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.....

Christmas lights ....

I used to only put candles in the window and

a wreath on the front and back door

that was all I ever did on the outside even though

Johnny would want to cover the house in lights

Anything else was a bit tacky to me

Then slowly, I let Johnny put some lights in a tree or two

Then one day things changed ... our children gave us grandchildren!

And the "Clarke Griswold" that has been in Johnny begging

to come out was finally unleashed!!

He has icicles hanging from the shed and the garage

he has lined the deck in multi-colored icicles that the colors

change through a constant cycle

The fence is lined with white LED lights

all of the bushes in the front have blue and white lights, LED

there are 2 little trees on each side of the front door with

white lights and then 3 little live spruces with mini lights

and then, to top it all off, a spot light shining on the front door

that is draped in greenery!

whew......

I tried to take some pictures tonight, they didn't come out very

good. I'll try another night but here ya go........

And I know it's early to put everything up but that's what we like

It takes us a little more than a week to do the inside and outside

I used to wait until Thanksgiving weekend and then ended up

spending the entire holiday weekend working on the decorations.

When I would have rather been spending time with

family and shopping.

and here's my other thought.....to me, November and December is

the holidays. And it's my favorite time of the year so I want to enjoy it as long as possible. Because once Christmas is over, I'm ready to clean up

and be ready to start the New Year in a clean house!! haha......

and the look on my grandchildren's face is totally worth

all of the work......they love it.

later.....