Luke 2

1And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

2(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

3And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

5To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

6And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

7And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

8And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

18And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

Night Ride!

JOY IS HOME!!!! The first time I have seen her in months and I kidnapped her to come ride with me at John's. This time it was Scout and Aari's turn on the trial. We started riding so late that we couldn't go too far. But, we made it to the cow pasture and attempted to get some photos of the horses cantering. First, we had to teach the horses how to canter. By then it was so dark the photos didn't come out. We'll try again later. And, maybe by then John will be here and we'll have a gate key so we can go a little farther on the trail. Christmas shopping is DONE! AGAIN! Back to wrapping. Updating the blog is my way of procrastinating. Are you ready for Christmas?

Quote of the Day: "Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for." -Will Rogers

Champion of the World!

If you consider 2nd place and 2 3rd places champion of the world than Lilly has is WRAPPED UP! The day started at 6:00am...it was still dark. She was ticked off when we loaded her without Cole into a dark trailer. She probably thought she was about to take the long walk, uh, trailer ride. When we pulled onto the show grounds no one was there...no one was there. We saw a couple of vehicles scattered around an 3 horses jumping obstacles, which we don't do. Finally others began to show up. The most we had an any class was 6 horses. Lilly was perfect. The footing in the ring was deep. And, I just have to say it, she just a sat down and went to walkin' bo! I am so proud of her.

Cole, however, I'm not proud of. He got loose on John's farm on Friday night. Usually getting loose isn't a problem when it isn't 8 million acres of cow farm. He somehow crossed a HUGE ravine by himself and ran to a far away gate. I freaked. Thought he had fallen in the ravine and ran for about 45 minutes looking for him. I can hardly walk today. As punishment I made him go out to pasture with Scout. That should teach him.

Quote of the Day:
Phyllis: I'm getting married to Bob Vance.
Michael Scott: That's great! Congratulations. That is great and frankly... kinda amazing. See... everybody has a chance.

The Folly of Horses..and the people they own.

I just got Cole's gigantic ribbon we won last May for highpoint champion (remember: the one where he got last all but one time but still ended up champion). I haven't shown it to him yet. I'm afraid it would only confuse him. Tonight I bathe Lilly. I have warm water and blankets ready for her. She won't be happy and will probably roll so I'll have to re-bathe her on Sunday morning. Thank goodness she isn't white or it would be impossible...oh...wait. Scout has been acting nasty the past few days. He dumped his food bucket over and then ate all of Aari's grain. So, I wedged the bucket into a huge heavy tire. He picked the whole thing up and waved it at me. I think he misses John. He has no respect for me so he's had to go into "Respect Those What Feed You," training. John's Christmas present came and they sent me the wrong thing. I give up. Christmas has gotten way out of control. I need sleep.

Quote of the Day: "Yeah, Ryan snapped at me. But there was this twinkle in his eye that I picked up on which said, 'Dude, we're friends. I'm doing this for appearances. I am the big boss now. And I have to seem like an ogre. But you know me and you trust me. And we like each other. And we'll always be friends. And I would never take you for granted in a million years. And I miss you, man. And I love you.' His words." -Michael Scott

Never Ending Road

Speaking of songs...Hannah...John and I picked this song for the wedding. Not sure how we're going to pull it off yet. I found the piano music for it and it's beautiful. I have a few more songs in my head. We're going for some celtic sounding stuff. I'm not a traditional kind of person but I don't want a bunch of everyday songs in the wedding either. So far this song is my favorite. This week in going to be super busy. I have something everyday this week and still need to get Lilly ready for the show Sunday. Scout choked again today. Just as I was locking up the barn I saw him trying to cough up some grain. He would try to cough and it ended up in a high pitch squeal. Very pitiful. It took a long time and a lot of squirting water down his throat to get the clot out. We are going to have a plan when it comes to feeding him anything.

I miss John

Quote of the Day: So Phyllis is basically saying “Hey Michael, I know you did a lot to help the office this year, but I only care about you a homemade oven mitt’s-worth”. I gave Ryan an iPod! -Michael Scott

Sending Off Stinks

Well, John is off. He left on Monday for pre-Iraq training. We were able to see him on Tuesday. He isn't going too far until after Christmas. After New Year it will be about 4 months until I am able to see him again. At least he will get a week off before he goes to Iraq. I've already bought his Christmas present. Actually, I've already bought everyone's presents. Now I have to wrap everything. People like black trash bags, right? I know I sure do. Tie everything up, smack a bow on it and it's done. Wedding planning is actually coming along great. I know I have a year but I wanted to get it out of the way so I could get work done in the house. I just got my music a few days ago. I'm so excited! Carroll invited me to her mom's house last night to have supper and decorate their Christmas tree. I was in charge of hanging up all of John's ornaments. It was a lot of fun. John, if you can read this, the felt king is hanging on the front of the tree. I'll try to keep it there but I'm not making any promises.

Quote of the Day: "The most sacred thing I do is care, ... Today I am in charge of picking a great new healthcare plan. Right? That's what this is all about. Does that make me their doctor? Um, yes. Kind of like a specialist." -Michael Scott