Are ya ready?  Can you do it?

It is interesting to hear the views of those from states other than Iowa when it comes to the voting that will take place in Iowa on January 3.  While in Arizona we had the opportunity to visit with a business owner that has a construction crew working hard, long hours building fences for homes.  His view on the immigration situation differs from those that we hear most often. 

He says that finding American workers that are willing to actually work is difficult in his profession.  That the immigrant workers that come into the states are not only willing to work, they want to work to make the money necessary to keep their families in a decent economic situation and that they now only work hard, they show up, which he says is not the case with the American workers.  The American workers want to have "cushy jobs that don't make them sweat, don't require them to put in a hard full day and get higher than average pay for less work."

Now, since I have not experienced this myself I asked another guy that has a similar occupation, he agreed 100%.  It seems that the American worker would rather take an entitlement than work.  At least in this type of business.  Both men said that without the immigrant worker their business would fail.  They agree that there is a problem but the solutions don't seem to be easy to come by.  It was the opinion of both of these men that the reason the political candidates stay away from talking about it much is that there isn't a good solution.

Another business person said that if welfare was removed, ALL welfare for able workers, then those that are "too darn lazy to work would have to work if they wanted to eat."  Well, that may well be true.  Our welfare system has become a lifestyle for many, too many.

The fact that the immigration situation is there can not be disavowed.  It is a problem when illegals come onto your property, take your things, break into your home or business, or any other situation that may arise from people desperate to leave the poverty they exist in in their home country.  I do agree that if someone is illegally on your land or in your house or in your business you have the right to protect yourself and your property.  Does that mean I believe they should be shot?  Not necessarily, but if they are a threat to your life and property, then you have the legal right to do what is necessary to protect yourself.  Shot them?  If necessary, just like you would someone that is breaking into your home in Iowa, or anyplace else!

What is the solution to this problem?  I'm not sure, but it seems that not too many years ago the Irish were banned from certain areas of cities, the immigration situation was touted then as a major problem and yet, here and now, the Irish are no longer looked upon as bad.  Same thing with most other nationalities that have come into our country….the current influx of immigrants will probably be welcomed in a few years for what they contribute to contribute to society.  Interesting thoughts that will probably come true.  Let's hope so.

How fun to have everyone together for the holidays!  There were presents everywhere, kids playing, Kara helping Grandma with the pictures on the computer and Shay taking some pictures to help fill out the album.  Now, it may seem to some that we took way too many pictures, but, we didn't.  To get the shots that are just so precious takes me longer than it may take others, but they are sure fun to have.

Watching the kids open their stuff was such fun.  The expressions on their faces and the hours they played with the toys after opening them makes it pretty certain that Mom, Aunt Cyndi and Aunt Heidi (Mom for Rhys) all knew exactly what the kids would enjoy and hit a homer with everything.

Rhys can now fix anything that is broken or build something totally new along with playing a wicked soccer game with his new ball.

Then there was the grocery cart for Miss Molly, thankfully Greg Lee and Uncle Drew were able to put it together since it got loaded almost immediately with goodies and pushed all over the house.

Our Heidi made the most wonderful gift baskets of homemade breads and wonderful other items.  She is so talented, wow, sure is nice to have such good bakers and cooks in our family…although…..Grandma is getting a little chunky (similar to my mother which means exercise and take off the extra pounds just like I preached at Mother for years!).  Oh well, the New Year is coming and then it's back to the treadmill and perhaps even the pool.  Thank goodness for the Baymont!  But, back to the original comments about wonderful gift baskets, just look at Greg 

The funny thing was that as soon as everyone left, Cyn and Greg were into the fudge!  Heidi would appreciate that!

Sitting there watching the family open gifts is one of the most precious things that any parents can do, to watch the expressions on the faces, to know that everyone is safe and happy being together, to remember the real reason for the gifting is to honor our Lord on His birth and to just spend some time being happy together.  Doesn't get much better than that.

Shay told jokes while we waited for everyone to gather, now, some of them were really bad, but because they were so bad they were hysterical!  What a nut! 

Jake never quit talking until he started focusing on his new Lego toys.  That child has more Lego's than there are crows in the country, but he truly enjoys them so that is wonderful! 

When it was time to say goodnight, the kids were so tired they were actually in what their parents call "meltdown" which is a really good expression for it. But the little ones still have enough to give each other a bye hug, although I missed the real one, they did it again, just for Grandma!

And so to all, Merry Christmas!  We love you.

We left Show Low this morning to come to Tucson.  The drive down was uneventful, thank goodness, but the police were out in force.  We think we saw about 10 which is a whole lot more than normal for that area.  We were trying to decide if they were trying to make up for the holiday slack.

We had dinner at Drew's mom and Ken's new house.  What a beautiful home they have!  The rooms are large and Jennifer has decorated the whole thing beautifully.  We are so pleased for them and the fact that they have such a lovely home.  Their old home was very nice too, this one is just much, much larger.  We got to see Sandy (Drew's sister) and her family and Drew's grandmother (Anna) too.  It was a very nice time but we ate too much while discussing the upcoming primaries and caucus.  That one got a little heated, all in good humor, but Ken and Russ definitely have their ideas of how to solve the immigration problem and they don't agree.  Actually, it was kind of fun, haven't heard that type of discussion for a long time.

Christmas gifting at the Spark's followed with neat gifts and fun items.  Sampson and Lilly enjoyed it too.

Bobbi arrived in Tucson and called Cyn to double check on the time for pictures tomorrow morning.  Then we will have the time to be together, although I think we are going to put off the shopping day with the four of us until the next day.  Cyn needs to get ready for everyone to be here for dinner and she said it will take her awhile which would cause the time to shop to be too short.  The next day we only have to have Kara and Shay to where they need to be for the Glamour shots at 3, those details are for Bobbi and Cyndi to handle, they can set the time and stuff.

Now it's time to get to bed, Greg and Drew are watching a movie together but I'm not in the mood, bed sounds much better to me.

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Between presents and cooking the family was really busy on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  The kids seemed to be really thrilled with all the things they received, lots of stuff everywhere that kept them busy all day! 

Jake and his ATV were quite the adventure.  He was afraid of it at first but when he finally decided that maybe it would be fun he had a grand time.  The ATV kept stalling out on him and that required his dad to start if….frequently….but I'm sure he will get the hang of it.  He isn't quite strong enough to start it with the pull rope which leads me to believe that Greg probably wishes he would have gotten the electric start unit but, at least this way Jake has to have help to ride, don't have to worry about his going off on his own.

Bobbi got a swing set (it isn't set up yet) for Christmas.  It is out of logs with two swings on it, one for her and one for Greg LOL.  It is really tall so they will be able to swing really high.

The picture that Shay drew for Greg is so cool, she scratched off the black background to get the white picture, neat deal.

Kara was thrilled with her Apple, she can load lots of stuff, surf the web and all kinds of stuff.  She lost her phone someplace on the second night we were there so she doesn't have a phone right now, she hopes to find it either at the house or at the restaurant we went to where she used it last.

Molly got lots of little, tiny things which made her so happy, she played and played.

It was a great time watching them with their stuff.  They each got money from Bob and Ethel (and yes, the thank you cards are written and in the mail) so they will have money to spend in Tucson.

 

There are times when schedules become cumbersome, and other times when I so look forward to them!  Like this week.  Today we are taking Shay out to buy something for her birthday gift.  Since we weren't here for the actual day (but close) we told her we wanted to go shopping with her to get something that she wants for her birthday when we arrived in Show Low.  Today is the day.  We will go do some shopping in Show Low later today and then have "coffee" someplace before going back home. 

We also have asked Kara if we can go for "coffee" with her, just her like we are going with just Shay, which gives us some time to visit with each of them independently.  We look forward to those "coffee" times since we don't often have an opportunity to spend time with the girls one on one.

When we are in Tucson the schedule is for the big girls to have a day to themselves to go shopping, to visit and laugh and just enjoy each other without "little people" or anyone else along.  The four of us always have a good time together, each brings their own level of seriousness, humor and just plan silliness to the day.  It will be fun.

The family picture that Greg and I have asked for for Christmas will be a wonderful experience.  Seeing everyone in white shirts and bluejeans and seeing if we can get everyone to smile at the same time (Jake can show off his teeth in this picture….maybe) will be something that we will treasure forever.  I look at the family photo that we had done with my parents when Joe and I were younger and treasure that picture so much.  Although we had many pictures in many years after that one, that one was where my folks had asked that we have it done and now, looking at it, it is so funny to see the characteristics that Joe and I got from Mom and Dad.

We are going to Ken and Jennifer's on the 26th to see their new house and have dinner.  We will enjoy that, they are very nice people and always make us glad to be around them.  Then back to Cyn and Drew's to have the Christmas there.  Cyn told me last night that Wanda, that very sweet lady that used to work for Cyn, brought over a bottle of wine for Cyn and me to share.  How sweet was that?

We will probably head out for home before the 31st, since Greg wants to be home for caucus on the 3rd.  This may be the last year that Iowa is first in the nation, and then, who knows.  It's just that with other states wanting to beat Iowa out for that "honor" they keep moving the dates up earlier and earlier.  It's stupid to me to do that, but then, what do I know?

Greg has been sleeping so well this morning, he was so pooped from the trip, I really wish he could sleep until noon, but of course he won't.  Housekeeping was just here so he'll probably get up in a little while.  Alas, the housekeepers woke him up, he's up now so we will get moving.  Darn, sure wish he could have slept longer.

I'm looking forward to spending time with Bobbi today too, she and I have always enjoyed each other, my first born with her serious nature and then bursting into laughter, watching her with her kids, laughing at the little ones and actually understanding what her older ones are talking about is such a delight.  Sharing thoughts, dreams and ideas while we go about doing other things is the way we have almost always functioned, it's pretty neat.

I would suppose that Greg and Greg will be together today.  They have a project to discuss and each has been looking forward to it. 

Me?  I'm just looking forward to being with my family, all of them!!  Whahoo, it's Christmas!

 

We just got back from having dinner with the Hancocks' at the Christmas Tree Restaurant.  We have been going there for years although last year they weren't open.  Now they have new owners, a new menu and new prices!  It was still a good dinner, fun to be with the family and we are glad they are back open, even though the prices have increased damatically.  For instance, a children's order of shrimp was $12.95 and more than Jake could eat, and the chicken and dumplings, children's oder was $8.95 and 4 times what Molly could eat.  Seems kind of wasteful to me to put that much food on a childs plate.

We are now back in the hotel and although it isn't really late, but we are really tired, it's been a long trip.  Tomorrow we will take some time to go with one of the girls for coffee, time to visit with just us, then Monday we will go with the other one, guess it will depend on what Shay's work schedule is.

 

Payday Loans are everywhere, go to almost any town of almost any size and you will find a Payday Loans office.  The primary question is, do you really need a loan?  Can you live without the thing you think you want to borrow the money for?  What would happen if you waited until payday and actually  paid cash for it?  Would the world come to an end if you waited a couple of days?

Payday loans if you really can't wait, if the world would, indeed, come to an end, then check out your options, one of which is Payday loans may be one of them.  Check out their rates, see if it works for you. 

If you have a fireplace like we do, it looks pretty but it isn't really a fireplace!  With the ventless gas logs we could actually use it rather than just have it look pretty.  These logs put out a great deal of heat for those spaces that don't get a good heat source or the flow of the air isn't what you would like it to be in a certain room.  The solution is to install a fireplace with the ventless gas logs!

Coming from the community that I do, you can be assured that we understand gas fireplaces and the difference between a vented and unvented log.  The vented logs appear more like a real log burning, but the ventless are actually more efficient and produce more heat for the room.  It all depends on your goal.