"Appologies" by Ashleigh

I know you all were expecting Julie to post today but the day finds Julie in bed with a rather nasty cold and energy levels close to nil. Please pray for a quick recovery and strength to return to everyday activities!

I first off want to apologize for the lack of posting last Friday. I had every intention of posting Christmas evening but life had other ideas. :) I had an airport run that I had to make Christmas Day. I left around 3:20pm and was thinking that I would be back by 6 or 7, with plenty of time to post. The flight was canceled, changed airlines, changed terminals, and then didn't ship the baggage until the next flight from Miami. So, we finally arrived back at the Ranch at around 11pm! By that time my bed had been calling my name for quite some time.

Saturday Victor and Julie were gone most of the day and so I ended up at the house working on some project that had gotten out of control (aka-laundry, refrigerator, bushels of carrots). When Magda and Rosa leave there is a lot that piles up rather quickly! :) Plus, Victor had found bushel bags of carrots on sale for a little over a dollar each so he brought a bunch home. We had almost two bags left on the porch but they were starting to turn black because it had gotten below freezing the other night. Thanks to Lucy and Joanna's help we were able to get those peeled, sliced and frozen for future use. So, by Saturday night I wasn't feeling like blogging either. (I have been fighting a cold for the last week myself but it hasn't gotten as bad as Julie's)

And as for Sunday, I refused to work on needed responsibilities on the day of rest. I spent an hour and a half sitting out in the sun with the Marshalls for a devotional time. As I am not usually out in the sun in the middle of the day for that long I even got a sunburn! (Hey, someone has to "suffer for Jesus"!) We ran to the grocery store, ate lunch, and then I tackled cleaning up Julie and Victor's room as a surprise. No one like to be sick, have no energy and have a messy room that you can't relax in.

As penance for not posting on Friday I am posting a video clip of the staff singing "The Gift Goes On" last Sunday at the Christmas service at church. The sound isn't the greatest as it just picked up what it could but I think it will give you a taste of what we did as a group at church for the Christmas this year.