Thanksgiving Round 2 ...

We celebrated Thanksgiving with my family on

the Saturday after Thanksgiving

there are 26 of us!!

my parents

4 siblings + 3 in-laws

7 nieces

2 nephew

3 nephew in-laws

5 great grandbabies

and we all live in this area

how blessed are we!!

and we have so much fun together

This year my niece Aimee and her husband Alex hosted

our family gathering.

they just moved in to their new house end of the summer

and wow, it is so grand. We are all so proud of them for

all of their hard work and now living in the house of their dreams! And it was great because it is so big, it never felt

crowded with all of us there. They are hosting Christmas too

so should be lots of fun!

probably beer talk below......



my brother-in-law below carving the turkey....he always gets this job!

 

 my brother and 2 of my beautiful nieces

 

 I know the pic below is weird with that strange reflection of a light on Jake's neck but I just loved the look that him and Declan have....

My Mom and my daughter Jacquelyn ..... so beautiful

My niece Mallory.....so pretty!

 I love the fireplace in their new house

And I really love this sofa in their living room. The colors are all off due to the lighting. The sofa is actually an offwhite and the woodwork around the fireplace and all of the trim is white too. Maybe at Christmas I can get some better pictures ... haha

the dining room

the chairs were purchased at auction and are from the Waldorf in NYC....so cool

 My mom and I

Mom and Maddox

 a bunch of the cousins having dinner together

My other beautiful daughter Nicole and Tyler. They will be welcoming our newest grandson in about 5 weeks, John Thomas

 

 

later........ 

Thanksgiving Round 1 ....

Thanksgiving is my second favorite holiday, next to Christmas

having all of the family over

cooking and eating together

it's just the best

Besides all of our kids and grandkids, my daughters

mother and father in-laws were over for dinner

our menu was........

Turkey
Ham

gravy

rolls

mashed potatoes

roasted potatoes

sweet potato casserole

3 bean salad
mac and cheese

broccoli and cauliflower salad

garden salad

dressing

we had lots of fun and I really wish I had a bunch of pictures to share

I made sure my camera was charged and my memory card clear

put the camera in the kitchen and then was totally

bad about picking it up
here's a few pictures....

precious Declan Liam



below is Jake's famous mac and cheese ready to go in the oven

 

now when you want a picture of Maddox, he has to do a silly pose....so funny

what a sweet little family.....

 

later..........

Traditions ......

Family traditions are so important

they are our history and become part of our roots

and some of the best and most fun traditions

are the ones we create at Christmas time

 

Of course we have some of the ones that most families have

Christmas eve pj's, can't go into the den until Mom and Dad are awake

watch certain movies, make Christmas goodies.....

 

And I have often wondered if I did enough traditions

I sure hoped so!

 

I learned last year don't change the tradition of

"Breakfast Before" casserole.....a few let me know that

I shouldn't be changing that one

 

the other day Jacquelyn and I were talking about something

and I don't even know how we got on the subject of traditions

but Jacquelyn told me it's the little ones that mean so much

to her. I asked her what and she said you know how on

Christmas morning we get to drink orange juice

out of the "fancy" glasses.

I just loved hearing that........so it wasn't any of the big things I

was doing with my kids, it was the little things that meant so much

to them. So create traditions for your family...it's important,

it means something to them as they become adults......I'm now enjoying watching my kids create their own traditions!

 

 

So here's to "fancy" glasses!

 

 

later.....

My Christmas rant ....

This is my Christmas rant

and I'll never rant about it again

but......

sometimes I just get frustrated over a couple of things about Christmas

first off, it is Jesus' birthday

that is what Christians are celebrating

if it wasn't for that, there would be no Christmas

we would all work on Dec 25th

and please, I realize that the 25th is not the "actual" date

but that is what we are celebrating

so technically, if you are not a Christian, you shouldn't celebrate

Jesus' birthday

I am a Christian

I believe in Jesus Christ

I believe in heaven

I know that one day, when my old body gives out

I will join Jesus in heaven

I try to live as a Christian and I'm sure most of the time I fail

but I still try

and I know Jesus still loves me

and every single morning when I wake up, I thank him for another day

and every evening when I go to bed, I say thank you again

 

and during Christmas, I celebrate his birth

and I shower my family in gifts out of love

I get very aggravated at the small minority that is offended by

someone saying Merry Christmas.....excuse me, that is what it is!

I'm not going to say Happy Holidays because it's Christmas, so that's what I say. I'm not offended by other religions celebrations so don't be offended

by mine!

 

second......I get tired of people complaining about the "commercialism"

of Christmas. You know, it's as commercial as you choose to make it!

There's absolutely nothing wrong with decorations going up early

they are beautiful

they make people smile

for some reason people are nicer, happier during the Christmas holiday

so if we can stretch that happiness into 2 months, 2 1/2 months

then I think that is great....quit complaining

 

third....just quit complaining about everything!!

life is short, enjoy your very limited time here

if you've ever lost anyone close to you at a young age, you should

understand this. Cherish every moment that you

are alive.

look on the bright side of things

be happy....and remember, no one is responsible

for your happiness but you!

 

I not only cherish every day I have but I especially cherish

Christmas time. It is a celebration of the birth of our Lord

how can it not be wonderful

soak in that love......it's all around you

 

ok, I'm done

 

later.....