It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness.

We are doing some home improvement while Ron is home & started with tearing down a nasty wall in the basement. We found two windows which appeared to be the cause of the black mold we found on the dry wall which the previous owners installed directly in front of these windows (some people should not be allowed to do home improvement). And then we found this...


...a big, scary hole where I'm certain there are dead bodies buried. When Ron first showed me I couldn't handle it. I had to put Maddy in front of my face to shield me from the scary, monster-filled darkness. She was very brave & protected me well! But, on a happy note, we found out this was the reason for some of our cold drafts in the house. This is open to the outside allowing wonderfully freezing air to blow into our basement (not to mention the creatures that find their way in to warm up)!!! Ron has put up insulation & closed off the entrance so we are nice & secure now...I hope!

Christmas is the season when you buy this year's gifts with next year's money.

We had a wonderful Christmas & Maddy got a kick out of tearing paper & having access to the Christmas tree. I thought I did pretty good staying under control with buying presents but Ron mentioned how spoiled Maddy is several times (all in good fun) so I guess I wasn't as controlled as I thought!

Maddy helped Daddy with some of his presents too!

Maddy has been wearing her beads everywhere she goes. Sometimes they are a necklace, sometimes a belt. Just depends on what looks best with which outfit!

Whatever the struggle, continue the climb. It may be only one step to the summit.

My little climber! Maddy likes to stand on the couch & look out the window. I was worried about her falling off & hitting her head on the wood floor so I piled the pillows around the couch. Well, of course, she decided that looked too good to pass up so she started climbing. She thinks it's great fun. The best part is that I only had to tell her once to go down on her tummy & now she does it all the time!

Santa Claus had the right idea. Visit everyone once a year.

Maddy had her first visit with Santa Claus. She did really well & didn't cry at all. She did look at him like he was crazy, but she looks at me like that all the time too! The Corvallis Parks & Rec had a program where you can make an appointment with Santa for 10 minutes to take as many pictures as you want. It only cost $6 and I think it is MUCH better than standing in line at the mall or outside in the cold for hours just waiting to take one picture with Santa. It was the first of year they did it and I hope they keep it up. Great idea!!

An optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving Day.

Grandpa Jewell came all the way up from Arizona to spend Thanksgiving week with us. He & Maddy had a great time playing & getting to know each other.

Grandpa even taught her how to play Suduko!

Maddy got an early Christmas present from Grandpa...a big pink puppy! I have since named him "Pedro the Pink Puppy". Maddy sure does love her Pedro!

So, now she thinks she's a dog. She loves crawling around with various treasures in her mouth!

I tried to be a little creative & made some caramel roses with chocolate leaves for the pumkin cheesecake. OK, so only one chocolate leaf made it but I tried. Better luck next time!!