Christmas in West Paris

Yesterday afternoon, West Paris held its annual Christmas Fair, followed by a parade to the Christmas Tree down by Town Hall, and a tree lighting ceremony. The Cub Scouts planted the tree a couple of years ago, so they were asked to lead the parade, behind a firetruck that lit the way. Once there, one of the Scouts got to turn on the lights! They had a wicked lotta fun!!


Santa gave the reindeer the night off...they need to conserve their energy for Christmas Eve...

During the craft fair they sold popcorn to raise money for their pack....

It wasn't just children that got to share their wish lists with Santa and Mrs. Claus...

Meanwhile, I traveled with my parents to New Hampshire for my nephew's engagement party - congratulations T & J!! It was a fun gathering of lots and lots of family & friends.

My cactus is in bloom...isn't it beautiful?

Today was a crazy busy day! One of their friends stayed overnight and then 2 more friends arrived late this morning. They kept each other entertained and they had a fantastic time! They played outdoors until lunchtime and then they went ice skating on the beaver pond afterwards. I don't know how they can fall on the ice over and over again and just keep trying. I can't!

This morning they read the book that my second cousin, Heath A. Roberts wrote, The Day the Frogs Went Hopping Mad. You should look for it, it is a great story and they thoroughly enjoyed it. The 3 of them took turns reading pages...

I took our visitors home at dark. When I was coming down the hill just before our driveway, I saw a critter in the road. He looked right at me and when I swerved left to miss him, he ran left. So, I swerved right and unfortunately, he changed direction too. At that point I realized that I was definitely not going to be able to avoid hitting him. So, I said, "Here's your last chance - DUCK!" and drove over him. But, I heard a thump, so I figured he was a goner. About halfway through that encounter, I realized that it wasn't a skunk or raccoon that I was 'dancing' with, but a 'possum! How unusual!! Unusual enough that I decided to turn around and go back to take a look at the carcass because I knew that Dad wasn't going to believe me.

I turned the car around and headed back up the hill. Lo and behold, there was the 'possum - still wandering around in the road! Yay! I hadn't killed it!! I'd say he's gonna have a heck of a headache, though! Anyway, I followed behind it for about 25 feet up the road, as he was looking for a good place to climb the snowbank and escape from that dangerous place. As soon as I got home, I told Dad all about it - and he did find it hard to believe me. But, I know what I saw - and actually, he was really cute! We decided that he was probably holed up for the winter, but our neighbor was out cutting wood today and must have disturbed him.

This evening, our youngest gave me a gift. He said it wasn't for any special occasion, but just for being the "Best mom ever!" I almost cried. He gave me one of the quartz crystals that he found when he was mining this summer. He asked that I put it in a setting someday and make jewelry with it. I'll have to do that someday. It was a pretty special moment. He was very happy about having such an awesome weekend!!