A Family's Journey

My son-in-law, John, lost his dear Stepmother just before Christmas and I had the  privilege of seeing  him and his whole family share this beloved woman's journey as she passed from this life. John helped his Dad to care for his wife as her disease made living more and more difficult for her. John's twin was also so helpful as was Tori who cleaned their house numerous times so that his Dad could give his wife the hands-on care that she needed. I was so impressed with the on-going dedication that was manifest in this family. Time was taken off from work to give the help which was absolutely needed.
The family came together to plan her beautiful Memorial Service with a candlelit portion, during which some of us prayed and others told stories of her wonderful life. After the service, we shared a meal at their home that John's Dad had cooked from scratch. It was very moving to see how much this woman was loved by her family and how much of an impact she had made on them becoming the close and loving family that I was witnessing. I saw Love In Action and I was very proud of John and Tori and all that they had done during this special woman's transition from life to death.

Cookie Decorating

The most exciting thing that I did throughout the Christmas season was to decorate cookies at Holly's house at the lovely party she gave for that purpose.

She invited all the children and their moms and dads to her house the Sunday before Christmas.

She had hand decorated aprons,

delicious refreshments,

and 30 DOZEN prebaked sugar cookies awaiting us.

She mixed up bowls full of confectioners sugar with meringue,

to which bright dyes were added and then placed into decorating bags.

Every kind of Holiday sprinkle was available and set out in double containers, one for each decorating station.

We donned festive aprons and chef hats and got to work decorating as many cookies as we could.

Everyone had such a pleasant and relaxing time! I have never seen anything like this party before. Holly said that she had purchased almost thirty pounds of butter for her holiday baking. This whole experience put me right into the Christmas Spirit, like nothing else had!

I so appreciated Holly's generosity in giving to me the three dozen cookies I decorated to take to a very special dinner I was attending immediately after the party. They were such thick sugar cookies and the sweet frosting made them so tasty- a true meal in themselves. I made many meals of them throughout the next week! Thank you, Holly, for such a delightful time!

Winter Concert

John loves choir! His Winter Concert was quite a treat. We were pleasantly surprised when we heard songs in Church Latin, praising God, as well as more secular tunes from the movie Frozen. These kids could sing and were well directed.

Now We Are Six

Gentleman celebrated his sixth birthday in a very understated way which is very typical for us. That doesn't mean that we aren't amazed at how fast the time has gone, nor does it diminish how much health and happiness we wish this sweet boy in the coming year!

Hunger Games House Party

Our cousin A. planned for herself a Birthday Party that was exceptional in every way. The invitation set the tone and we looked forward to a big get together.

Apparently, I was much too busy having fun to take any pictures of the many entertainments we experienced.
26 family members went to Aunt Cecilia and Uncle Jeff's house and 23 of us spent the night! We had terrific food, Buffalo Chicken Dip, Chili and Meatballs with three ice cream cakes for dessert. The kids played inside and outside. This party was for all age groups- Adults, teen-agers, the girls and the little kids all had a great time. We watched a double feature of the Hunger games and Catching Fire in the living room. The group was very animated with the suspense of the movies.
At one point, my sisters and I realized that we are the Great-Aunts! We are no longer the young moms but we are the older generation! Shout out to you, great ladies-our Mom and Aunt Hannah!
Breakfast was a blast with donuts brought in by Dan and Wendy. The whole fantastic party was about 24 hours long, but the memories will last forever! Many Thanks for the wonderful hospitality!

Arm Knitting

Natalie's friends, Sarah and Marissa came over with yarn to try a new craft- Arm Knitting!

Using You Tube as a guide, and their arms for knitting needles, they casted on stitches, in preparation for making a scarf for each of them.

Just like everything else, this skill is harder than it looks!

While Sarah and Marissa were going to town on their scarves,

Natalie was still trying to cast on!

I loved that these ladies were spending their time together crafting!

We all had some laughs together watching the process!

Thanksgiving Teamwork

The aluminum foil keeping the food warm hides the abundance of a Thanksgiving meal that served 61 people this year.

3 inches of wet, melting snow impacted our day. Four new babies and two young toddlers had six sets of young parents very busy packing not only warm, outdoor clothing with a change for later, but also food for the meal!

Thank God for teamwork! Steve sliced to perfection two turkeys and a ham. Aunt Nancy organized the reheating of casserole dishes and the overall flow of getting this banquet onto the table.

I peeled 15 pounds of potatoes which Jackie mashed and expertly seasoned. She taught me the difference between mashed and whipped potatoes. We agreed, mashed are better!

The walkers, cold and wet from the snow, returned to these incredible Deviled Eggs, taken to a whole new level with crisp bacon topping each! Holly treated us all to trays full of fresh fruit, vegetables and cheese and crackers before the Walk.

The turkeys and hams were so moist and delicious! The young mothers supplied a number of side dishes.

The Turkey Bowl was played in the snow,

and The Cheetah Club, with the young cheetahs, built a snowman.

One of my favorite parts of the day is when all the work of serving and clean -up is done and the ladies can sit and visit. Although the energy of the day was spent mostly in taking care of little family members and the logistics of serving up a feast, we had a chance to pause as a family, and to give thanks to Almighty God for our many blessings, most especially-each other.

Guys and Gals

We have had so much fun showcasing the ladies with their new babies.
On Thanksgiving Day,  we were able to capture a photo of all the new Dads with their little baby girls!
These babies are cousins and we pray that as they grow, they get along as well as their Dads do!

Jenga

I love to see kids playing games. This game is called Jenga.

The idea is to build a tower and then each player takes a turn removing one block at a time without causing the tower to collapse.

The cousins celebrate success!

Take No Hostages

When Sam put handcuffs on Luke, he didn't realize that the keys were not in his room. Larry had borrowed his car and the keys were on that ring.  

Sam had to go get them but I refused to let Luke ride along in the truck all handcuffed up! To pass the time and to take his mind off his uncomfortable predicament, he and John played a game. Look at how he handles his controller!

I think it was about an hour all told that he was stuck!

Next on the schedule was to give Sam a Swirlie. That is to say, stick his head in the toilet and flush!

Save My Life by Sidewalk Prophets

Chimney Fire

Tori called to tell me that her house was on fire and that four engines were there to put it out! This was most upsetting for a few hours but the damage was minimal and it was not their fault. The house was able to be occupied that afternoon, and had very little smoke residue. I played Command Central, updating the family by text message.
I guess Tori and John might do well to adapt our motto,
"Never a Dull Moment".

Lost and Found

John came over to chop firewood and unfortunately lost his hunting knife. We each took different turns trying to find the open bladed knife in the wood pile so that 1) he could have it back and 2) so that no one would get hurt on it.

Finally, he found it himself  by working with John and Allyson to move the whole wood pile.
Yay!
They then took turns throwing the knife into nearby stumps and alas! It broke into two pieces!

Little Cuties

I brought Handsome two little clementine oranges in the hopes that he could peel them himself.

Greg and I discussed the secret to the universe while visiting, and he showed me the Christmas projects he is working on in his woodshop.

Painting on a Deadline

Our Collegetown folks had finished most of the work on the basement, and the carpet was due to be installed on a Tuesday. Juby and I took the challenge to travel up to help the ladies get the whole basement painted in one week-end!

Chelsea has painted many times in the past and was a terrific team leader for this project. The walls had already been prepped with many layers of drywall mud and sanded, but there were still more spots to treat in this way before we could paint. That and the taping were done first.

The fresh drywall had to be primed on the ceiling and the walls. Then painted with two coats of color.

Juby was a huge help and painted along with the rest of us,

and helped a little with Amiable.

Natalie's friends, Justin and Marissa came over on Friday night and did a great deal of painting. Their help was invaluable in getting this project completed on time!

The scope of this home improvement included painting a bedroom, bathroom, family room and three hallways, including the trim.

Between coats of paint we allowed for drying time while watching Property Brothers on NetFlix. All together, we watched about seven episodes throughout the weekend and enjoyed every one! Talk about some motivation to get the house looking sharp!

Jeff planned to pull up all the old carpet and take it to the dump on Monday after he returned home.
We remembered to tape a trash bag over his nice projector before we got too far into things!

It was certainly worth the drive to see my newest granddaughter again, dressed for success.

The weekend consisted of a lot of hard work but it was great fun and I learned how to paint! There is probably no reason why I can't paint my own basement with some help from the family after the Holidays.