O Christmas Tree

Here is our Christmas tree:

Here is our Christmas tree with no flash and a Cowboy Carter standing in front:

Here is the candle craft that my sister put together for all of us to do at Thanksgiving.

My mom and sister and I took our annual day and a half shopping trip Tuesday night and Wednesday. We went to stayed in a hotel Tuesday night and shopped ALL day Wednesday. I have only 3 small gifts (and maybe some stocking stuffers) and I'm all done!! I'm hesitant to wrap the gifts and put them under the tree just yet for fear that Carter-the-Menace's curiosity and impatience will get the better of him. Maybe it's better not to wake that sleeping giant.

On a not-so-good note, yesterday afternoon while we were in Wal-Mart, my dad called my sister and we were told that one of my dad's younger brothers had massive stroke sometime in the morning. He lives in Topeka and it so happened that we were also. Since he was still in the emergency room and waiting for a more permanent room, we finished our shopping and then headed right over to the hospital. By the time we were able to see him, he was doing better than when he first arrived. As of last night he had no movement on his right side. He was able to move his left after and shake his head back and forth. He also sounded like he was trying to talk or grunt or communicate in some way. He was able to open and move his mouth, but he can't talk. This morning they were going to do an MRI to check on the blood clot and it's location. They were also going to assess the need for physical and occupational therapy. Please be in prayer for this family as it's so close to Christmas and certainly no one plans to spend the holidays with a loved one in the hospital. We are praying for a miracle and a full recovery.