Week of December 15th
Monday

Today was a great day at school. The Sprinkles,who teach music to the school children, brought pizza for lunch for the entire school! We celebrated and had a lovely afternoon. The Sprinkles had to hurry back to Show Low, as they were forecast to get between 6 and 24 inches of snow.

After school, we loaded up in the school van and drove to Flagstaff,AZ for our Staff Christmas dinner. We picked up Miss Dawn and Mr. John and Ms. Ruth in Winslow, then headed toward Flagstaff. The snow started about 6000 feet. We drove into a blizzard of beautiful snow. Mr. Bill drove us fearlessly to the restaurant (Outback Steakhouse). I would like to thank Bill & Norma Jean for sending a donation for us all to have Christmas dinner together. We had a great meal and all enjoyed it tremendously. Afterward, Mr. Bill drove us home in the heavy snow. The roads were all covered as we were getting on the interstate, but the snow stopped again about 6000 feet in elevation. When we returned to Winslow and Red Sands, there was no snow.

This was a party week! The school children had received gifts from churches all around the country. There were some from Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia and Kentucky. The kids opened gifts each day, so that they could remember which church sent them and take them home one at a time. The kids got toothbrushes and toothpaste, candy, toys, clothing and shoes. Thank you so much to all of the churches who sent presents to the schoolchildren! It really made a nice Christmas for the kids who would not otherwise have received things that were needed and wanted.

Thursday night

The Christmas program was tonight! All of the kids were great! Mr. Diehl's class read the scripture of the birth of Christ, Mr. Bill's class furnished the backgrounds and Miss Springer's class performed the motions indicated in the scripture. Abby & Kelcy were angels. A stretch for them, if you all know them. This was Kelcy's debut in school programs and she did just fine. Abby had been in the Fall program, and she followed instructions well and performed her role well, too. All of the kids did great. Afterward, Mr. Bill gave a devotion about making Christmas and the spirit of Christmas last all year. Then, we had refreshments provided by the children. It was a wonderful night.

Friday

The school kids opened the last presents and then we provided lunch for all the kids and then we all watched a movie together. School was released early today. Then, we were on our way to Kentucky!