Christmas is here, but my children aren't! I couldn't even decorate the tree, my husband did it. They weren't here to open their ornaments and talk about when they got each one.

This is one of my all time favorite Christmas gifts!!! My daughter had her picture taken with Santa to go with the one I had done when I was 18. I LOVE IT !!

My son bought this plaster Santa from a friend down the street from us when she was having a yard sale. He was about 5 or 6 years old and that started my collection. A few years ago I was teasing him about not adding to my collection lately so he grabbed a napkin and quickly drew this for me. It is the simplest things that I treasure. Well, maybe that 55' Chevy above is my treasure now :), but it will never beat the memories my kids give me.

Santa leaves his clothes hanging on my Garden room door.

I love this Santa, with his jacket covered with all flavors of martinis.

One of my Sisters on the Fly sent me this ornament and she doesn't even know I just got a car very similar to it. I guess I might have to get another surf board to put on mine.

I know, TMI on this room, but I do decorate everywhere :)

These silvery stockings are from a Sparkle Holiday Swap I took part in. It was a lot of fun getting to know someone through email. My swap partner, Shiree, is in New Zealand and a very lovely lady. Each stocking has a silver ornament to go with it.

Our tree only has half the ornaments as usual because as mentioned above, our hearts weren't in it this year. Next year we will be a little more used to this empty nest syndrome and get with the party :)

Our daughter will be here for Christmas, along with family and friends. My nephew Eric will be down from the Bay area and I haven't seen him in quite awhile so that will be a treat.

Our son has leave the New Year's week and will be down from Oregon for 5 days.

I have enjoyed visisting so many blogs!! It is like an open house at every one of them. I wish all of you a very blessed Christmas and a very happy and healthy New Year.

Honor our Veterans not just today, but Everyday!

We should never forget the sacrifice that others have made so we can enjoy our freedoms and lifestyle. Shaking their hand and saying "Thank you" is the least you can do. Next time you see a soldier at a restaurant, think about paying the bill without him knowing it. You would not believe how good you feel. My son has told me how generous people are to him and his fellow Coasties and it makes me feel so grateful to them. Also, when I travel through airports I try to have some Starbucks gift cards on hand. Having a cup of coffee while they are waiting in airports is always nice. Something that a lot of people don't know is that lower ranking soldiers make almost poverty level pay. If you figure out how many hours they really work, they make less than minimum wage. So next time you hear someone complain about how much the war is costing, or wanting to cut the military budget remind them that soldiers are not getting rich!

My father-in-law was a Merchant Marine during WWII. When he passed away this past July he was honored with a military funeral. The US Coast Guard acted as Honor Guard and presented the flag to my son, who joined the Coast Guard in April. Needless to say we are very proud of him.

My Dad was a Marine for 24 years and retired as a Gunnery Sargent. He fought in the Korean and Viet Nam wars. He received a purple heart in both wars. This picture of my Mom and Dad was taken a few years before he went to Viet Nam. He died in a car accident six months after retiring from the service, at age 40.

Some Halloween from this year

Sorry to be so late in getting some Halloween Party pics up! Colds and flu has run rampant at my house for over a week :( I simplified this year and just put a few things up. I took the easy way out and added masks to my pumpkins instead of carving.

Past Halloween Decorations

I park my broom and leave my shoes, gloves, purse and hat by the front door :). I don't want to scare my family too much. Skeletons made by my children in kindergarten (how I miss that time!) greet friends who enter. I have kept all of their school art since preschool and they enrich my decorating. My kids are in their 20's and don't find it as cute as I do ;). After noticing the electric cords hanging under the table, I will have to fix it this year. Here in So. CA it is just starting to cool down and I can't wait for soup and baking time.

Fly Fishing

Try to catch fish that you can train to do tricks when you clap your hands. LOL

A few things to remember while fly fishing. Always have fun and don't take it too seriously!! The number of fish caught (if any) doesn't matter if you took time to enjoy the view and daydream. Save the wand (aka: the fly rod for women)! You can always dry out, but it is harder to repair the wand.

Fly Fishing

I belong to Sisters on the Fly and we just had our 3rd Annual trip to Kernville, CA. God was good to me and I caught (and released of course) 15 fish. The "twins" in the picture were caught at the same time on a line that had 2 flies tied on. They were both 13 inches long. I was on a guided trip with Guy Jeans, owner of Kern River Fly Shop. If it hadn't been for his patience I would have only caught tree limbs and big boulders :) Visit his website at www.kernriverflyfishing.com . There were over 30 sisters on the trip. Most had vintage trailers and we were at Camp James in Kernville. We fished, shopped, ate wonderful food, had fun visiting each others trailers and seeing all of our different personalities come out in the decorating. I came home with so many fabulous memories in my memory bank that I will revisit over and over throughout my life. Visit www.sistersonthefly.com for more information.