an early Christmas gift

Our son, Matt, and his family won't be coming home for Christmas --- they will be spending the holiday at Disneyworld. So when we saw them on Thanksgiving in Texas, we exchanged a few gifts early.

This is one of my gifts, a necklace made by daughter-in-law Misty. Under the key is a tiny reproduction of my own pen and ink sketch of our 1920 apartment building we just sold. What a thoughtful gift!

Another gift they found for me: a gorgeous leather-bound sketchbook of hand-made paper! Our grandson, Quen, watched me draw this necklace and wanted to know why I didn't draw it in my new sketchbook instead. I told him that I like to completely fill one book before  beginning a new one. (The new one is so beautiful, I might feel a bit intimidated to actually use it!)

the original sketch