Also....here is a great and cheery Christmas song video:
A GIGGLE with the GOATS Jingle Bells Holiday Performance
The manure pile to the left in this picture is much more attractive under a blanket of snow. It was a beautiful Christmas Eve Snow, so pure and peaceful.
The wind picked up early afternoon causing some drifting. Dan and I spent extra time doing chores because there were 4 chickens missing that we had to search for.
Amiga...."Wait for me"
Daniel found the chickens under the corn crib....but they would not come out. Daniel stomped on the floor which scared them to the end where I could catch them. In the process it also riled up Amiga and Sir Loin.
hiding under the corn crib.
Amiga looks to see what Daniel has found.
The chickens get caught at the barn when it snows and blows during the day because the snow is too deep for them to walk through. So Daniel shovels a new path.
Courtney and Mike braved the snow and came over for dinner, reporting that our drive was the worst part of their trip. (Andy hadn't plowed yet because it was still coming down.) After dinner we opened packages.... and I was humbled by the generous gift from Courtney of a new saddle.
Amiga was covered with snow when I brought her in at "bed time". I brushed off the snow and then tried to "fluff" Amiga's hair so it would dry better and help keep her warm. 
You can see the steam rising off of her in this picture.
We awoke to a beautiful white Christmas.
I packed, organized, and did last minute cleaning while also getting some pictures of the snow. The trailer needs to be unhitched and the Expedition cleaned and packed for the annual trek to Florida.
Below Amiga and Sir Loin enjoy their morning hay.
In the paddock, the cluster river birch continue to flourish in spite of the winds and snow since they are tied and fenced off from the horse and cow. 
Andy came during the night,
after it stopped snowing, and
cleared off the drive.
The chickens make their way through the snow using the path.
Britney and I were off for the air port at about 4:00. There were too many of us to fit into the Expedition, so Britney and I were flying down to Florida while Joe, Courtney, Mike and Daniel were driving straight thru. Due to mechanical problems, our 5pm flight out of B/N was over 2 hrs late. So, we missed our connecting flight out of Atlanta. There were no other flights that night so the air lines put us up in a hotel, and they could not get us on a flight until 2:30 the next afternoon. Flights had been canceled or delayed because of snow in Atlanta ..... their first white Christmas in 100 years.
she was fussing at the time. Once landed in Orlando, we drove to Winter Haven to pick up Mom, had lunch, and then headed on down to Long Boat Key. Joe and the three "kids" still beat us there. Florida was not warm and sunny, but neither was it cold and snowy, so we were glad to be there. This picture of the famous sailor kissing nurse statue was taken from the rental car as I followed Joe to the Sarasota airport to drop it off. I wasn't even looking through the view finder, just held it up and clicked. Is there a law against shooting photos while operating a vehicle? Here is a better photo of it from the internet.
We had a fun, festive week as usual, in spite of the colder than normal temperatures to begin with. I was glad there was no rain and that we could enjoy being outside in light-weight jackets. We walked, sat on the beach or by the pool, and even swam by the end of the week. The meals were great and we had more food than we needed, especially the snacks and sweets. We enjoyed playing games, talking and watching TV together. I will post pictures of our week in my next Blog because I did not take many and need to up-load some from my sisters who do much better at taking photos and operating a camera.
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