Christmas and Children.....

........they GO together!

Yesterday two of my FAVORITE neighborhood children came to visit!

We made attempted to make those Oreo Snowmen Cookie Pops....

which did NOT work out so well for us!

So we moved on to the Bacon and Eggs!

I get such a kick out of making these and I have been making them since the 1980's!

Brittany and Tray had to take the rest of the M & M's home with them......

I could only use the yellow ones!

The Marshmallows were a big hit!

We dipped the tops in chocolate then in sprinkles or chopped peppermint!

Perfect for hot chocolate!

They turned out so pretty!!

The kids did some other craft projects I had before their parents and baby sister arrived!

(I always plan TOO many projects!)

What a fun family to party with!! Summer in front with Nichole..

Christina, Tim, Tray, Brittany and Louis Dean.

Taking pictures is harder than one imagines!!

Before dinner we had a mini Christmas concert!

Pretty Paper, Angels Among Us and The Angels Cried.

We all participated and sang the chorus with him.

Louis Dean was a happy man!

Dinner was a simple meal of Potato Soup with extra veggies, a fluffy salad

and garlic toast. With all the heavy meals in store for the next few days I thought this would be good !

And it WAS!

My super cute daughter, Summer, who regaled us with stories of her youth!

She and Tim had a few memories about teachers in grade school who taught BOTH of them...

albeit several years apart! Summer is always a delight at any function!

This time she brought a Reindeer headband for me to wear!

Oops! I forgot to get a pic!

We ended the evening with Louis Dean reading 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas.'

This is his FAVORITE Christmas book!

We had a lovely Christmas Gathering and I am deeply grateful for these kids!

I love them dearly and recall the nicest thing said to me this year! It was from Tray.

I had stopped by their house and he ran out to the car to greet me (which made ME feel special).

I was talking to his mother about how it is hard to get all the boxes of decorations down and we are getting older.....perhaps Tray can help us next year since he is so young and STRONG!

OK.....here is what Tray said as he looked me straight in the eyes!!!

"Linda, I will ALWAYS be there for you."

He then REPEATED that same sentence!

Now you know the kind of family I have for neighbors!

Merry Christmas!