures are from our drive home from Flagstaff, after we were snowed in at the Bed and Breakfast we stayed at while Laurie was finishing her finals. The drive back with the red rock and the snow was so pretty - I'm not sure what could top snow and red rock. Some of the first pictures didn't show the red rock because there was so much snow. We stopped at a little National Forest trail head area and walked around a little. The path had been plowed, so we took a lovely walk. We even saw a blue jay just perched there on a branch, posing for us. So here are the pictures from that drive (just a few of them, I took a bunch, but most ended up to be blurry trees!)

A week or so later, we went to our Benedictine oblate meeting for December. In December, both the East Valley group and the Phoenix group get together for a little party. We were so excited to see one of our oblate friends who has moved to Ithaca, New York about six months ago! What a wonderful surprise! We grabbed coffee with her a few days later, before she left to go back to New York. It was really good to see her. This picture that is coming up is from that day. We put my freshly washed hair up in rags and this was the result:

Unfortunately, it didn't last for very long. We're trying out new products in my hair. I switched shampoos and conditioners to Burt's Bees, but they are so expensive and there is silicone in the conditioner, which I don't like. We've tried a number of other shampoos and conditioners but haven't found the right combo yet, so my hair has been a little dry lately. Our next experiment will be going back to the Burt's Bees baby shampoo we were using and try jojoba oil as conditioner. If that doesn't work, I'm not sure what our next step will be.

I better be off now, Laurie's making Christmas dinner and it looks like we'll be eating soon. She's making yorkshire pudding, green beans and roast beef. She just served a fancy cranberry/cinnamon/lime sparkler drink so we must be getting close! Homemade pumpkin pie and whipped cream for dessert! I love her whipped cream (and the pumpkin pie, too, come to think of it). The one bummer is that I haven't been able to get ahold of my family. My mom's not returned any calls or picked up her phone. Maybe I'll try just one more time. Merry Christmas to all, I hope you had as good a day as I have. Thank God for many blessings.