Howdy from Hope, Arkansas!  It's me, your friend, Reaux Michelle Delahoussaye, writing!  Hope this finds y'all well!

Me, I'm doing great!  Can't wait:  Christmas is in just a few weeks!  Seems hard to believe, but it is!  All I have to do is see the Christmas tree up in our livingroom or the lights on the houses to remind me, plus I hear Christmas music just about everywhere we go! 

Maman and papa are making sure we kids behave, or Pere Noel won't come see us.  If he does, he'll leave a big lump of coal in our stockings; that would not be good ....  Anyway, we've been doing our chores, and even the little rug rats (i.e., Raun and Ryan)  have been behaving, which is a blessing for all of us!  LOL  They can be BAD with a capital B!!

I know Santa Claus ain't real, but I don't want to spoil it for the little kids.  I was seven when I found out the truth; Lord, how I cried!  I swear, they could hear me clear in Baton Rouge, the way I carried on!!  LOL  Christmas is more about Jesus being born anyway, and I'd rather think about that.  :)  Still, it is nice to get new things for Christmas!! :D

Grandmere' Alida is doing better since her recent bout of sickness; I pray this continues.  She isn't in good health anyway; whenever she gets sick, we always worry, as we should:  after all, she ain't goin' to be around forever, ya know.  I love my grandmere' Alida; she's like a second mama to me!

I saw a cute movie:  "Crocodile Dundee", about this man from Australia who comes to New York.  It was good, but I couldn't understand a word the guy was saying; he talked funny!  And people say we Cajuns talk funny:  you ought to hear people from Australia talk!  WOW!!  (Just what is a "walkabout" or a "blowfly"??  WEIRD!!)

I watched it at Reagan's house last night when I spent the night; it was funny!!  I really enjoyed it!  Reagan liked it too, but we didn't like the bad language; there was some, so the movie was rated "pg".  Good thing it was!

I saw her cousin, Willie, a few days ago.  Sad.  He has muscular dystrophy; he used to walk, but now uses a wheelchair to get around.  They (the doctors) say he may die by the time he is 19 or 20; they don't expect him to live beyond that.  I wish there was more we could do for him; he is a very sad young boy!!

Tonight, after supper, maman and papa are going to take us to see the Christmas lights up the way from us.  We should be gone for a few hours at least; then we are going to go to Denney's for hot chocolate and hamburgers.  Yum!  That's going to be a lot of fun; I can't wait!!

We were going to go to Mass tonight, but Father McIlhenny got sick; therefore, church services have been cancelled for tonight.  Darn!!

So instead of going to church, we'll look at Christmas lights instead.

Well, I gotta go; maman says supper's 'most ready!  I will write in here again; if I don't do so before Christmas, let me wish y'all a very happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year!  Bye!

~Love, your friend, Reaux Michelle.  :D