Merry Christmas!

'Tis the Season

We went down to Balboa Park on a week night to check out their Christmas decorations. We avoided the December Nights event which was the weekend before, so things were quiet and peaceful.

The best part is the beautiful nativity story they have on display in the organ pavilion every year. I hope they have it for many years to come. Sadly, I imagine political correctness will phase it out soon, but for now, there is freedom to walk through it and encounter Bible college students soul-winning. They were out in full force this night. No less than 3 groups approached us with tracts.

Next, we swung by a neighborhood near us that puts on a great light display. There is an even better one that we will be hitting up sometime soon, but this one was pretty spectacular too.

These photos don't do it justice, since they were taken from a moving car, but the details were so awesome. Although, I can't help but think of what a mess all those wires look like in daylight.

Oh, and Taylor went to a pajama party at church...

These are just a few of the things we've done so far this holiday season.

Merry Christmas!

Kora - Our Other Child

We love Kora. All of us do. In fact, the one who was against getting a cat at all, might just love her the most.

Kora is part of the family. She wants to be a part of everything that is happening. When we were painting our pumpkin, there she was laying on the newspaper and batting at the paint brushes. When Taylor gets a new toy, she's right there to experience it. Unfortunately, it also means when I am folding the laundry, she wants to lay on my towels; and when I am cooking I have to lock her in another room to keep her from jumping on the counter;

And it also means that she has laid claim to our Christmas tree...

The day that it was brought in I quickly couldn't wait for the day I will be tearing it down. Seriously, I can't imagine two more weeks of her knocking off the ornaments and basically living inside of it - shredding it to pieces and just making a huge mess of it. We had to tie it to a piece of furniture to keep her from tipping it over.

But we love her. She is as fearless as she is friendly and easy-going. She will accept love from anyone and even when she could fit in the palm of our hands, she was chasing after our Rott/Akita, Bailey, to play. She loves that dog - she never tires of chasing him around, but he can only tolerate her for so long before he begs to be let outside for some peace. She does the same to Taylor; hiding under the bed and coming out for a sneak attack. It's amazing how gentle she is with Taylor. Her attacks seem to be so vicious, the way she runs and jumps at her with ears turned back, but she is careful with her claws on her and her bites are always soft.

Since Taylor doesn't have a sibling, Kora gets a lot of attention, and a lot of 3 year old torture. Despite being carried, poked, and laid on, and having her tail pulled, she has never lost her temper. I have heard that Siamese cats can be temperamental, so I feel blessed that Kora has settled into a special place in our family.

She is just what I wanted, and more than Kennedy expected a cat could be.