Arizona Christmas 2010 & New Years

It actually snowed today (it was somewhat like little flakes coming down - or maybe soft gentle sleet).  I thought the high winds would blow in the window last night, but all was well in the morning.  When the clouds parted this afternoon, snow was visible on the nearby Huachuca Mountains but nothing sticking here in Sierra Vista, Arizona, where I am spending the holidays with my daughter and family.  It's nice that someone living in Hawaii (me) can see a little snow around Christmas.  I really do feel sorry that so much of the country has had to endure floods and super snow.  I was so glad that I wasn't stuck at an airport like so Christmas travelers.

     The house here held 12 people for the days around Christmas  We had a good time talking, eating and even managed to go geocaching and find three caches in town.  Now that most of the family has returned to homes in Phoenix, New Mexico, and North Dakota, I've spent lots of time - finally - reading over 400 blogs that were in my Google Reader.  My December was too busy to get to them, or to write on my own.  At last I've read them all and have made lists of things to do in the genealogy realm and also in preparation for my trip to India in 25 days - for Operation Smile.  I marvel that so many others have been able to find the time to write their own interesting blogs.  I did manage to log in to the final 8 minutes of Miriam's Ancestories1 Scanfest for the December date,

   I am determined to have my daughter and granddaughter listen to a CD I made of tape recordings my father, Vincent Hague, made in the 1950s.  First was a recording of my brother, Dick, and I, singing and "playing" various toys, like a piano and winding a Jack-in-the-box crank to make "music."  We called it the "Dickie and Donna Show"  Later in 5th or 6th grade he recorded more of my piano "playing".  Finally, when I was in the 7th grade, he came to my school, Horace Mann Jr. High School, Los Angeles, Calif, and recorded our school chorus from a microphone he suspended from the rafters in the large auditorium stage (I was a 2nd Soprano). In 1983, two years after the death of my mother, Dad found the old tapes and put them together as one, with a dedication and introduction to my daughter, Alisa (she was 11 years old).  Now Alisa has long forgotten that wonderful gift my father made, so I've transferred it to CD and am determined to round up daughter and granddaughter long enough to listed to this 45 minute CD.   Such a treasure to have.  Not sure they appreciate it now.

   I'll also try to get the family to settle down long enough to see the photos I took of granddaughter, Emily (16), and grandson, Braden (13) last summer when they spent a month with me in Hawaii.  I put the photos on a CD for them, so the days together will not be forgotten .

   Before Christmas we took their two dogs and two cats to the Sierra Vista Mall for the "Pets Meet Santa" photo night.  It was a little dicey at first, but the animals settled down and we decided to all get in on the photo with Santa.  I'm going to add that photo here when I'm able to get the image into my laptop (really an Acer Netbook).

     I have so many goals for 2011 that I haven't tried to list them.  As far as genealogy and family history, I am chomping at the bit to correspond with a couple people I have connected with through my Hague and Rees family trees on www.ancestry.com.  In addition I've recently connected with other distant cousins on other family lines and I want to share information with them.
     I wish everyone a very Happy New Year and I hope to meet other bloggers at the June genealogy conference at the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree in Burbank next year (2011).