I went to download photos off of the camera and realized that there is much blogging…that hasn’t been blogged.  Since I haven’t touched my knitting in over a week (but… shock of shocks… I actually did a bunch of carding.  I know…. you’re shocked!) there isn’t much “work in progress” to blog about.  How about a list-y-list instead??

2008 Events Still in Need of Blog Coverage

 

1.  On December 21 our church had its Christmas celebration during the morning service. All of the kids, from all of the Sunday School classes sang in church.  Anna Grace got decked out in her Christmas dress and she looked pretty snazzy.

 

 

Anna Grace Heading to Church

 

2.  That same weekend, we decided to do something fun.  It was non-Christmassy but fun and it really helped me to just relax and enjoy time with our family.  We went to the Oakland Nature Preserve and found 3 letterboxes.

 

 

Anna Grace and Dana with Letterbox #2

 

We then hiked down the West Orange Trail and found another letterbox.  We had a great walk, it was a nice afternoon and it was all free of the stress of Christmas.

 

3.  I received some new ornaments that will definitely be on the “cherished” list.

Some of you may recall a newsletter article that I wrote about a year ago that discussed my friend Sue who was teaching herself to knit and I was guiding in any way I could.  Well, Sue has been totally bitten by the knitting bug and… she even started a blog called Gimme Dessert First.

Well, on the 21st, I was at church getting set up for the kiddos and Sue handed me a gift.  Inside were two of the most personal and adorable ornaments.  I just love them.

 

 

Sheep and Basket

 

(I had trouble photographing them so I apologize for the bad photo.)

One is a little sheep and the other is a knitting basket.  Sue even took the little pins and knit a small section onto them.  I just love them and came right home and put them on the tree.

 

4.  Christmas Eve was spent with the inlaws.  They bought Anna Grace a doll that was a huge hit.  We told her she needed to name the doll and without missing a beat she declared that the baby’s name was Layla Isaac Hooch.

Oh my!

5.  In other naming news, the inlaws bought Anna Grace a hamster.  A hamster that is squirrely, crazy and I have no ability to photograph the wacky little thing.  We told Anna Grace that the hamster needed a name.

She named it Joshua.

I tried to discourage the Joshua name since that was  the name of the dog we had been thinking of adopting.

Then she named the thing “Gingadoo”. (Don’t ask.  I have no idea where this came from.)

I then suggested that she name the hamster something that people could actually spell, pronounce and that didn’t sound like some strange jungle disease.

Without missing a beat she came up with a new name.

The hamster’s name is…… wait for it…..wait for it……

 

 

Rover.

 

 

I’m so not kidding.

 

6.  I helped Anna Grace write a letter to Santa.  I was asking her what she wanted the letter to say (the little mark at the bottom is her “signature”) and out of nowhere, when we get to the part about cookies, she decided that Santa needed hot dogs.  Specifically, Santa needed a can of vienna sausages.

Nasty!

 

 

Santa’s Redneck Cuisine: Cookies and Vienna Sausages

 

7.  Anna Grace got a bike for Christmas from my mother.  She decided that she had to go out….right that very minute….at 7:30 a.m…..and go for a ride.  Layla Isaac Hooch had to go for a ride as well.

 

 

AG Riding her Bike…. While Wearing Pajamas

 

8.  Dana celebrated his 47th birthday.

 

 

Cake?

 

 The one in which his lazy wife refused to make him a cake because his mother had already made him a jelly roll.

 

9.  I was apparently on T.V.

Hampy sees us out walking this morning and announces that he had just seen me on T.V.  I tell Hampy I wasn’t on T.V. or at least I don’t think I was.  Hampy says that Fox 35 showed me at the gym this morning at 7:30.  Looked just like me,  walked like me, facial expressions just like me.

There are 2 big clues here:

Clue #1:  the person was at a gym.

Clue #2: the person was out of bed, dressed, caffeinated and actively involved in a task by 7:30 a.m.

Based on the evidence, I think we can all conclude that I was not on T.V. this morning.

 

10.  We have a new family member.

We have been going to Petsmart on the weekends to visit a dog that is being cared for by a local rescue agency.   The dog has had a rough life but is sweet as can be.  When he was 9 months old, someone dropped him in the night deposit box of Lake County Animal Control.  When officials found him the next morning, he had a large gash on his neck, his ear was nearly severed and he had bite wounds all over him.

This little puppy had been used as bait in a dog fight.

Hound Haven, a local rescue agency for dogs, was contacted and they got him all fixed up.  They named him Joshua after the biblical hero who fought the battle of Jericho.  The folks at Hound Haven felt that this little guy had fought just as valiantly and so they named him Joshua.  While Joshua isn’t my pick for a great dog name, given the little guy’s history… I think it’s fitting!

Once Joshua was healthy, the pup and his foster family started working on socializing him and getting him over his fear of other dogs.   By Christmas time, Joshua was a year old,  healthy and well trained.  We started visiting him on Saturdays and Sundays and finally decided that he was the right dog for our family.

We filled out an application this past weekend and thought we’d have a while to wait.  However, Joshua came over to the house yesterday for a home visit and things went well.  When all was said and done, we had a new family member.

 

 

Joshua and Dana

 

Well, that concludes the happenings of 2008 and now it is time to look forward to 2009.

We wish all of you a joyful 2009!