Missy is caught 'red pawed'!

Dear Friends,

My grandma used to say...'Believe nothing of what you hear and only half of what you see'...but then again, she would often say....'seeing is believing' and in this case....I will have to agree.

When I left last left you, all the little monkeys at The Cabin at the End of the Lane, were cozily tucked into their beds and were finally sound asleep. Morley and I had enjoyed a few precious minutes of quiet by the fireside and then we turned in shortly thereafter.

What we had failed to notice earlier in the day was what our two little monkeys, Micah and Murray had been up to. You can surely believe that it is not unusual to see 'little monkeys' swinging around while they are playing so unless their is a great commotion or someone has fallen - The Cabin at the End of the Lane is generally like a 'monkey house' because..well....that is what we are!

Little did we know that Micah had made plans for weeks to prove once and for all that Santa did not exist. He had been making this claim to all the other little monkeys, causing tears and anger to say the least, and Morley finally took him aside and told him most emphatically, that he must stop. But Micah somehow managed to get his paws on one of those new fangled cameras that can be mounted anywhere to capture movement. Often times hunters use them in the woods to see if deer might come to a certain spot or nature lovers use them to capture pictures of animals. The cameras are somehow triggered when there is movement in front of their lens.

I had noticed the boys earlier in the day huddled on a beam high in the cabin, but I thought that they were just playing. I did not take notice that they were trying to find the best spot to mount the camera - one in which the fireplace was front and center. Apparently none of the other little monkeys noticed either. After all, we were very busy with Christmas preparations!

We did not know as we all slept that night, how our little Missy waited and listened for silence to descend upon The Cabin at the End of the Lane. Now you need to understand that Missy is usually very timid and shy - she is the baby monkey of the family - and well....so quiet and unassuming that she almost goes unnoticed. When Missy was finally convinced that she was the only one awake....she apparently snuck out of her bed and into the living room because she was pretty sure that Micah had been wrong about Santa but she needed to know for sure.

Missy almost got away with her little plan.....almost.

As you can quite imagine, morning came much too soon for Morley and me. Soon all the little monkeys were squealing with excitement as they are sat by their piles of presents. Each monkey took his turn opening a present and with all the little monkeys here, it was nearly noon by the time we were done.

I was preparing our traditional brunch of egg cassarole and creamy rice and banana fluff when suddenly I heard the biggest commotion I think that I had ever heard! All the little monkeys were gathered around Missy and Micah and they were laughing their little heads off. Micah had gone up to retrieve his camera and finally lay to rest this notion of 'Santa'. Instead....Santa was confirmed and Missy was 'busted' ...if you will allow me to use the vernacular of our teen monkeys.

I must close this letter for now but again I invite you to come back as soon as you can. You don't want to miss a minute of life here at The Cabin At The End of The Lane!

Love,
Mabyn