Here is Skye Bird-dee on her Manzanita Twig. She seems pretty pleased with it, but would rather be running around on mommy's shoulders. This is my 6th day to feel like a human being after having the nasty cough that wracked my body for over 7 weeks. I am wondering if and when these drugs wear off if I will go immediately back to the coughing. It literally exhausted me. I find myself enjoying this holiday season more than any in recent years, which seems so strange, considering that my mother died earlier this year. It could be that I have had so many ups and down in recent times that I can look beyond the shadows and see the sunlight. It will be our first Christmas at home in more years that I care to remember. It will be our first Christmas without grandchildren in possibly 8 or 9 years. It will be a quiet time with our youngest, Ashley, and her husband, Trygve, and their little dog. I praise God that our son-in-law is not in Iraq this Christmas and ask His blessings on all of the military men and women who are deployed and their families. I ask for those who have lost loved ones in this war to feel the loving arms of Christ around them. It is a difficult time.