Merry Christmas

Oh what a day, what a perfect day. Love when that happens! The rain held off and the kids here were even able to go swimming. Unfortunately, Jeni is not in my group photo here because she was setting up the camera. I do hope to get one from the others that were taken and have everyone in the photo. :)

The twins, Jake and Alex, are the new additions to the family and they are absolutely precious and gorgeous. Bill and I met Todd, Tom's brother and his wife, Erika (parents of the gorgeous er..handsome twins!). They have traveling with babies down to a science with pac n plays and portable high chairs, etc. They make it seem flawless, both parents working in tandem to care for the little ones. It was amazing (and tiring) just watching them and the system they have obviously developed for taking care of Jake and Alex. I enjoyed getting to know them so much and hope to see more of them in the future because they don't live too far from our home in NC.

Pam (Tom's sister) came with two of her children, Marc and Leah. The hard part, Seth, their son, is not doing well and so Greg, Pam's husband, stayed home with him while Pam got a bit of time away. It was a much needed respite I am sure. Our prayers and thoughts go out to them as they try to find a treatment for Seth that will work and thathe will get well again. We missed you Greg and Seth.

Jeni and Tom came in Jeni's new car. They are enjoying that car so much. Jeni's car needed so many repairs. She had a hard time giving it up because it was Brian's car but Bill worked out a way to make it easier on her.
Leah kept waiting for Jeni to arrive and Jeni spent time with her and her new Christmas toy (which I've forgotten the name of now but Jeni said it can be called a death trap. LOL That's what I used to call my kids go carts and skate board). It's cute to watch them together and watching Jeni worrying over Leah trying to master her skateboard-type toy. She was getting pretty good on it by the time she left tonight.

Wayne, Yamelis, and GJ were here and we had a little time for one on one talk when everyone left last night. GJ has a good life right now with the military and he does seem more grown up than before he left for basic. He and a girl here are serious and we talked a lot about that. I hope he doesn't get TOO serious yet. Next year I think he will be in NC stationed at Fort Brag. We just have to appreciate the time he is with us because we don't know when he'll be here for Christmas. This was a good year all around though having him home. His mom is just beaming and both are so proud of him.

We had more than enough to eat, OMG, the desserts were incredible. We had good luck cake and Italian Love Cake (recipe given to me by my Italian friend, Jeannette) that everyone got a taste of those so that good luck and love will be coming up in 2009. LOL Now that I think about it most of my recipes come from my friends. I made Jessie's cranberry salad and Fran's make ahead mashed potatoes. One curious little dessert that I enjoyed was mice (yep, not a creature was stirring). They are made with a maraschino cherry for the rump and tail, a candy kiss for the mouth, the whole thing covered in chocolate, and two almonds for ears. They piped on two eyes and a Santa hat and they were so cute and I will just have to make some for myself next year and add them to my cookie tray. Pam brought a dessert to die for, chocolaty and whipped cream. I will get the recipe for sure. Yum.

People were raving about Wayne and Yamelis' ham. It's a black forest ham and it was so good. Even the twins were eating it up!

Jeni and Tom brought two kinds of dressing, one with cranberries and they were yummy. Everything turned out really good. Bill grilled one turkey and deep fried another. I really couldn't tell much difference so opted for the grilled thinking it might be healthier. After finishing dinner I just thought "why bother thinking healthy on a day like today."
Alan and Kay brought an incredible pineapple dish, hot, sweet, that they always serve with ham. It was a big hit and I forgot to ask for that recipe as well. I'm going to have to start a book of recipes like these and everyone will think I'm such a good cook! LOL The only problem, if there was one, is that there was just too much food but that's not really news. We had take-out for anyone that wanted to fix their plates.

We played a game for the gift exchange. The person whose number is called can either choose a new gift to open from the gifts everyone brings or they can "steal" one from anyone who has already opened a gift. The game got lively and was so much fun. Kay heard of a new game for next year where a story is read and you pass the gift to your left every time "left" is mentioned in the story. When the story is over, you get the gift that is with you then. Sounds like fun but this was so much fun this year.

Alan and Kay are Tom's mom and his step-dad. They are the greatest people and already such good friends. Bill and I are so glad that we like them so much. I know that's not always the case for in-laws, but these people are just wonderful and we look forward to getting to know them better. They are so congenial, easy to talk to, and just wonderfully loving parents and grandparents. They are ball room dancers, too! They teach dancing even on cruises and they are scheduled to go on one of those cruises in June. They invited us to come along but with my bum knees there's not a chance right now. They will give lessons twice a day on the cruise and assure Bill and me that they can teach us to dance. Well, they never dealt with such an avid non-dancer as I am before I am certain! BUT, Alan said he'd show me how and he did. He showed me some steps and I thought I would die because I really did feel like I was dancing. I was yelling at Bill to come and see me because I knew he wouldn't believe it.LOL Thankfully, Pam got a photo of me to prove it. But then Alan said I wasn't dancing yet, those were just steps. Dang, don't you just hate when that happens. He did show me more and though I couldn't quite stop looking at my feet I really WAS dancing the waltz in a few minutes. I think these people COULD teach us to dance! I am so excited about it and have been thinking about it since then. That would be so neat if Bill and I could learn to dance. I'm really looking forward to learning and have promised myself now to get some new knees so I can keep up with our new friends. J

I'm so thankful Jeni and Tom brought these people into our lives. I had such a good feeling at days end. Not only full to the gills with food, but also full of the joy that comes with being surrounded by family. I just wanted it to last forever. Maybe it just will!
Merry Christmas to all of you who read this and may you be blessed in 2009.

Christmas Eve

Bill and I went to the Y this morning and then had breakfast before he went to the car lot and I went home to cook and bake and get the house ready for Christmas. Whew, what a tiring day but I got everything on my list done and now, hopefully, I can relax with our family and friends tomorrow. Bill is putting on two turkeys, one fried and one on the grill early morning tomorrow. I am actually still baking cookies but am almost done with that as well.
Bill and I opened our gifts to each other tonight and it was special and really nice. He got me a watch and I got him clothes. Its hard after 38 years to think of gifts and I know a lot of people don't exchange gifts when they have been married a long time, but we like to have something to give each other.
I have thought often today of all the children who wait in anticipation of what tomorrow morning will bring. I am reminded of the joy this season brings.
Merry Christmas eve.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

It felt like Christmas today.
I know a woman who was hurt badly in a freak accident. A Plant City sheriff was giving a demonstration to the Chamber of Commerce's group of business people. He was on a motorcyle showing how the radar is used. The Sheriff's deputy lost control of the motorcycle and hit the woman I know, Lynn, and cut all the tissue away from her leg from knee to ankle. She will be fine but the recouperation is going to be a long one. She just got home from the nursing home where she was getting rehab. She is walking a bit now and things are better but she needs help on her day to day living. A bunch of us volunteered(after she asked for help- and we are thankful she asked)to come by on certain days of the week to help out. My day was yesterday 12-2 and Fridays at the same time. I took her lunch and cleaned the house up and got all her things that she would need around her there.I felt like I had done something worthwhile to start off this day. The first thing good was to go to the Y to work out, the second to help Lynn.
Then at 5pm my Jeni and Tom came and we had sandwiches and celebrated our Christmas together. We had a wonderful evening. Jeni and Tom got us some thoughtful and creative gifts and I think they liked the ones we got them. Well, I know they did. It was wonderful having them to ourselves for a few hours this night. Everything is going so good for them now. Its a joy just to be around them.
My best gift was a photo of Tom and Jeni. I had been asking for a couple years now so I was really glad to finally hold one in my hands. Lexi was really interested in the gift opening and all the wrapping. Her t-shirt says "Go ahead and put me on the naughty list."
It was a wonderful day.

December 23, 2008

It was great seeing Guillermo again. His hair is growing out a little bit. He definitely is looking military though. LOL He is going to tech school in VA right now and will return there January 1^st. He will be there a couple more weeks before going to Georgia for further training, jumping out of planes! YIKES. Then he will be stationed in Ft. Bragg, NC for a while for his first duty station. That's pretty neat because our mountain place is in NC so we won't be too far from there. He seems different, more grown up and sure of himself already.

We ate pizza and watched a Christmas show on TV. I made a peanut butter fudge bar dessert that was awful so this pre-Christmas saved me from making that on Christmas day. LOL

It was hard to get Bill and GJ off the Wii upstairs. I'm really glad I took a chance that Bill would like this game because it's turned into a real hit.

Christmas Begins

Christmas has already come to our house. Yesterday we took Michael, our nephew, out to dinner at Fred's Market in Lakeland, and then we came home. Bill and he were going to the car show in Plant City but we had a few gifts for him to open here. We are having a simplified Christmas this year. We have decided that everyone coming for Christmas would bring a $25 gift and we'd play a game and they would choose the gift they were going to take home. That would be the extent of Christmas, with the exception of Tom's nieces and nephews who will be here. What a load this will take off everyone as far as gift buying is concerned. It sure was a load off for us. However, since Michael is by himself this season, we wanted to get him something. The other exception this year is Wayne and Yamelis and Guillermo who we did exchange gifts each year since Yamelis came here about 4 years ago. This year we finally decided to only get each other only two gifts and then next year..nothing. (Sometimes you have to wean yourself from gift giving one step at a time! LOL)

So, we had our Christmas with Michael last night, then we will celebrate our Christmas with Wayne, Yamelis, and Guillermo Monday night. Tuesday night Jeni and Tom and we will exchange our gifts (lovingly held down to 2 gifts each this year..very hard to do. J). Then we will have Christmas Eve to cook and get ready for Christmas day. Woo-hoo. It's such a busy and exciting time of year.

Hearing from so many of my friends who are battling the dreary weather up north; trying to get to their families for the holidays, I feel very blessed this year to be in Florida this year. I just hope that it's not too hot! I hope for cold enough to run the fireplace but, honestly, more than a few times we have set the AC down to a colder temp so we could have our fire place. LOL

Visit with a Donkey

On the way to Mike and June's house the other day, we passed by this field where a donkey was by a fence so, we stopped. He had some personality. Here are a few pictures of the donkey and Bill.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

It's Jeni's official birthday today so Bill and I called her with our rendition of Happy Birthday.
Today was party day for Hanna, my Little Sister. She must have called me ten times the last few days to talk. I could feel her excitement as Sunday arrived and she called me twice more before the 11:30 pick up time came. She said she was afraid I would forget what time it was. LOL
Josh, her brother, went with us because his Big Brother, who is in the Air Force at McDill, wasn’t able to go. It turned out to be an enjoyable day for all of us.
We picked them up too early (guess we got caught up in her excitementLOL) and so we drove a round to waste 20 minutes. We ended up taking them to the oldest cemetery in the county, with tombstones from the 1700’s. We told them whomever located the oldest headstone would be the winner. They began to read the headstones and got interested in some of the writings as they looked for the oldest. Josh would shout out that he found a World War II vet’s stone and read it to us. We found a lot of interesting history and Bill won the contest, finding a stone from 1800. We didn’t have time to look for the 1700’s. LOL
Onward to the American Legion Hall and the Vet’s there who host the party each year.
We had pizza and cookies for lunch and then they opened their gifts. Hanna got a $50 gift certificate from
Wal-Mart and Josh got a game to play on his computer. Then Santa came and handed out candy. Santa is a very good one. Natural beard and natural looks like the jolly old fellow. I appreciate what these Vet’s do each year for all these kids. They thanked us, the Big Brothers and Big Sisters for doing what we do and I wanted to say “Right Back Atcha”. I will get with Hanna next week when we wrap the gifts she chose for her family and we will write a Thank You card.