December 20, 2008. San Antonio, Texas. A Day.

It is a sight to behold. Four little girls helping their parents get ready for the party tonight. While we all eat Pizza for lunch out at the deck, jobs were assigned. First round was cleaning their bedrooms and making their beds, while I peeled potatoes. Next phase was assembling the ginger bread houses, done by Ken and Abigail. It took an hour for the two of them working together to get those darn things to stay together, but they got the job done. David and the twins worked in the yard, first harvesting the tomatoes and hot peppers, then cleaning up the flower beds. Of course, nothing is always what you expect. I clogged the disposal with the potato peels, which needed David to fix, and Sarah helped with the mess under the sink. The last task was clean the quails, pets of Sarah and Abigail. By 4:15, everything was ready for the party, so Samantha and Abigail went to play with a friend down the street, while Sarah and Abigail visited the neighbor to get their instructions. They are tending to their pets while the neighbors are away for Christmas. Two Families and their children are coming for a Christmas party, making a total of ten children and eight adults, so it will be a busy active evening.

Now the evening is over and the two families have just left, happy and sleepy. It is now almost eleven o'clock. At first the children played in the backyard for half an hour, then formed themselves into three groups to decorate the ginger bread houses. Suzanne thought that the three families would each decorate a house, but the children preferred to form their own three groups, so we had a serious group and an active group and a young group. The houses look great, and you can tell whose group made which house. Next on the agenda was the gifts to be given to the children, followed by cookie decoration. Games came next, which lasted all the rest of the evening. We had six boys and four girls, and no unhappy children all evening. These children are a credit to their parents, and it was a pleasure for me to watch the interaction. In truth, the adults primarily stayed in the living room, while the children were on the deck or the back yard or in the Family room. No one told the children to stay outside or in the family room, but I think they figured out that adult talking can be boring, so they stayed away most of the evening. The oldest boy was in the eighth grade, and the youngest was three years old, but they all play together very well, which was obvious by this evening.

In the middle of the evening we ate dinner and dessert, the children on the deck and the adults sitting around the kitchen table. The adults exchanged gifts, which were interesting. The gifts were hi-tech or wine accouterments, all carefully selected for each family. These three Families are good friends, in fact all own homes at Canyon Lake, and it is reassuring to see the friendships between these families. They are very close to our Picnic Group Friends. David thinks I should not be blogging and drinking. David chose good wines for the evening, which we all enjoyed. It was a wonderful day, just a few days before Christmas.

Samantha is worried. It is only five days until Christmas, and the presents under the tree are not very numerous. I told her to have faith.