Merry Christmas!

Here are some pictures for friends and family who live out of Bakersfield.

We love you and wish you a very

Merry Christmas.

This is my mom with Levi.

A Visit with Santa

The Delgado boys each had a turn sitting on Santa's lap at our ward party Friday. They decorated cupcakes and sang. For dinner we brought potluck soups and desserts and salad and drinks were provided. It's always fun to celebrate the season.

Hog Harvesting

Some friends of Ryan asked him to harvest three pigs and deep pit the meat for them. He got to keep one for doing the work. It became quite a project and several people came to observe or help. We had ribs from the pit for dinner Sunday. Most of the meat is cooked, packaged and in the freezer, but, we still have the bacon curing.

Crafty Days

Thursday, December 11th and Saturday December 13th Jocelyn and I some of the ladies in our ward got together to make some Christmas crafts. We did nativity finger and hand puppets, paper globe topiaries (as seen on Heather Bailey's blog), traditional or nativity theme lighted glass blocks, glass etching, hooded bath towels, and cookie cutter ornaments. Above is pictured Heather, Jennifer , Jocelyn, Jennifer with Emma, and the kits for the hand puppets.

Nativity Celebration

Here's a few shots of the Community Nativity Celebration from last week:

The early morning unloading crew.Starting Jocelyn's set-up plan.
Tablecloths and trees next.

With the fluff and 350 nativities.

Some of the Thursday night performers:

Four of my grand kids dressed up to have their picture taken. Aren't they cute? Will and Ed adamantly refused costumes. Ed preferred to unwrap the wise men's gifts:

They all loved the Little People Nativity.
And the puppet show in the children's area.

Jocelyn did a great job. It was beautiful. Now we figure we qualify for the "do not contact" list next year.

Guns and Ammo

It's an unknown fact that I like guns. I shot in competitions in high school, but that was YEARS AGO. David invited me to go with him to the range the Saturday after Thanksgiving Gaye had picked up her new shot gun and was going to try it for the first time, so girls were allowed. I really don't like shooting shot guns, so I started with the 22. It was a different kind of range, targets, and rifle than I used in the old days, but still fun. I tried all of David's guns and liked the 38 special Smith&Wesson best.

Watch out burglars! Gaye has experience now.Karl even came along.

Oscar, Andres, Steve, Jordan, Peter, Kyle, David J., Jason, Maurice and Mike were also there. I think it would be more fun if we got a competition going.

Who needs TURKEY?

The Bunting's did not go hungry on Thanksgiving. Those of you who know us can affirm we like to eat. We had a wonderful feast. Our tradition is to eat dessert after the dishes are cleaned off the table and the food is put away. By that time, your food has "settled" and you feel like eating pie. As I looked over THIS, I wondered "Who needs turkey?
Ryan had to work, but stopped in briefly. He requested a pecan pie this year. I decided I like it too.

Jared should be related to Steve N. They both love cream. Steve, do you like peas too? That's Jared's favorite non-sweet food. I remember when John was little he asked me for some "PLAIN" pie. We had about ten choices, as usual, so I tried to find out which he wanted. He said no to each as I suggested it. I finally figured out he wanted a bowl of cream.

By the way, in case you are wondering, I have plenty to be thankful for. David and I have commented to each other many times over the years that we are truly blessed in so many ways it's amazing. I look at the wonderful children we have and the grand kids who are the best looking and smartest I know. (Notice I didn't say best behaved. I would have, except today they made me yell at them for throwing popcorn kernels all over the carpet and banging on the woodwork with my meatball maker.) I am so grateful they live here and I can see them all the time; that they are here to spill on my carpet and write on my walls. What if they lived far away and I could only see them once in a while? See how blessed I am? And I love how David helped me drill holes in all the shower blocks for Super Thursday/Saturday. He spent more on drill bits than the blocks cost, but it was ok because the women in our ward need the time together to make stuff. And he went out and got Chinese food for dinner because I had no time to cook. I had been looking for clear glass plates for days so the ladies could do glass etching and cutting out felt for the nativity puppets. I have said it before: He is irreplaceable. He doesn't care that our Christmas tree is still not up.

Turkey Art

The day before Thanksgiving I watched Will, Ed and Jessie while Karrie did errands. We enjoyed the day with some of the Delgado cousins doing turkey art while the older siblings were in school. Each kid had their own styleof coloring, of course, and all were posted on my fridge for Thanksgiving.

Ed's style. Enough said.

Nina's Birthday

My mother's birthday was the day after we returned from the funeral in Utah, so the grand kids helped me decorate her cake with gumdrops left over from our Enrichment holiday cookie decorating activity. We enjoyed a nice dinner together. Anita, Randy, Yvette and Gus joined us to help her celebrate 83 years. We love you lots, mom!

Uncle Harold's Funeral

David's Uncle Harold passed away recently at the age of 93, so David, Karl and I made the trip to Saint George, Utah to attend the funeral. The Smith family is known for their longevity. It was wonderful to hear all the nice things said of Uncle Harold and to visit with the other family members who attended.