Merry Christmas-Happy Birthday Jesus

Today is a so full of emotions. Memories of holidays paste with family that are no longer here. It brings both smiles and tears. 33 years ago my Heavenly Father called my earthly father home. While it is sad, It took me a long time to feel it is also an honor to be called home on such a special day. The day we celebrate the birth of Jesus is also the day we take a moment to remember a very special man. My daddy.

And this year a dear friend's daddy also was called home. I pray for comfort to that family and hope they too can see the honor our heavenly Father has given them.

This day also holds such joy. Joy of family and friends sharing time together.

Generations growing...

My babies and grandbabies made the day so wonderful.

 

Grandbabies growing so fast!

Traditions: baking cooking for Santa

A story before bed:

Christmas morning breakfast: WAFFLES!!

It warms my heart to see the little one getting to know one another.

And the big ones showing their love.

As another year comes to an end and a new year begins, there is hope for all the happiness that God has to give. Being thankful for what I have and the dream of the future.

In God, all things are possible.

Special

Before Christmas, a special couple of days with Chele and sweet Amy. Shopping, eating out, the museum, and even a hotel night! Fun Fun Fun

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So Thankful for my Blessings

Thanksgiving began as a celebration of thanks and I hold that traditions close to my heart. I think everyone should. I feel that in many ways, society as lost sight of that. This is my opinion only, but perhaps stores should be closed the entire day in order for families to keep focused on the "thankful" part of the holiday. Shopping can wait till Friday. There I said it! How do you feel?

As for me and mine, there was joy and thankfulness all around.

A day was spent with extended family....

And a day with my kids and their kids. What a total joy.

 Someone is always goofing off in the picture!

Or Yogi is photo bombing!

 The oldest and youngest pulled the wishbone.

 This year the oldest won!

Board games are always fun.

The unconditional love from my children have given me wings. I am so blessed and truly thankful. I thank God every day for it.

This N That

In July my very dear friend and companion, Sadie, passed away.

 She was the best dog every.
 Never demanding and always there for me. It was a very difficult loss. She was there all through John's passing and in the dark days after. She was with me in the wee hours of the night when nobody else was there. I thank her and will miss her always. I have had many dogs in my life and each loss is so hard to take, but I rather have loved and lost than never loved at all.

With that said, meet Truvy.

Her name comes from Steel Magnolias-strong and sweet. She is my first rescue dog. We're calling her a terrier mix.
She needed me and I guess I needed her.

She is Amy's buddy.

Bear is trying to tolerate her.

Yogi wants to play and has to be gentle. But then, Yogi is a gentle giant.

Summer came and went and then Halloween.

Amy is the Queen of Hearts. :)

Her first face painting

 

The bigger grandkids had a fun filled evening

 trick or treating

 

 

Now we are full into Fall and even had freezing temps for the past two nights. That's pretty early for Texas. I'm getting the urge to bake and create my Thanksgiving menu. Banana bread is in the oven right now!

 

Happy Fall everyone. 

 

October in Pennsylvania

It began with a drive to the big city-Dallas. Met up with my YaYas for dinner. After a great evening catching up and eating at our favorite Chinese restaurant, we set the alarm for EARLY to catch a flight to Washington National airport in DC.

Since we are all retirees of American Airlines, we were on stand by for the flight. It's always a toss up as to whether we will actually get on the flight we chose. It was so tight, but we made it! A good sign for the beginning of our trip. We didn't get to sit together but no worries. We kept an eye on each other and relaxed for the 3 hour flight.

We landed to a dreary, wet day in DC. Us Texans haven't seen much rain, so it was kinda nice.
After getting our fancy rental car, we set the GPS and headed for Pennsylvania. First we drove by the White House and Washington Monument.

 Wow it was so incredible to think of the history where we were. We have already decided to make another trip and stay there to see all of the museums and history. So this trip we headed out of DC and toward PA. I believe they have Dallas/Fort Worth beat on traffic. It was CRAZY. But the countryside was so beautiful, we didn't mind. It took a while as we headed for Amish country.

It was a wonderful drive and we arrived at a family member's home just in time for a wonderful supper.

The next morning we began our drive to Lancaster County but first we stopped at a Market Place in York. Grocery shopping is different up north!

The architecture was so beautiful. Such personality. I have a thing for old churches and there were plenty around. Some dating back to the 1700's.

Lunch at a 1950's soda shop. It hasn't changed. So full of character and the food was very good. Pennsylvania Dutch. I had bean with ham soup. We have there in the south too! YUMMM

Murals on the side of old buildings was common.

Then the adventure expanded to Lancaster County. Odd name for a town, don't you think?

Bring on the SHOPPING!

The 3 YaYas. BFFs FOREVER

Since the Amish do not want to be photographed, I managed to get the horse. They were so beautiful.

 It is said, where the windmills are is where the Amish live. So I kept look out for the windmills...and I LOVE WINDMILLS!

Trees were changing and it was so colorful. So different from Texas.

Tobacco is a large crop there. Check out the tobacco drying in the special barn

Along the way we found a railroad museum

The view from where we stayed was just breathtaking. Rolling hills and such calm beauty.

I want to thank Cousin Chrissy for her hospitality. She was the BEST private tour guide ever and such a delight to be with.