Christmas Eve Reading

After dinner on Christmas Eve we read the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke. We read the second chapter on Christmas morning. It is really easy to get caught up into presents, tinsel and decorations, and all of the other things that comes with Christmas and totally ignore the real reason and purpose of the holiday. It was good to read God's Word together.

Christmas Eve Dinner

Christmas dinner began with some shrimp. Shrimp is something that I really enjoy and I don't get to eat it here very often. I wonder if it has something to do with living in the desert?
My little family has a love affair with Mexican food. Being from Texas I know that is hard to believe. For many years tamales has been a staple on Christmas Eve. For the last couple of years we have been unable to have them. This year we found some at Costco and even though they were a little more expensive than we liked, we bought them anyway. They were very large and extremely tasty!
My wonderful wife made a five layer Mexican dip that was out of this world! Dinner was a huge success and man was it good!

Christmas Eve

I got off work a few minutes before 3:00. There was no one in the office when I arrived so that means no one was there to keep me from leaving! I headed home and Christmas began.

What Shape Is My Road In Today?

Driving around in the park on Christmas Eve was really not that bad. Most of the roads looked like this. They were nice and clear with snow on the ground and in the trees.

But there is one stretch of road that does not get much sun light and the snow (and ice) is still packed down. I would have done almost anything for some warm temps and some sun light!
This section of road was one of just a few areas that was still in bad shape. But the real problem was time was going waaaaay to slow.

Guess Who Worked On Christmas Eve?

For the first time since 1985 I had to work on Christmas Eve. In my mind Christmas Eve is a holiday and I should not be working. . . RIGHT? Well, with a few nasty roads left in the park I was in grand style hauling park visitors. At least the bus I drove was #24.

We All Have Our Favorites

This is one of my favorite Christmas ornaments. I think he is kind of cool! As a Dallas Cowboys fan you need something on your tree, right??? My youngest daughter gave him to me for my birthday a couple of years ago and he has been on the tree ever since. He shouldn't be smiling after the loss this past Sunday. Oh well, it is December!

Snow, Snow and More Snow

Tuesday, Dec. 8. I got up extra early knowing that we were to have a lot of snow over night and I had to be at work at 5:30. What I was not prepared for was 2 feet of the stuff!!!

I shoveled and shoveled until I thought I could get my car out. I got half way out of the driveway and got stuck! It was NOT a good experience. The snow on the road was higher than the bumper on my car! Even if I could get on the road I would not have been able to get down the street. And the snow was still falling!
So, here I am, a native Texan buried in two feet of snow, trying my best to get to work, with my car stuck half way onto the road. [Note: IF the snow plow came by, I would be in his way] I called my manager and she dug herself out and picked me up for work. It took the manager almost an hour to get dug out of the snow and to get onto the road. My wife, who came out to help me, and I got the car back into it's parking place in the driveway. Our little car was slipping and sliding all over the place. At one point we thought it was going to hit the truck!
I walked to the main road and met my manager as she came by. We drove into work and were amazed at the amount of snow that had fallen over night. I got to work at 7:30 a.m. It was a rough day fighting with the snow and trying our best to get bus service going. Buses did not hit the road until 12:30 that afternoon. And even then it was just partial service until about 5:00. By the time I arrived back to work on Thursday life was slowly getting back to normal.

The Snow Arrives

On Monday, Dec. 7 I arrived at work a few minutes before my start time at 5:30 am. A few minutes later the snow arrived. One of my drivers came into the office with snow on his clothing. I was surprised to look outside and see the snow!

This is what I saw when I went home for lunch around 10:15. As you can tell the snow was still falling well 5 hours later.
This is the view from the Grand Canyon Visitors Center. I went there after my lunch break. Not too many people were waiting for the bus in the snow. And the snow continued falling.
At 1:30 it was time for me to go home. My poor little car was covered with the white stuff. I had to brush her off and get her going. Little did I know what the next morning had to offer.

Above The Sky

I recently got the new Evan Wickham cd "Above The Sky." Produced by Peter Kipley (who also produced Phil Wickham's last three albums) Evan has released a wonderful album of worship songs. Evan has become one of my favorite worship song writers in the last few years and this release does not disappoint.

I only have one complaint: Evan, you made me wait to long between albums! But this is well worth the wait.

It Is Christmas Time!

The Christmas season is here again. This past weekend we decorated our home for the holidays. Last year my wife bought a nice little tree and we had it in our rig. Once more we got it out of storage and are using it.

In the past we usually use just one color of lights on the tree. This year we decided to be a little different and with our white lights we ran some red lights through it as well. I think the results are really good.

The tree topper that we normally use is still in storage in Dallas. While my wife and I were in Williams a few days before we walked into a Christmas store. While in there we found this neat little angel to use as our topper.
We finished decorating and the results are in! Not a bad looking tree. It was a fun, family time. But one thing for sure, we do not want to forget the reason that we celebrate this time of the year, and that is the fact that Jesus came to earth and was born so that one day He could die for our sins.

Friday Morning Temps

Thursday night we had a front blow in and the temperatures dropped here in Northern Arizona. I had to be at work at 5:30 in the morning. When I got to the office this was the read out from the thermometer.

Around daybreak the temperature dropped even more! It actually dropped down to 5 degrees. At this point I decided that the flag could wait a little longer to go up on the pole.

Calvary Prescott Ready For Christmas

This past Wednesday we headed to Prescott to do some shopping and to go to church.

When we arrived at church we were pleasantly surprised with the Christmas decorations in the courtyard area. These guys have done a beautiful job decorating for Christmas.