We have now entered into the second day of the last month of the year! I know, it sounds unbelievable. Where does the time go? Is everyone done with Christmas shopping? I'm have hardly started! I'm going to try and put a little inspiration on here everyday and also share a wonderful recipe to help us with "smooth sailing" right on through the holidays.

Christmas memories are some of the sweetest and fondest of those we carry through our lives. From our earliest childhood recollection, Christmas memories are stored in a special place in our hearts, to be recalled during quiet times of reminiscing. Make sure when you do your scrapping that you journal about those days and memories for later generations to enjoy reading about.

Good Memories, like good friends,
should be visited often.

Here's a wonderful Christmas-time recipe for Peppermint Candy Cheesecake:
1 c. graham cracker crumbs
3/4 c. sugar, divided
6 T. butter, melted and divided
1 1/2 c. sour cream
2 eggs
1 T. all-purpose flour
2 t. vanilla extract
2 8-0z. pkgs. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. peppermint candies, coarsely crushed
Garnish: frozen whipped topping, crushed peppermint candies

Blend crumbs, 1/4 c. sugar and 1/4 melted butter in bottom of ungreased 8" round springform pan; press evenly over bottom. Blend sour cream, remaining sugar, eggs, flour and vanilla in a blender or food processor until smooth, stopping to scrape sides. Add cream cheese and blend; stir in butter until completely smooth. Fold in crushed candy and pour over crust. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and run a knife around edge of pan. Cool, then refrigerate overnight. Loose pan sides and remove springform; serve garnished with whipped topping and crushed candy. Makes 12 servings.
This not only is very pretty, but tasty! Yum!!

Jingle........Jingle..........Jingle
Thread jingle bells on a cord or string, knot the ends together, and hang
on the knob of your front door. What a merry sound for arriving guests to hear! Kids love it too!! Come back soon.......Beth

YES FOLKS, THAT ENTERTAINMENT.....
Since I am at work right now reading all the "trashy" magazines my co-worker brings in and leaves here, I thought I would share some totally useless information on some of the "stars" around Hollywood with you. Well, here it goes:

Carrie Underwood unlucky in love? Yes, it seems! She states "but guys are guys, no matter what they do or what walk of life they come from." Well.....we could have told her that...duh!

Lindsay Lohan begins postprison life. Imagine, she's spent a total of 84 minutes in jail, how will she cope? She is now looking for a new place to stay in Los Angeles....away from the Chateau and her old life. We'll see.......

Britney (now you knew she had to be mentioned) Spears is banned from driving Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, per a court ruling on Nov. 16th. "Recent aggressive actions by individuals...have resulted in her decision to take certain security measures for the protection of her children." Huh, come again??

Oh, now here's something I'm really upset about. I just found out Mr. Whipple died. I'm sure anyone around my age remembers him...his famous line is "please, don't squeeze the Charmin." He was a household name back then making more than 500 commercials!

Woohoo, the Spice Girls debut reunion performance at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show; won't want to miss that! I'm sorry, can't make it, I have to wash my car.

The agency that arranged the 2005 adoption of Angelina's Ethiopian-born daughter, Zahara, refuted the claims of a woman who identified herself as the child's biological mother. Their records show that Zahara's mother is deceased, and Jolie's adoption is therefore valid. I was losing sleep over that one!

Okay, so much for all that. Now here's some information we can all use. First, fans of Shrek, of which I'm one, will be delighted to know there's a new animated Christmas special on Wed. at 8:00 called "Shrek the Halls". Shrek learns a lesson about generosity when he gets a little Claus-trophobic! Second, here's info I totally like.....100 calorie packs of M&M's, 3 Musketeers and Twix (my personal fav). Now there's some worthwhile information...get all the pleasure with none of the regret! Wish I would have said that! Enjoy, Beth

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and got to spend time with your family. Unfortunetly my DH had to work from 6am to 4pm and had to work the day after (Black Friday), so I left Thanksgiving day for Kentucky to my parents. My son, his fiance and our new granddaughter were coming. So we had a wonderful meal and spent time holding and spoiling Dakota. Below is the most precious picture....mommy and daddy adoring their little one. Is it not the sweetest picture you've ever seen? Dakota just loves her daddy; there's a special place in her heart for him. She has gotten so big since I've seen her last; she's now over 4 months old and reaching out and holding things. She is mostly sleeping through the night and is now eating some cereal in her bottle. The doctor has also said she can start eating veggies! She is doing great, growing well, thanks to her wonderful mommy and daddy's care.

Poor little Dakota, hardly any presents to open! Helping her is her Great-aunt Barbara. The same Aunt Barbara that was in the delivery room helping to deliver Dakota's daddy! Time stands still for no one.....!

Here's Great-grandpa and Great-grandma with Dakota. She had on her little pumpkin outfit on.

GIRLS CAN DO ANYTHING BOYS CAN DO!! Dakota just bagged her first deer! Just kidding!! But we couldn't resist since she already had her camoflouge on!

Okay, really we got down my Dad's trophy from years ago above the first place and put the bow in front and had a little photo session. No animals were harmed in the filming of this photo shoot. Well, at least now now, can't speak for the past!!

Well, here I am twice in one day. Just finished my "chunky book" pages and getting them sent off tomorrow to Teri. She will bind them and get them sent out to all the participants, which I think is 11 people. We made two pages for each book, which is 22 pages. Each set of 11 pages was to be different and the theme was Leonardo Da Vinci. Each person will get back a book with everyone's pages in it. I can't wait to see the finished product. This is the first time I've participated in a swap on Chunky Books. It was fun! And thanks to Teri for organizing the swap, finishing the books and sending them back out to us! Here are the two pages I made, both sides.

Came home today from church feeling so thankful. Our sermon today was given by Dr. Preston Nix, Professor of Evangelism and Preaching at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He was a blessing to listen to...and has quite a testimony in that we should always be thankful to God. He is from Texas and moved to New Orleans three weeks before Katrina hit. All he had left was his wife, two daughters and his van with four changes of clothing. He lost everything else. Yet, he still found plenty to be thankful for. I think my prayer is to understand that sometimes things happen in our life that are not so good...and we don't always have as much as other people might seem to have...but we can be thankful for God and what he has given us; most importantly a Savior in Jesus Christ. As we enter this week of Thanksgiving, reflect in all that God has given you; reflect on those things and say "thank you, God"!

I just want to share with you Psalm 100, a psalm for giving thanks.

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the
earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful
songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are
his;
we are his people, the sheep of his
pasture.
Enter his gates with Thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his
name
For the Lord is good and his love
endures forever ;
his faithfulness continues through
all generations.

So I would like to say thanks for all the blessings in my life. My family, my friends, co-workers, my home, my job, my wonderful husband of whom we grow closer to each other and to God each day, a wonderful Savior that insures that I will spend eternity in heaven with Him.....I could go on. We can just find all kinds of things when we think about it. What are you thankful for? Take a minute and reflect on it and thank God. And every one have a blessed Thanksgiving!