Friday December 19, '08

Well, we've been enjoying the warmer climes and spiffy desert landscapes of Scottsdale for a week now. We got here on the twelfth. We've been alternately lounging, puttering about, and feasting shamelessly. If that sounds like "no news" I guess we'll just have to plead "guilty". Just hanging out with Jim has made it a treasured week.

The icing on the cake - as if the cake need icing - is that Del Alden arrives here tomorrow too! We'll have some new yarns to swap - in between the old yarns we already love. If you don't know, Annie and I have known Del longer than we've been married (42 years). She has been dear friend, confidant, big sister, RV tutor, great pal, and all 'round reliable hug for as long as we can remember.

Kids Royce and Jenifer, and grandbaby Georgia are coming for a few days (27th through 2nd) so right now we're just jumping up and down with no baby to squeeze. I bet we look as silly as it sounds! It's going to be SO good to see them all. We're just plotting and scheming on anything we might do to make it all go well. (I dunno – Ya think we should buy her a truck? A pony? A playhouse? They'd fit on an airliner wouldn't they?)

As much as we were dying to get here and see Jim and get ready for a great family Christmas we were expecting to endure the high-end, hectic, urban-modern lifestyle that goes with the Scottsdale experience. We've been surprised.

Scottsdale is a quieter place right now. In years passed we've watched swirls of activity in all the shopping centers and along all the avenues and boulevards. It seems that this year a new calm has descended. The constant hurry of construction crews in pickups have given way to the occasional delivery truck. Dashing soccer moms seem to be happier to stay closer to home.

What drives this quieter pace? Could it be that an economy that none of us would have asked for - just maybe - brought is a little less hurry and a little more quality to folks' agendas? Do little Cissy and Chad enjoy the smell of dinner cooking just as much as they enjoyed the dash to and from gymnastics or karate lessons? Does Dad appreciate time in the front room about as much as being at that client's house party?

I think I see more smiles at the supermarket. I think I've been waved into a line of traffic more often. I know I haven't been honked at lately, and I hope that these good people have found a new pace that lets them like life a bit more. I certainly like Scottsdale a bit more.

All our love and best wishes go out to you and yours. May all the promise and blessings we find in our Christmas Season come directly from God to you in His fullest measure. Celebrate these holidays as you shall, and we shall all celebrate together as God's family.