Christmas String Quartet

Uncle Parish came for a Christmas visit this year. Here they all are together; piano, violin, double bass and guitar - playing a little Christmas blues. In the 'Blue' room. LOL!

In true Autry tradition, you gotta have a jam session sometime during the holidays!

Neighborhood Luminares!

My neighbor, Tracy, and I spearheaded a Christmas Eve "First" for our little sub-division. She recalled to me how when she was a kid her neighbors all put out luminares on Christmas Eve, and what a peaceful thing that was to see. So, of course, I fell for that - hook, line and sinker! Then only to realize we need 500 bags! Here are just a few of them filling up her basement floor. Thankfully, my other neighbors, Amy & Derek volunteered to fund this crazy scheme.This is Eric and her husband, Jeff, dutifully carrying bags to the two trucks we used to disperse them. We had fun filling them, really the only slight mishap was her dog, Lila, managed to eat one of the tea candles. LOL! Oh, did I mention that my Christmas guests were expected to help me disperse these lovely bags? My sister Gina and brother-in-law Chad had the honors. Hee-Hee! (that was after they helped us put our pool table together- hey the family that works together stays together!)

Candle lighting in progress... And...the finished project. Ahh, peace on earth, goodwill towards men. This lasted about 20 minutes until the first rain shower and then a second heavy rain dowsed them all out by 8:00pm. Maybe it was a good thing. With the wind, John Jr. and I did have to stomp out 3 bags that managed to catch on fire. Whew! This was an I Love Lucy moment. The Christmas Eve Special.

The Many Faces of John III

There is a tall, dark and handsome young man living in my house these days...It's John in his first tuxedo! (Not 007!) This was John dressed up for his Christmas Orchestra Concert in December. I did video a song for you, but somehow it won't upload, saying it's too large a file. Boo-hiss!Here's his "STELLA" impersonation!And now a more serious one. Waiting between pieces during the concert. I'm proud. Definitely the hottest guy in the Symphonic Orchestra!

For your listening enjoyment!

Here is a quick sampling of Eric at his very first orchestra concert playing his double bass. Before you play this little video, you must first scroll down to the bottom of this page and pause the Christmas Music that is currently playing. Then you may scroll back up and play this sample.

The red headed boy next to him is his best friend, and our next door neighbor, Jackson. Here are a few still shots of them. They've learned a lot in only 2 months, and 2 classes a week.As you can see, the bass is bigger than Eric. That won't last long. LOL!