Christmas Time in New York

I know that if you are reading this, you have also been reading the cowgirls blog, so I won't go into all the detail of the cancelled flight and the long hours waiting for that special reunion, only to say, Katie and Ken and I got in some great hours shopping in Buffalo. We found a wonderful mall that had just about every store that you would want, and fabulous "post-Christmas" deals, before Christmas. We also found a friendly little Presbyterian Church to attend on Christmas Sunday. A Kids Choir, Christmas Carols and a very good sermon.

Monday we woke up to a beautiful, very cold, December Morning. Took a taxi to the train station and rode the 55 minutes into Penn Station. Interesting that Penn Station is all underground. Anyway, we found our way up to the street and there we were! Almost our first sight was Macy's. That was one thing on our list, so off we went. We had an experience in the elevator with many other people going up to the 8th floor. I didn't count how many floors there were, but the 9th was the highest that we went. Each floor is a different department. Of course all the displays and decor are modern and up to date, but the building itself is old and quite ornate, right down to the wooden escalators. Even the sound was pretty amazing - wood on wood. It is hard to see in the picture, but here it is. Even the slats on the steps are wood. Someone was pretty ingenious!

What is a trip to New York with out buying

a hot dog from the street vender?

And of course, The Empire State Building.

We rode the subway from 34th street to 50th and Broadway.

Another fun experience that was on the list.

We walked the short distance to Rockefeller Center

and the Radio City music hall.

Inside the Theatre was very beautiful.

The show was very good. Amazing how the dancers can be so precise.

We enjoyed the whole show ending with the full on Nativity.

The story was read right from Luke's Gospel!

Anyway, Well worth the trip.

Following the show, we did some more sight seeing.

The Tree at Rockefeller Center was very impressive. Not as tall

as I was expecting, but so many lights and very beautiful.

Merry Christmas from the Morrishes!

Time Square was just the way it is always pictured. We

found Bubba Gumps and enjoyed a lovely dinner looking out

onto the lights and motion of that part of the city. It also gave us

a chance to get warm before we headed back to the Subway, to catch the

train, to get the taxi, back to the hotel.

A wonderful "Christmas time" experience.

Christmas in Canada, Eh

Our Living Room before.............

Still unpacking............

We bought our first Christmas Tree in 12 years. We had

always gone out back in the forest and cut one. I am not sure where they grow

the trees around here, but this one is beautiful! And the price was very reasonable.

Ken and Katie did the tree decorating this year. I was busy getting

food ready for our Staff Christmas Dinner Sunday evening. I could

never have done it without them.

I love our living room.

Ken painted the walls this lovely pale shade of green. Did you know

that Home Depot sells "mistake paint"? I picked this green up for less than

half price because someone changed their mind, or it was mixed up wrong.

The room still needs window treatment and some furniture, but that will come.

It is fun to start from nothing and slowly put it together.

Any suggestions for the window, Danielle?

After......

SNOW

We did get snow last week. Not piles and piles like I was expecting,

but enough to make it look like winter. It was very cold,

in the teens. It has warmed up this week (20's and 30's). We are

supposed to get another storm over the week end. Lisa comes into Buffalo

on Saturday and we are praying that the weather holds until she gets

here. A very exciting time for all of us

Operation Christmas Child

Ken and I had the opportunity to go with Katie's school to

Operation Christmas Child. It was a great experience and we are so

glad that we were able to see what all goes into a thing like this.

Of course, Samaritans Purse is very special to us because it is the

organization that Phillip is with in Africa. And of course, Katie had the most

amazing time when she went to work with him this last July.

Every box has to be gone through. Most of the time people follow the

directions for packing the box, but once in a while there will be some

food or liquid, or something glass or breakable.

They have quite a system and the three hours went by really fast.

It is amazing to think that there are other processing centers all over

North America that are doing the same thing.

Thousands and Thousands and Thousands of shoe boxes

are going out of this warehouse alone.

Who knows, maybe one of the boxes that Katie inspected will end up in the hands

of a child she played with in Yei Sudan.

If you ever have the opportunity to volunteer at one of these

processing centers, don't pass it up. It was a great experience.

We went with 11th graders, but individuals can just drop in too.

A great thing to do with younger children as well.

Still Waiting!

There has been a phrase that we have heard regularly since we arrived here and it is stated after someone hears that we are from

California. "Just Wait!" Wouldn't you know it, Guelph has not had a November with out snow in over 70 years. Now it is the 3rd day in December and still no snow. I am not complaining, mind you, but I am starting to get a little concerned about the white Christmas that I am anticipating.

I have never seen so much snow removal equipment and cold weather apparel in all of my life. It makes me wonder, are we ready for this? I guess we will just have to "wait" and see!