Christmas at Shorthorse

Last December was our fourth in Montana.  We made the final big move from Yakima on a snowy, nasty day--December 1--in 2007.

We've established new traditions and routines to mark the Christmas season, and the weeks of December now roll by with relative ease....much different from the frenetic pace we kept up while still working in Yakima.

It starts with local craft bazaars...Trout Creek's is first, followed by the "big one" in Thompson Falls.  Our dog agility club had a booth at the latter.  We sold homemade dog cookies, doggy Christmas stockings, and hand-made dog scarves and collars.  Made a whopping $300, which was pretty good for a short day's work.

The next major event is the "Christmas on Main Street" night parade in Thompson Falls, generally the first Wednesday in December.  Unfortunately we chose not to attend this year's, as it was pouring down freezing rain an hour before parade time.

We attended the Christmas program at Trout Creek Elementary School  and enjoyed a presentation of "A Scrooge Christmas."  It was fun, even though Don says he couldn't understand a single word of the script!

The biggest event in our season has become our annual "open house" here at home.  On Dec. 19 we hosted about 32 folks this year for a festive evening of food and beverages.  My friend Barb Madsen came from Yakima to help me with party.

Once our annual party is over, we coast downhill through the rest of Christmas week.  Mike and Susan Schell came over from Yakima to enjoy a week of real winter at their getaway cabin just outside Thompson Falls, and they invited us to a great post-Christmas/pre-New Year evening gathering at their place. 

Don and I dropped the "gift exchange" routine several years back, so Christmas Eve consists of candlelight service at the Whitepine Church, and Christmas Day means dinner at our neighbors', Jim and Kathy Hill.

We had a special treat over New Year's weekend; Jim and Judy Pearson, our old friends from Yakima, came over for a couple days with their two dogs.  It's been a long time since we've had four dogs together under one roof, and they provided great entertainment!  This was also the first time we'd had both Pearsons here at the same time.  They celebrated New Year's Eve with us here, along with Schells and the Hills.  It was pretty tame, but miraculously no one crashed before midnight.

On New Year's Day the company departed and Don and I pulled down all the Christmas decorations.  Now it's really time to settle in for that "long winter's nap."