Merry Christmas!

I hope this finds everyone surrounded by loved ones enjoying this wonderful time of the year.









This year has been a mixture of great joy and sadness for us.



My sad news is the loss of my Mom. In November, Mom was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer. She decided not to take treatments to prolong her life. She moved in with my cousin Linda who invited her to stay during her illness. My brothers and I were able to visit her at the same time while she stayed in Vancouver, WA. In less than six weeks, Mom was in a coma and passed away quietly on December 16. Mom will always be remembered for her sense of humor. Even when she was in pain, she would joke about being ready to party after her nap.

We are so thankful to my cousin Linda and her husband Bill for easing the pain for Mom during this difficult time. We do not know what we would have done without them.

Our joy is our full-timing lifestyle. We are still enjoying our life on the road. Gail and Don, owners of American Sunset RV where we are work-camping put together a Christmas potluck party for all the work campers and monthly residents. Don roasted two very large rib eyes while the rest of us brought lots of delicious side dishes. No one left the party hungry. As a matter of fact, there was so much left over, we had lunch the next day. Tasted twice as good the second time around. Yum! I have decided that I like this new tradition of holiday potlucks. I don’t have to do as much cooking, but I do get to try new dishes and walk away just as stuffed.

We decorated the coach’s dashboard with a 2-foot tree and some small Christmas favorites. Of course, the cats think the tree is there for their entertainment. They like batting at the decorations and leaning on the tree when we are not looking. The windshield has also been decorated with flashing LED lights powered for 150 hours by two AA batteries.

I made a mini quilt using "Holiday Cheers" clipart by Rebecca Carter. I find great clipart from different artists at pcCrafter. Here are some close-ups of the Santas.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year!

Chocolate Covered Cherry Mice

One of my friends and co-worker showed the rest of us how to make these cute mice. I wanted to share these with you. Easy to make and a great project for the kids!

Ingredients:
1 jar of Maraschino cherries with stems
1 bag of Wilcox chocolate melt candies
1 bag of 1/2 peanuts
1 bag of Hershey Kisses
1 tube of red decorating gel
Wax paper

Hold stem, dip cherry in melted chocolate. Place on wax paper. Press unwrapped Kiss to the chocolate covered cherry. You now have the mouse's head and body with tail. Add 2 half peanuts between the Kiss and cherry for ears. We used peanuts, but I would think sliced almonds would work just as good. Add eyes and nose with red gel. The mice will be ready to eat or decorate within a couple of hours. Cute garnishes for your cold dishes during the holiday season.
So Cute!
Enjoy!

White Christmas by The Drifters