I have so many fond memories of Christmas past… here are just a few:

- Spending Christmas at Grandma & Grandpa Robbins’s farm was always a treat! We got to play with our cousins and eat macarroni & cheese at the kid’s table… WITH Nestle Quick!  One of my funniest memories involved playing haybale tag with our cousins Kelli and Heidi.  I think Kelli didn’t quite make a jump and vertically belly-flopped into a haybale.  And as we headed back to the house, Nick asked Kelli if she liked snow, then pushed her down into a snowdrift.  Classic Nick. 

- When I was in junior high, we drew names with the cousins for gift-giving.  I got this really cool SDSU jacket from my gift-giver, while my sister Steph received a “Chipmunks Christmas” cassette from her gift-giver.  Needless to say, that didn’t go over too well.  We still joke about that memory and Steph still has the cassette and now loves it!  You just can’t top a chipmunk Christmas album… it’s the perfect gift for someone who “has it all!”

- Growing up, we opened our Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve AFTER the Christmas Eve candleight service at church.  So of course, us kids were all too anxious to get home as quickly as possible after church.  But Mom and Dad always wanted to drive around the neighborhood to see the lights… we would put up with it for about 10-15 minutes, then demand to get home.  (I think Mom & Dad did that on purpose.)

Good times! Makes me look forward to Christmas future! 

~ Erin

Or should I say “mice” in the house. It all started on Saturday, when Doug saw a cute little mouse peeking out from behind his desk.  Doug told me what he saw, and I didn’t believe him… until I saw that mouse myself!  Eeeek!  So we frantically tried to scare him out into the open, to no avail.  That guy was super fast and smart!  So Doug headed out to buy some sticky mouse traps while Molly and I bravely stayed home.  To make a long story short, we caught the mouse on one of those sticky pads, and caught two more over the weekend.  Triple EEEEeeeeekkk!  But I guess this is the price we pay for living next to a cornfield.  I hope that was the last of the mice, but I have a feeling we’ll see more of them as the weather dips down.  If you have any suggestions on mice riddance, please let me know!  I’ve had a couple of people tell me to use the electronic tone deterrent.

In other news, Molly’s vocabulary keeps growing every day!  Doug and I say words to her and it’s funny to see what sticks!  Last night she said “pickle” but she wouldn’t say “peas.” 

Well, I should probably go work on our Christmas cards… I need to get those in the mail soon!

~ Erin

The American Red Cross is blood thirsty….but in a good way because it saves lives. Yesterday I decided to try donating blood and it was a great experience so I’ll be a repeat donor.

What you may not know is I dislike needles (who doesn’t?) and the thought of even giving the two little vials at the doctors office is near traumatic. So what brought me to giving a multitude more than 2 vials of blood? A couple months ago my buddy Jesse stepped on a nail while we were rebuilding the stairs of our rental property. It wasn’t a real bad puncture (my “professional” medical assessment), but he immediately goes and lays down in his Toyota 4Runner. He proceeds to inform me in certain terms that he isn’t very comfortable with blood escaping his body. THEN, he tells me he has a specific process he goes through while donating blood to make sure he doesn’t pass out, get sick, etc. So, I’m thinking “WOW, he goes through all that voluntarily and intentionally…so what excuse do I have for not donating blood?” The answer was, not a good one. So yesterday Jesse and I went to give blood at State Farm.

So what made it a great experience?

- Relatively fast (1 hour including registering as a first time donor)

- Didn’t hurt much at all (maybe just for virgin blood donors?)

- MMMMMmmmmm free FOOD!

- You get a sticker that says “Be nice to me. I gave blood today.”

Did you know that……

- Every 2 seconds someone in the US needs blood?

- 1 out of every 10 people admitted to a hospital needs blood?

- Less than 5% of the population donates blood?

- A single blood donation could help to save up to 3 lives?

- You can donate blood every 56 days!!!

So, what’s keeping you from donating a little blood?

I’m Doug Campbell and I approve this message.