We spent a lovely Christmas Day with my son and other family members. We got there in the morning before everyone else so that we could spend some time in the forest that is their backyard. I am not a snow person, but I can brave it occasionally, especially when the sun is out, and I'll admit that it was a nice touch to have a beautiful snowy view from inside Matt & Kaleena's warm house with a fabulous woodstove to back up against. The morning began, however, with us  sliding backwards down Matt's driveway in our Explorer. (I am planning to sell this before the next smog deadline, so no new tires for us.) That little glitch solved (by rocking the Explorer out of the snowbank and then parking at the bottom of the hill), we geared up with showshoes and foot warmers in our my boots and walked down to Jenkinson Lake. 

What time I have spent in the snow has been well after the storms have come through. There is something very different and beautiful about being there immediately after the snowfall......while the branches are still heavy with snow.

I loved seeing the snow clear to the tops of the trees. As the sun started warming the trees, snow cascaded from the highest branches.I spent the night at M & K's (Dan came home for chores and dog duty) and the next day Dan came back and brought Chris and Meryl with him. Then we celebrated our private family Christmas.The younger generation helping the older one with digital issues.Chris plays a mini-flute sporting his new Storm Trooper oven mitt.Here are my sheep/barn related Christmas gifts. My wheelbarrows constantly need their tires pumped up so Dan got the fittings to go on an extra air compressor in the barn. There are tubes and tires for my handtruck. Dog treats from Hawaii. Sheep and dog magnets. All the attachments for my new GoPro (birthday present). Footrot Flats is a comic strip series that I think only a sheep farmer would enjoy. Hand and foot warmers packets that I'll share with Farm Club in the barn. We took another hike that afternoon. This was a great two-day Christmas celebration with family. And it's not quite over. The kids are taking us to see StarWars in a couple of days. The only thing missing was my granddaughter and her family but at least we spent a week with them not long ago.