Day 17 – 1/17/10
My sweet niece Lola dancing to the music from her Christmas card that G-Pa is reading to her (& notice B-Ma laughing at her). Isn’t she beautiful!

Several friends are doing a 365 days of photos in 2010 & I am joining them in the challenge. I’ll post here, to my Facebook, & to my Picasa web album.

Day 7 – 1/7/10
My brand new Vera Bradley Raspberry Fizz purse that arrived today.
Christmas money + HUGE Clearance sale + a purse I never thought I’d be able to afford = 1 happy C.C.

Several friends are doing a 365 days of photos in 2010 & I am joining them in the challenge. I’ll post here, to my Facebook, & to my Picasa web album.

Day 6 – 1/6/10
My brand new TOMS Shoes arrived today. They are my Christmas gift from Russ’ mom. I had a picture of the entire shoe but my feet are all swollen & ugly so I cropped it. LOL!

Several friends are doing a 365 days of photos in 2010 & I am joining them in the challenge. I’ll post here, to my Facebook, & to my Picasa web album.

This year, we were unable to visit family for Christmas. It was just the 3 of us. We had a wonderful, blessed holiday & really enjoyed our time together. Here are lots of pictures of our days together. Hope your holidays were as blessed as ours were!

We hope that 2009 has been a blessed year for yall. 2009 has been a year of surprises & adventures for us.

Russell & C.C. completed their Master of Divinity degrees at Logsdon Seminary in Abilene, Texas, in August. Graduation was December 12, but they were unable to attend because of finances & the long distance that would have had to be traveled.

C.C. was to have done her Clinical Pastoral Education residency in Lubbock, Texas, after graduation, but a last minute change at the hospital there really threw things up into the air. After a mad search to find another hospital that still had an opening, C.C. applied for, was accepted at, & began her residency as a hospital chaplain at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in Houston, Texas. She works around 60-70 hours a week both at St. Luke’s as well as at Texas Children’s Hospital. Although the long hours have been a huge adjustment, she honestly loves her job & ministry. The quote that says, “Find a job you love & you’ll never work a day in your life” is definitely true for her.

The move to Houston has been a difficult one for Russell. We never imagined that the job market in Houston would be as bad as it is. After a sixteen week search for a job, Russell was finally hired by St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in Sugar Land, Texas, to work in their food service area. He still intends to pursue a Ph.D. in Theology in order to teach at the college or seminary level in the future. Current schools of interest are in Texas and Colorado. In the mean time, he is praying about doing a year of Clinical Pastoral Education.

Damaris Mikaelia turned 10 this year. Do we honestly have a daughter in the double digits? It seems like just yesterday when she was born! Damaris is doing well in the 5th grade at Dulles Elementary School. Her favorite subject by far is music. She auditioned for & was accepted into the 5th grade choir which keeps her very busy. She really enjoyed the Colonial Days study that all 5th graders participate in & was thrilled to participate in the program where they performed colonial dances & songs. We’re including a picture of her dressed in her colonial clothing. She is almost as tall as her Momma & is already trying to “borrow” her shoes!

Unfortunately, finances & our new location (& the distance) will prevent us from being with any family for the Christmas holiday. If you’re ever in the Houston area though, come by and visit us. We’d love to see each and every one of you. We pray that 2010 will bring happiness, joy, grace, & peace to you & your family!
Russell, C.C., & Damaris Almon
E-mail Address – allofus@thealmons.com
Family Website – http://www.thealmons.com
C.C.’s Blog – http://www.lorelaicc.com
Russell’s Blog – http://www.desperatetheologian.com

I know this isn’t the greatest of pics, but it was such a wonderful moment for me that I want to share. I took this picture myself on Christmas morning. My precious niece Lola fell asleep on my chest. She stayed there for over 2.5 hours just snuggled into me. I should have been in the kitchen helping to cook, but instead I just sat in that chair and loved on this lovely little girl. Christmas was the first time we had seen Lola since she was about a week old. She’s now about 3.5 months old. I’m thankful for the time I got to spend not only with Baby Lola but also with my family. It was a blessed time!

Join in on the fun at

Russ’ mom, grandmother, and brothers came for a short visit this weekend. We celebrated Christmas last night & then went to church and lunch together today. I feign laziness again, so if you want to see pics from their visit, CLICK HERE!!!!!

We spent 12/23 to 12/25 at my parent’s home in New Mexico for Christmas. Besides us, my mom, my dad, my grandfather, my sister, my brother-in-law, and my niece were there. I woke up sick this morning, so forgive my simplicity in posting pics. If you CLICK HERE!!!!, you can view all the pics we took this trip. Also, here are two videos of my niece Lola that we took while there.

2008 December 24 – Lola Callaway Frink from C.C. Almon on Vimeo.

2008 December 24 – Lola Callaway Frink 2 from C.C. Almon on Vimeo.

OK, so remember way back in June when this happened?????

Well, yesterday was the day for the sequel. Russ & I decided that we would each get a tattoo (my 2nd, his 1st) as our Christmas gifts to each other. Went back to Richard who did my first tattoo (he touched it up for me yesterday) and spent a few hours with him getting inked.

Here is Russ’ tattoo (a triquetra with Yahweh in Hebrew over it):

And here is my new tattoo (the Hebrew word Shalom which translate to peace):

So what do you think? We love them!

So, Russ & I are “exchanging” our Christmas gifts for each other today. I won’t spill the beans since Russ reads my blog LOL! but I can tell you that it will be super exciting & I will post pictures tomorrow. You won’t believe it until you see the evidence. Stay tuned….