Branding

We helped some friends of ours brand the other day. That is something neither one of us had done in a very long time. Only branded 10 head , So not a real big job.But you know how those critters can be when they don't want to do something you want them to do. Something different to do, we are always looking for that.............

Arizona Vacation.................

We started our Vacation this year By going down to see Lyle's Mom and Rog & Jan. Had a great time, Went to watch the Trail Blazers play the Utah Jazz, Great game lots of fun. Thanks Amy & Chris. Then we went on down to Reno where we spent a couple of nights.Went to Virginia City, great place, so we made an attempt to kinda fitin there........

On to Las Vegas where we stayed for the next three nights. Then down into California to visit friends for a couple of days. From there we went to Tucson , Looked around some and on down to Tombstone , Had a great time there we saw alot really cool historic things. (Besides Lyle)LOL The famed Bird Cage Theater, But we didn't get to see any ghosts.

We saw Boot Hill Grave Yard. Doc Holidays house. A Gallows Where they hung 7 men ,at the County Court House.

Then we got a call from home , that my sister was very ill . So we turned around and headed for home.We came back to Laughlin Nv. Then on up the road to Las Vegas , Where we stopped for a short visit at Becky's house. We spent the rest of that day traveling hard.We drove so far and so fast that I Think we drove right into the Twilight Zone. About Beatty NV we hit a snow storm . By the time we reached Austin Nv, ( I know I had never heard of it either). It was snowing so hard you couldn't even see where the road was suppost to be.So snowing in Navada is alittle strange, right . But it is Friday the 13 and coincidentally My Birthday. Lyle say's I Can't see where I'm Going, If there's a motel here I'm stopping, Ok. Let me just say right here never,never, never ,never get snowed in , in Austin Nv. We got the only motel room there was, We walked in and looked around it was unbelievable, At this point I said Lyle can't we just sleep in the car? He said Linda it's 15 degrees. So I Said Lyle I'm going to turn the beds back and if these sheets don't look clean I'm out of here. I Don't know where I thought I would go , There weren't alot of choises. So I Flip the blankets back and the bed is siting on this huge phone book, the leg of the bed is missing.The Sink was crooked on the wall . There was a back door I don't know where it went, I just braced a chair in front of it.The tile in the bath room is curling up.

By now its way past ridiculous and I'am laughing hysterically. But the night gets better. We haven't eaten since breakfast, So there is a little bar and restarunt across the street. We go over there for something to eat. We are the only people in there and we order dinner. Well ,did I Mention that it is really snowing out side, So the place starts to fill up. 3 hispanic guys had come in along with some other folks. So the woman running the place gos to the bar to get some old man to come help her. She says to him I got everybodys order except those 3 mexicans there. The 3 guys just looked shocked, but they stayed , there wern't alot of choices of places to eat or stay.(Political Correctness Has not reached Austin Nv).So having nothing but our lovly hotel room to look forward for the rest of the evening , We decide to go into the bar and play slot machines.This is a pretty good size bar , But there only using half of it. The other half is completely full of junk. It is unreal.The old creepy man behind the bar knows about four words and the are all foul. Then the weird lady form the Motel shows up ( To gamble away the money we just gave her for that posh motel room) I sure. The strange old gal who just cooked our dinner came in and sat down and started telling us there was no recession going on. By now Lyle and I are just looking at each other and laughting our head off. If we are not murdered in our sleep or something equally as aggrevating, This night can't get much worse. At This point Lyle looks over at me and says "Do I Know how to treat a girl on her birthday, or what". The next morning we threw our clothes on and left Austin NV and we will never go back there on purpose.

Well we are getting some comments from SAM about how long it has been since we Glogged. So to make Sam happy here go's. We stay very busy . Not much time for blogging..... Most recently we were in Bend Oregon last weekend, to see Andys band ( Dirt Water Fox ) play a grand opening of a new bar.Several of Andys cousins and there spouces came down , Lyle, Sam and I went down, Along with several friends from home. So we all had a wonderful time dancing , visiting and just goofing. Andy and his Dad sang a song together. Fun was had by all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MERRY CHRISTMAS~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EVERYONE !

Here are a few words for you, about gift wrapping. By Lyle McCumber

He just enjoys wrapping my gifts so much.You know this Rhonda and Sam.....

This time of year when we think back to the very first Christmas, when the Three Wise Men-

Gaspar, Balthazar, and Herb-- went to see the baby Jesus and, according to the Book of Matthew, "presented unto Him gifts; gold,frankincense,and myrrh".

These are the simple words, but if we analyze them carefully, we discover an important, yet often overlooked, theological fact: There is no mention of wrapping paper.

If there had been wrapping paper, Matthew would have said so:And lo, the gifts were inside 600 square cubits of paper. And the paper was festooned with pictures of Frosty the Snowman. And Joseph was going to throweth it away,but Mary saideth unto him,she saideth, "Holdeth it"! That

is nice paper!" Saveth it for next year!"And Joseph did rolleth his eyesballs. And the baby Jesus was more interested in the paper than the frankincense.

But these words do not appear in the Bible,which means that the very first Christmas gifts were NOT wrapped. This is because the people giving these gifts had two important characteristics:

1. They were Wise

2. They were Men

Men are not big gift wrappers. Men do not understand the point of putting paper on a gift just so somebody else can tear it off. This is not just my opinion. This is a scientific fact based on statistical survey of two guys I know.

One is Lloyd who says the only time he ever wraps a gift is"if it's such a poor gift that I don't want to be there when the person opens it"

The other is George, who told me he does wrap gifts,but as a matter of principle never takes more than 15 seconds per gift. No one ever has too wonder which presents he wrapped ". George said"They were the ones that looked like enormous spitballs.

I also wrap gifts, but because of some defect in my motor skills, I can never completely wrap them. I can take a gift the size of a deck of cards and put it in the exact center of a piece of wrapping paper the size of a regulation volleyball court, but when I am done folding and taping , you can still see part of the gift peeking out.( Sometimes I Camouflage this sector with a marking pen.)

If I had been an ancient Egyptian in the field of mummies, the lower half of the Pharaoh,s body would be covered only by Scotch tape.

On the outher handf if you give my wife a 12inch square of wrapping paper, she can wrap a C-130 cargo plane. My wife, like many women,actually likes wrapping things. If she gives you a gift that requires batteries, she wraps the batttries separately, which to me is very close to being a symptom of mental illness. if it were possible, my wife would wrap each individual volt.

My point is tht gift-wrapping is one of those skills like having babies that comes more naturally to women than men. That is why today I am presenting--------------

GIFT WRAPPING TIPS FOR MEN

* Whenever possible, buy gifts that are already wrapped. If, when the recipient opens the gift, neither one of you recognizes it, you can claim that it's myrrh.

* The editors of "Woman's Day" Magazine recently ran an item on how to make your own wrapping paper by printing a design on it with an apple sliced in half horizonally and dipped in a mixture of food coloring and liquid starch. They must be smoking crack.

* If you're giving a hard-to-wrap gift, skip the wrapping paper! Just put it in a bag and Stick one of those little adhesive bows on it. This creates a festive effect that is sure to delight the lucky recipient on Christmas morning........

YOUR WIFE:" Why is there a Hefty trash bag under the tree"?

YOU: " It's a gift! See? It has a bow!"

YOUR WIFE: (perring into the trash bag): "Its a leaf blower."

YOU: Gas-powered ! Five horsepower!"

YOUR WIFE: " I want a divorce."

YOU: " I also got you some myrrh."

In Conclusion, remember that the important thing is not what you give, or how you wrap it . The important thing, During this very special time of year, is that you save the receipt............

Lyle says BAH HUM BUG

Lyle & I went to Pendelton on friday and stayed at the Wild Horse,went to the Wal-Mart Safty breakfast on Saturday morning.We started home pretty early because it was snowing very hard . Anyway we got home in time to go to the Timber Trucker Light Parade. There were only 35 trucks, so it has gotten smaller since Lyle drove in it . We had about 87 trucks the last year that Lyle drove. But it was very well put together and everything well lit.We had a great time..It was nice to just drive up there watch it and drive home. No decorating and no tearing it down in the snow and cold. All along the parade route people had fires burning in barrels, and it was a real party mood, what fun.Here are some photos. I'm also sending a picture of our house, its pretty lit up as well. I saw a friend of ours who lives pretty close, he asked me if we could turn the lights down at night.

Christmas

We went to the Holliday Music Festival in La Grande the other night. It was a great show as it always is. We use this event to kick off the holliday season for us.Anyway it got Lyle in the mood for the Hollidays, now he is walking around the house singing his favorite chirstmas carol----------------------------------- To the tune of Winter Wonderland-------------------------

Lacy things the wife is missing didn't ask for her permission,
I'm wearing her clothes,her silk panty hose walking round in Women's underwear.

In the store theres a teddy little straps like spagetti ,
They hold me so tight, like hand cuffs at night , walking round in women's underwear.

At the office theres a guy named Melvin, he pretends like I'am Murphy
Brown, he'll say are you ready, I'll say whoa man! wait until my wife is out of town.

Later on if you wanna, we can dress just like Madonna,
I'm wearing her clothes, her silk pantyhose, walkin round in women's underwear ....



Ok he's not walking around the house in my underwear, his only singing the song. LOL
Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!!!

Hot Air Balloons

We enjoyed the Hot Air Balloon festival in grant county this weekend. It Started out Friday morning at the football field in MtVernon with a sunrise launch.We were at the football field and our neighbors Dave &other neighbor Ron,were flying above it in Daves ultra light. Then big dinner at the comunity hall. Then last night up at the golf course they had a balloon lighting (afterglow). It was all nice, We enjoyed it.