Las Noches De Las Luminarias!

There has been a LOT of rain here lately!!!

And it has been CHILLY.  The cats have been exceptionally snuggly - and we don't mind!

Allistair giving sweet lovey eyes

Allistair sitting on my lap while I'm working

Allistair working hard!

Allistair getting comfy on the chair 

Baltazar lookin' cozy

Bjarne looking cozy

The great room decorated for Christmas

And here's Juvy in her warm little house on the patio.  It's all nice and fuzzy inside.

Here are rain droplets on the red yucca plant in the front yard

And here's Allistair stealing some snuggles from Baltazar (who isn't sure he likes the whole business)

Stephen looking relaxed and sweet at Christmas time

I made banana bread (with pecans) for our dinner party on Sunday evening.

And then I heard crunching and checked in the kitchen, and Stephen was eating through the tin foil to get to my banana bread!!!  Later in the day, Allistair was munching on the same corner!!!  I trimmed that corner and ate it myself; I didn't feed it to my guests!  I don't blame the kittens - it was VERY good bread!

Rain!

More rain!

Our fountain in the rain (look at all the fallen leaves!)

Baltazar being a sweet older brother

Stephen being a sweet boy

Playing with a bow

Getting into a tricky situation with some ornaments

Attacking birdies . . . or TRYING to attack birdies! (This is Greg's mom reading the birdie book).

Bjarne kneading Stephen's butt!

Also, we went to the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix to see the Las Noches de las Lumanarias.  Luminaria are candles inside paper bags (I didn't see a whole lot of these growing up in Minnesota!)  They light up many of the trails in the garden, and it's beautiful!

And what made it even prettier was that there was a lot of live music along the paths, too!  We got to sit out under the stars in the gorgeous chilly weather (I even wore a scarf and gloves! - but then I am slightly under the weather) and enjoy music, surrounded by cacti and candles.  I can't wait to do it again next year!

Here is one of the bands we heard: Traveler

I hope you are having a wonderful week and that you get to be done with work for the Christmas holiday soon!  

-Christie