HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

                          
                                     We are looking forward to another wonderful year.                                        

 

 

 

Love when he dresses up! 

 

If you look above the fireplace there is a painting.  Hopefully, this year it will be exchanged for a flat screen TV.

 

 

I was inspired by the reindeer antlers that Melissa bought this year when she and Adam had a holiday party for us all.  Those are what we will be wearing for our group photo in 2013!

 

Hopefully, this year, Reese will join us for a grandchildren picture.  Right now, when we ask him if he wants to get his picture taken, he says, "I don't want to."

 

However, if you catch him off guard, you can usually get a cute picture.  Here he made a hat in preschool at Thanksgiving.  It is either an Indian headress or a turkey hat---hard to tell.

 

 

 

I truly hope Maddie will perform again in the Nutcracker Ballet.  She made a beautiful angel.

 

                                       So let's make a toast to the Happiest New Year ever!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

Jesus Is The Reason For The Season

I have always been fascinated with Nativity sets.  For many years I have collected them, and bring them out each Christmas. 

My latest addition is a metal board background, and is also an Advent Calendar.  Each little drawer has an item that you add to the scene each day.

BELIEVE is another set that I purchased this year.  Each letter has a character from the manger.

This is a set I purchased for Heather a couple of years ago.  She has since become interested in collecting nativity sets too.

I had had this little set of Precious Moments for many years, and when Heather got married I gave it to her.  As a little girl, it was always a favorite of hers.

When Maddie came along she just loved the Little People sets from Fisher Price, so of course I got her this set which children can also play with.

When Heather was little, she loved painting ceramics.  Here is a set that she painted for me.

One of my favorites has always been this glass set that is very tiny, but exquisitely painted.

Here we have 2 sets.  In the background is one I got from Hallmark many years ago, and in the front is a sweet set of the Peanuts characters.

When I was a little girl, my mother had a set similar to this one, so I tried to find one like it.  She always put cotton snow underneath, and it was usually under the tree along side the train set.

But we must always remember----  "Jesus Is The Reason For The Season"

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas has become the most fun since we've had grandchildren.  Maddie has always been a ham, and Grandma has probably had too much wine.

One year, Scott finally got his Red Rider BB Gun, and Grandpa got his Benelli.

In 1956, I got a baby sister---Darlene!  I got to play Mommy with a REAL DOLL!

It was a real blessing to me when Duane and I got married and these very special people were added to my family, his son Scott, wife Kim and their two darling daughters Valerie and Amanda.

                                  What more can you say about Heather's reaction, but WOW?

Poor Adam, however, is overwhelmed.  Gee, and he got the very same present Reese got last Christmas.  Some things never change.

                      This year a very special angel arrived, and performed a ballet for us.

                                               And, the littlest angel is saved for last.......

I'M SO THANKFUL

This Thanksgiving was one of the best I've ever had.  We had so much fun, the food turned out great, and everyone pitched in, and made it very special.

Since we had a crowd, we set up a couple of fold up tables so that we could all sit together.  My little helper, Maddie came over the day before and set this table for us.

The next day, she brought little pumpkin place settings, made with felt and a cinnamon stick.  They were so fragrant.  Making the place settings is her tradition, and I have several from year's past.

 

My plan was to take a group photo like we did last year, and came up with the idea to have each family hold one of these snowmen who say "Families are Forever, because Love Never Melts.

 

 

So happy the photo turned out so well.  Reesie wasn't too thrilled about getting his picture taken, but that made it all the cuter.

 

 

Such a little boy---he would rather play with lizards and alligators.

 

 

But, our girls are never camera shy.  They are each beautiful inside and out.

 

 

Scott and Adam got to carve the turkeys, and from the looks of it, had a ball doing it. 

 

 

Maddie also helped with the Thanksgiving Thankful Tree that we made.  Each person designed a leaf for the tree and wrote on the back what they were thankful for.  It was so inspirational!  I truly am blessed, and I'm so Thankful for such a wonderful day!

 

 

 

 

 

Anniversary Weekend

"Fairy tales can come true....."  It happened to us on November 4, 2000 when we got married.

Yes, it's been twelve years, and seems like yesterday.  We usually don't do anything special for our anniversary, we are just happy to be together.  However, this year, we thought it was time to celebrate once again.

 

So, we headed to Santa Barbara for some fun in the sun.  Duane took this photo of me at Stearn's Wharf, a long pier with gorgeous views, trendy restaurants, and lots of wind.

 

 

Duane on the pier, with picturesque mountains in the background.

 

Our good friends Paul and Jeannie joined us a few hours later, and we had dinner at a great beach restaurant called the Fish House.  The seafood was delicious.

 

How can you beat lobster, oysters, and crab?

 

One of the highlights of our trip was dinner at the Coldsprings Tavern off of San Marcos Pass.  This is a four star restaurant (believe it or not) and extremely rustic.  It used to be an old stagecoach stop.

 

 

We had unusual entrees such as venison, elk and ravioli with chocolate cream sauce, all simply delicious.  The crowd you see at Coldsprings is eclectic, to say the least, with hippies from the 60's, motorcyclists, and there was even a bachelorette party going on.

 

 

Of course we had to visit the Santa Barbara Mission.  Paul and Duane got into the swing of it.

 

 

We spent the last morning on the beach.  Look at that gorgeous blue sky!  Happy Anniversary Honey, it's been a great 12 years!

 

 

 

 

 

Time To Pause and Say Thanks

I don't think we give Thanksgiving enough credit.  It comes between two hectic holidays----Halloween and Christmas, and as far as I'm concerned the stores and media treat them alike.  Now we don't only have Christmas lights, we have Halloween lights, there are Christmas trees, and there are goblin trees with all sorts of icky doo dads on them.  Both have lots to do with candy and commercialism.  Of course Christmas is a sacred time, and may be the only day of the year some people go to church.  But then there is Halloween honoring the dead........I guess......

Thanksgiving gives us a breather.  There may be lots of food preparation, but it is an easier, more fulfilling atmosphere.  There aren't endless parties, just one big dinner, and it's usually celebrated with those that you love most.  The theme is refreshing too----give thanks for all of your blessings.

 

 

Personally, I'm most thankful for my husband, my kids and of course these two darlings, Maddie and Reese.  They have enriched my life 100 fold.

A wonderful thing happened to me one year.  I met my husband, Duane, and along with him came these four wonderful people----his son Scott, wife Kim and granddaughters Amanda and Valerie.  I can't give enough thanks for having them in my life.

And then there are these great ladies who have been so good to me over the years.  My sister Darlene, Cousins Barbara and Mary Ann who are also like sisters.  I love them more each year.

But there is another thing that makes Thanksgiving special to me----My Birthday!  It falls on or near Thanksgiving each year, and therefore everyone remembers it!  How lucky is that???

Cherished Ceramic

 

Decorating for holidays has always been a passion with me, as it is now with my daughter, Heather.

When she was about 12, she hand painted this ceramic, and it has always been one of my favorite decorations.  The attention to detail is perfect.  I was happy to once again bring it out this year for Halloween.  Thanks Heather!

 

 

Cousins

Like most people, I have dozens of cousins.   Some you grow up with, some you can't stand, and some are always there for you.

These three ladies are sisters.  On the left is my Aunt Tillie, in the middle is my Aunt Jo, and then my Mom.

They were always very close and they all had daughters that were also close.  When they all lived in Chicago, they visited each other as much as possible, and I remember always feeling very happy and secure around them.

MaryAnn is Aunt Tillie's daughter.  She spent a lot of time with us, and was also my babysitter when I was little.  We always had so much fun together, and now we are like sisters.

Here's a photo of my Grandmother, Augusta (in the middle) with my Uncle Rick on the left, my Aunt Tillie next to Rick, my Mom next to Grandma, then Aunt Jo.  The little girl in front who looks a lot like Shirley Temple is Aunt Jo's daughter, Barbara.  We were also very close as we were growing up, and still are.  She's like another sister.

MaryAnn had two daughters, Carol and Chris on the left. I am in the middle and next to me is MaryAnn, then my daughter, Heather.  The little ones in front are Carol's daughters,Alicia and Lizzy, on either end, and Amanda in the middle who is Chris' daughter.

We can't forget my son, Adam, shown here with Amanda once again, and her parents Chris and Jim in the background.  If you look closely you will also see my husband, Duane, and my sister and brother-in-law behind Chris and Jim.

My sister has a daughter, Chantelle and here she is with Heather when we were visiting my Mom one summer.

No one was happier than I was to have gained two granddaughters Valerie and Amanda, and here they are with their cousin, Maddie.