What a wonderful weekend! Two days of family, food, and surprises. We started off with a devious surprise birthday party for my Mom, a gal who's notoriously hard to put one over on. But we all managed to keep our mouths shut, get her out of the house for a few hours, and get a dozen people there with no slipups. And we had a great time—good conversation, piles of yummy food, and a "This Is Your Life" slide show to top off the evening.

Then, as if that wasn't quite enough, Sunday was Christmas Tree Hunt Day. Lee, Tanya, and the girlies were already over for the birthday party, so we piled into the cars and went off to the tree farm to stalk our prey. We ended up with a 9-ft. Noble Fir, went for the obligatory ride in the hay cart, and then trundled home to decorate and have dinner. It was a busy and tiring weekend, but I count myself blessed to have such a wonderful family, and I'm glad to be here for the whole holiday season this year, instead of just the few days immediately surrounding Christmas.