On Sunday 15 December we attended our own Ellijay branch and Eileen was sustained as 2nd counselor in the Primary presidency. There were two excellent talks about Christmas by stake high councilor Doug Cox and the young man who accompanied him, Drew Besson.  Gospel Doctrine was about "The Family: A Proclamation to the World."  It contains the Lord’s teachings regarding the family, given through the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve.  It was presented by President Gordon B. Hinckley at the general Relief Society meeting in September 1995.  Priesthood featured President Lorenzo Snow’s teachings concerning  Jesus Christ.  As a new member of the Primary presidency, Eileen attended Primary during Sunday School and Relief Society.  “The Primary is an organized program of religious instruction and activity in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for children from eighteen months of age until their twelfth birthdays. Its purpose is to teach children the gospel of Jesus Christ and help them learn to live it.” (Encyclopedia of Mormonism [1992])

In the evening we watched the first half of the Christmas Devotional broadcast from the Conference Center in Salt Lake City that we had missed the previous Sunday.

When the White’s were here a year ago, we visited the quilt store in Murphy, NC.  They had a table runner on display and Eileen was able to convince them to sell it to her.  It looked very nice on our dining area table.  It was put away after Christmas last year.  When Eileen wanted to use it again this Christmas, it could not be found anywhere.  We knew it had to be in the house somewhere!  We searched all over to no avail.  Finally a week or two ago I sat down on the edge of our bed and pondered where it could be.  I thought of all the places we might have put it and we had searched all of them.  Although not important on a scale of 1 to 10, it was upsetting my wife.  So I offered up a prayer to Heavenly Father that we would find it somehow.  No more than an hour later Eileen found it tucked between six white placemats in the dining room credenza!  It was a wonderful answer to prayer!

On Monday 16 December we had a visit from the Arrow Exterminator guy so that he could go over the inside of our home. 

He has gotten a Book of Mormon from us in the past and today we had a nice chat about the LDS Church before he left.

We went by the Ellijay post office and stopped by the dry cleaners where they have had Eileen's quilt for a month.  They said it was ready but it wasn't as they had mixed it up with another one!  We shopped at Walmart so Eileen could make Christmas cookies, i.e., Wheaties cherry blinks, Russian tea cookies, and shortbread.  She texted our son William, "I'm busy making Christmas cookies. Don't know who can eat them. I just love making them."  She had already made chocolate chip cookies.

Wheaties cherry blinks

We enjoyed watching "Disney's Christmas Carol" that we had recorded. 

I posted the following on Facebook:

"I do not believe in a God who would set up rules and commandments only to wait for us to fail so He could punish us. I believe in a Heavenly Father who is loving and caring and who rejoices in our every effort to stand tall and walk toward Him. Even when we stumble, He urges us not to be discouraged—never to give up or flee our allotted field of service—but to take courage, find our faith, and keep trying." Dieter F. Uchtdorf (member of the First  Presidency of the LDS Church)

As of 5 Jan 2014 20 people liked it and four commented about how they liked it!

On Tuesday 17 December Eileen went to the beauty parlor and I got my haircut. 

Barbara's

City Barber Shop in Ellijay

Eileen took a plate of her four cookies to her beautician Barbara Rittenberry.  I went by the post office to mail more Christmas cards and a Book of Mormon to a lady whom we met at the bakery department of Ingles Supermarket.  She lives in Epworth, Georgia.  We picked up our quilt (the right one this time) and my suit from the dry cleaners.  At home we enjoyed lunch (I had a slice of the fruit cake that Eileen had made) and watched episodes of America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country that I had recorded.  

Christopher Kimball and friends

I read "The Ugly Duckling" by Hans Christian Andersen.

Hans Christian Andersen
(1805-1875)

We visited Sabrina Bayless and showed her our Snapfish photo albums from our U.K. and Niagara Falls vacations. 

U.K. Beefeater

Niagara Falls

Eileen made cornbread using our niece Kristin’s delicious recipe for the funeral the next day of Cora Thomas's husband Charles.

We enjoyed watching a Father Brown mystery that we had recorded. The character was created by G.K. Chesterton and played by Mark Williams.

Mark Williams as Father Brown

G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

On Wednesday 18 December we were at the Food Pantry in the morning.  This was the last Wednesday before the Pantry reopens in its new location on 8 January.

The new Pantry east of Ellijay

We mailed more Christmas cards and did some shopping, buying more Christmas cards and Christmas letterhead stationery for my Christmas letters as well as stopping at Walmart and Ingles.  We dropped off the cornbread at Bernhardt's Funeral Parlor in Ellijay.  We picked up the Times-Courier and some apples at R&A Orchards.

In the evening we watched "How Sherlock Changed the World," a two-hour show on PBS.  A review called it “A Study in Forensics, Through a Favorite Sleuth.”

On Thursday 19 December we enjoyed lunch with Ralph and Holly Hughes at Mike's Seafood Market & Grill in Blairsville

and visited with them at their home in Mineral Bluff afterwards.

Ralph and Holly's

In the evening we watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas."

On Friday 20 December we enjoyed the Kids Ferst Christmas party at Paul & Joan Melton-Blomquist's on Walnut Mountain.

In the evening we watched the "Frosty the Snowman" movie with Andy Griffith.

I had finished our 186 Christmas cards and sent 16 e-mails with our Christmas letters attached.

On Saturday 21 December we packed the car and headed for Raleigh.  We took Heather our dehydrator and old FoodSaver.  Before leaving I read "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" by Hans Christian Andersen.

Tin Soldier and Ballerina

I nibbled Eileen's trail mix en route and we stopped at the Dillsboro Chocolate Factory for sugar-free chocolates and fudge.

Dillsboro Chocolate Factory

We stopped for lunch at Cracker Barrel in Asheville.

Christmas wreath
at Cracker Barrel

Cute display
at Cracker Barrel

Then it was on to Raleigh, a long drive in the rain and fog.  We may go back to doing it in two days in the future!  

Display on the rest stop wall

In Raleigh we went to Crabtree Mall to pick up some outfits for Liam at Baby Gap and Janie & Jack.

Crabtree Mall Christmas decorations

When we pulled up at Heather and Tom's, along they came with Liam and several friends caroling with Tom on his guitar!

Heather and Tom's in Raleigh

After unloading a lot of the car, I relaxed and read "Greetings from Longfellow" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  Finally some poetry that I enjoyed as I had enjoyed "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere," both by Longfellow.  I had long ago given up trying to read Wordsworth, Byron, and Whitman, etc.