Gabriel and I went for a Christmas Day walk in the neighborhood this afternoon and took a few new pictures of our home and neighborhood. It's a bright sunny day, though the stiff wind makes it sort of cool.

Here's a new picture of our home where we're enjoying our first Christmas. Debbie loves her new kitchen and is breaking it in well today with a roasted turkey, home-made dressing, sweet potatos, home-made cranberry sauce, a pumpkin pie and pecan pie (both made from scratch). Oh boy!! It's going to be good!

Say, check out the driveway and you'll see our new van. Last week we traded off the Honda Passport and purchased a 2005 Chrylser Town & Country mini-van. It will come in very handy for trips to see kids and grandkids and our drive to Minneapolis in January when we bring home the remaining equipment that didn't make the initial trip to Texas. So far it gets far better gas mileage than the old SUV.

Now, back to the house. Here's a close-up of the front of the house. The builder did a good job of landscaping with plants in the front flower bed. The big boulder came with us from Elk River. That's the one that I dug up in the back yard when trying to transplant a shrub.

I hope you are having a blessed Christmas Day. So many have so many different traditions for the day while others skip it. For us, we look for any opportunity to celebrate our relationship with Christ and to celebrate the gifts He has given us through His birth, His life, His death, His resurrection -- and the fact of His love toward each of us.

The best gift I ever received was the joy of experiencing and receiving God's grace. Right behind that would be the gift God gave to me almost 14 years ago -- named Debbie! 5 terrific children, 13 fantastic grandchildren -- and all saturated in God's grace.

Celebrate Christmas how you like -- I'll keep on celebrating Jesus today! We're so blessed! Our love and blessings to you today!