Last April I attended an annual photo conference. At the trade show I purchased photo mats that have names cut out in them--in each letter you place a 4x6 image of that person. They're very cool! That was last April, a whole 8 months ago. The mats had the names of my grandchildren, and they were supposed to be their Christmas presents. Christmas, as in 4 days from now. Guess when I finally got around to taking the photos--yesterday! Hmm, didn't procrastinate too much.


Anyway, I could only get the three youngest over here, since the older three were in school. So the mats will be for their birthdays I guess. The session was a hoot, the kids were great and I got some great images. Here's a sampling: the girl with the football jersey is 3 1/2, the other girl is 2 1/2 and the boy will shortly be 4.

Christmas is almost here, hard to believe that the time is flying by so quickly. Wasn't it just a few weeks ago that it was summer...? After returning home from Ireland, it wasn't long before I was back in the routine of normal living. I started working on my Ireland scrapbook as soon as I could. It was difficult narrowing down the images to a manageable number for the scrapbook, but I finally did it. The book is done now, except for a touch here and there. Looking at it returns me immediately to that wonderful country. I feel like when people look at me, they're only seeing a figment of their imagination--that I'm really still in Ireland.

We've had several major events at church that have been a lot of fun. The latest one was the Community Carol-sing and Open House.

Invitations were sent out to various local churches and VBS families to join us. Our sister church in Schenectady joined us, not only in the pews, but with their choir and musicians. Interspersed with music were scripture readings about the birth of Jesus. It was truly a beautiful evening.

Following the Carol Sing, we all gathered in the Fellowship Hall for refreshments. Once again, Louise and the Hospitality Committee out-did themselves. It looked very festive and very beautiful, and the food was wonderful. The room was packed. It's so good to be able to share our blessing (beautiful church building, love of God, provisions in abundance) with anyone who cared to enter our building. God has truly blessed us, and we desire to bless others by sharing with others.