fourth quarter earnings

Probably the biggest news from Christmas is that we got some fairly decent family pictures taken (for free) by my brother-in-law Nate, who has a nice camera, a good eye, and enough patience to not murder our family with a heat ray when they keep acting like dummies and complaining about having family pictures taken (for free). I think the pictures are as good as we could possibly expect, and the only way to improve them would be for us to be more attractive and less rubber-faced.

Christmas was perfect. Everybody got a present they felt very pleased about. John's favorite present was a new phone and the Faygo vanilla cream soda I bought that didn't get here until the 30th. My favorite present was a new phone and a cookbook of my grandma's recipes (I cried). Grant's favorite present was a Hagrid's Hut Lego set. Emmett's favorite present was a snap circuit board. Ike's favorite present was a stuffed tiger. Willa's favorite present was a dollhouse that looks like this:It is fearsomely cute, and she has played with it constantly. I also made her a Paducah doll that looks like this:
My granny learned to make Paducah dolls when she and my great-grandpa were on a mission in Paducah, Kentucky. Where is Paducah, Kentucky, you might ask? Halfway between Possum Trot and Monkey's Eyebrow, that's where. We have four generations of Paducah dolls now. They are adorable, with movable arms and legs and cute little baby-shaped bodies, but somewhat challenging to make for someone with my sewing and embroidering abilities. I am extremely proud of my Paducah doll.

We had a party on New Year's Eve, like always. Here are the people who came:
We ate food and played Jackstraws and Dominion. Dominion is hard and I lost.

I am excited about the new year. My goal is to be a better steward of my time.