December project is definitely one to remember!

The NCCC kids (they are all way younger than we are but they are not really kids) are still here and we have had a great month.  We have stuccoed walls and painted them.  We have torn up carpet and replaced it and we have decorated 3 pontoon boats and sailed them in the luminary float parade.

The December project started with a new Sower, a lady we had never met and one we will not soon forget.  Meet Marilyn Olson.

Just before the project got underway we took a side trip to the Cowboy Museum in Las Cruces.

The history of the Cowboy in the region was a very interesting one to view.  They had a hard and demanding life but they made the best of it all.

In the lineup of older machinery was this early cotton picker.

There was also a number of the early sheep and goats that had been brought to the area from Mexico and Europe.

They were beautiful (and healthy) animals---

---and they produced some very fine wool.

 Back to work!  Amy learned how to stucco and became pretty proficient at it.

 Mike took on the job of cutting the last row of carpet---

 While Michelle---

 ---and Ashley laid the main floor carpet.  Several of the others also laid carpet.

 Meanwhile, Sophie learned the stucco process as well and filled in a lot of broken areas.

 We had another problem.  The roof was leaking onto the area where we were laying the new tile.  Answer, repair the roof.

As you can see they really "got into" their work.

We took a break for Thanksgiving at the home of a friend who lives on the bank of the Rio Grand river.

 

Everyone took part in the festivities, including the two dogs thanks to Eric.

We carved the turkeys and ham and prepared the rolls and cranberry sauce---

---while Billie and Eria took time to have a wonderful chat.

 The whole crew took a little time to rest on the bank of the river and digest the wonderful meal we had just shared.

 Back to work!  Now the time had come to decorate the pontoons.

 Everyone pitched in to produce the decorations for the 3 boats---

 ---I even got to help since Billie was taking pictures for us.

 This may look a bit gaudy but it is supposed to as the theme is "The Ugly Christmas Sweater".

 NCCC also had a boat to decorate---

 ---and they mainly wanted to tell people who they were---

 ---and what better way to do that than---

---put their name on it.

 The third boat was decorated for the Boys and Girls club.

 The chosen theme is the Blue door and---

 ---shown standing in the middle of the boat---

 ---and the theme panel "when school is out, club is in".

 The final touches included hundreds of lights---

 ---a panel for the other side---

---and a costume.

 

Work is all done and now the lights go on as the sun goes down.

 The "Ugly Christmas Sweater" was a big hit and won first place---

 While NCCC was by far the easiest to recognize from the shore.

 At last the NCCC group's time was over and we gave them a well deserved certificate of appreciation for all the good things which had been accomplished in the 6 weeks they were here.

 We just happened to find out on the last night that one of the group played the violin.  We asked her if she would give us a short concert and she did.  Thank you Amy.  That looked more comfortable than stucco.