Vaneks Christmas Party

The Vaneks have a Christmas party each year
I know they spend so much time decorating
Because their home looks like a fairy tale of
Snowflakes and Santa, reindeers and many
Themed Christmas trees. Food is on every
table and counter in every room and the bar
is well supplied too. It amazes me to think
of what it takes to put on a party like this
each holiday season. I am just thankful
we are invited.

One of the fun events at the party is gift
Exchange. They play a game that makes
The time lots of fun and it gets pretty
Rowdy out by the pool where the exchange
Happens. There’s always a favorite gift
Item that makes its rounds and it’s
Impossible to guess what that gift will
Be. This year everyone was taking a Sponge
Bob Snuggly. LOL

 Frank Vanek built
Our home that Jeni and Tom now own.
His wife, Linda, is our title woman at
The car lot. Going to their beautiful
Home really puts us in the Christmas spirit.

Jeni’s Surprise 40th Birthday Party

We really pulled off the surprise! Tom, and two of Jeni’s friends, Jojo and Charlene, and Bill and I planned a surprise party for Jeni’s 40th. We pulled it off. Everyone worked to make it so and Jeni was really surprised. There were 50 people and lots of food, drinks, and a cake that looked good and tasted good, too.
We built a pit fire in the back yard and there was music and dancing and lots of celebrating Jeni’s big 4-0. We had so much fun and Jeni called today and she’s still on cloud 9 she said. I know it’s a birthday she won’t forget.




Susie and Mike, Bill’s brother and sister, came from Texas to attend and some of Tom’s friend’s came from PA, too. Jeni was really surprised to see them and so pleased to see all her family and friends that came.





I’m so thankful for the last forty years we’ve had with Jeni. She has been such a blessing to us from day one. She is my heart. She is beautiful inside and out and that just shines through everything she does. Happy birthday, Jeni!

Kaylee Addison DeLaby

I am a great grandma to Kaylee Addison DeLaby. She is a healthy baby girl who weighed 7lbs. 9 oz. at birth (Nov 30. She is without a doubt the most beautiful baby I have seen.

She is in Tennessee and I am in Florida. I feel this ferocious tug at my heart to get up there to hold her and see her in person. However, common sense is winning out most days. I would have to fly and right now that’s big bucks. I would be able to stay only a few days and that would stink. If I wait until January when all the hoopla here is over, I could take my car and spend what time I wanted to. I’m opting for January but it’s a struggle to wait.

Valerie and Jon (my new grandson-in-law) produced a star. Kaylee is absolutely precious and has so much hair; they put a bow in it when she was born. I can’t get over how perfect she looks. Her little face is so perfect. Her eyebrows look like they’ve been plucked. They look so perfect.

Yes, I am a dotting great grandma that she will call Mimi. I love that name and now will look forward to the day she calls me that.  I know her Mom and Dad are on cloud 9 as well as her Grandma (Gigi), my daughter, Angie. Kaylee looks so much like Angie did. I remember the nurse asked me if they could use Angie as a model to show everyone how to bath their new babies in a class. They said she was so beautiful and had so much hair she would be perfect. She was.  Angie got her first modeling job then the day after she was born. LOL

Hang on to that baby look and smell until January, Kaylee. Your Mimi is on her way!

Thanksgiving 2010

We gathered at Jeni and Tom’s home this year. Tom’s mom and her husband were there. I always look so forward to seeing them when these snowbirds come down in time for Thanksgiving. They are such wonderfully friendly and loving people. It’s a joy just being around them. They are so active in their community. They are ball room dancers and we took a cruise with them and some of the rest of their family. What a fun time that was. We took dancing instruction from them but we are hopeless cases. Still, the camaraderie and fun was still there. We loved each moment of it. Bill and I celebrated our 40th anniversary on that cruise through the Baltic countries. Amazing.


Tom’s sister, Pam, her husband, Greg and their three children were there. Their children have all grown so much through the years we have known them and they shock us in how much they have changed. Seth, their oldest child, has been too sick to attend the last couple of celebration so it was such a great feeling to have him there with us this year. He recently celebrated his 16th birthday. Marc is such a handsome boy and is fun to be around. Leah gets more and more beautiful. She has almost an exotic look (like her Mimi I might add) and she has the personality to match that beauty. Greg and Pam look wonderful but they always do.This year Greg’s mom and dad, Kitty and Jon and his aunt and Uncle Deanna and John were here. They were a delight to get to know and such a warm addition to this family.

Jeni and Tom were awesome hosts and their house and the grounds looked incredible. They have done
so much to the house in this last six months that they have lived there. It looks spectacular and is very warm and inviting.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. Kay, Pam, and Kitty made practically the whole dinner at Pam’s house the day before. Jeni and Tom provided mashed potatoes and many desserts. I made desserts. What a life I lead, huh?

This is the first time I haven’t cooked Thanksgiving with an occasional exception in 40 years. I might miss
it someday, but not this year. It was a delight to just show up with my desserts and get all that joy in return.  The weather was perfect, too.
Oh, I should also say that Bill cooked one of the turkeys outside in the infra-red thingy cooker. It’s harder to tell when it is done that way so he took it out the first time too soon but then it cooked up nicely the second time around. Everything was just perfect.

Happy Birthday Bill! November 10

Bill said he had one of his best birthdays ever. He received cards, phone calls, and three celebrations from family, friends, and employees. When he went to work at the car lot the guys there had a cake for him and gifts. He was able to share cake with customers at they came in that day.
I cooked dinner for him (that was a big shock for him! LOL). I made burritos and a chocolate cake. I gave him a leather jacket he can wear on his Harley. He’s stylin now. 
Then, we went to Jeni and Tom’s house for yet another celebration with ribs
And a cherry cheesecake!! This man had enough cakes this year for sure! Jeni and Tom gave him a bag full of gadgets and tools. He was a happy birthday guy.
While at Jen’s we also went through some Christmas things...the last bit of stuff we needed to go through at the house. That does it, we are officially moved out now for sure. Jeni and Tom let us keep it there until we got some extra time to go through it.
Bill is sixty-three years old now. I’m happy about that because I’m older than he is for four months...now, at least until July, we are the same age. 

Happy Birthday Sweetheart. I love you!!

Mary McBroom and Kevin Davis Wedding

My niece, Mary McBroom, and Kevin Davis were married on the 30th of October. The wedding was at a tractor barn in SC. I was baffled by what kind of place that was to be married in but when we arrived I was pleasantly surprised at the beauty and the wonderful setting of this venue. There were fall flowers, pumpkins, and so many colorful fall decorations. The wedding site was next to a pond that had a waterfall.
Alvin brought his old black Ford truck that was so shiny and pristine and a perfect backdrop for photos. One of the many wonderful things that happened was that Mary and Kevin hired Bonnie McBroom Clinton and her husband, James to photograph the wedding. Bonnie is my father’s brother, Lindy’s, youngest daughter. I had never met her before and it was a delight to finally meet her after talking to her on face book. She and her husband are such genuine and wonderful people .I look forward to spending more time with them. Bonnie seemed like my long lost family BUT the surprising part is that her husband, James, looks so much like dad. My brothers and
I were amazed at the resemblance; even down to some mannerisms. I kidded him that I hugged him so much he started hiding from me. LOL That was really strange for all of us I think but then by the end of the night he was just my cousin (in-law) and I would just see Dad occasionally in him. I think Bonnie and I would be close if we lived nearby. She would be fun to be around and we are so much alike in so many ways...that was another rather eerie thing.
We had so much fun from beginning to end. First just seeing family members and friends we haven’t seen in a while and then the ceremony itself and the reception after was so relaxing and just fun. I even joined in the dancing and I don’t dance. I just couldn’t help myself.
Mary was stunningly beautiful. I was so proud to be her aunt and so glad we could be there for this important day. She is so happy and I hope and pray it will ever be so. She is the last of Alvin and Brenda’s children to get married.

Lisa, Mary’s sister, was nine months pregnant and we did wonder if she would have the baby before the wedding...or even during. She is such a beautiful pregnant woman and though her belly looked ready to pop, she didn’t appear to be uncomfortable at all.
My brothers and sisters in law that were there made it even more fun. Alvin and Brenda, of course, and David and Rita were there, along with Mike and June. Betsey and Tom came along with Marcy and her new (and serious it seems) boyfriend.
Bill and I thought after the wedding that it was so nice of Al and Brenda to share their friends with us. So many of their friends are our friends now but we would never have met them without Al and Brenda. I can’t imagine not knowing Snook and Co, Jerry and Judy, and Cathy to name a few. Then there is Brenda’s family who seems like our family and has for almost 40 years. Susie, her sister, is a hoot and so much fun to be around. They have a large family now and plenty of grandkids and Brenda and Susie’s mom, Gladys is 90 years old and as active as anyone I know. They all are family to us as well.
It was a joy and a pleasure to be at this wedding and celebrate with Mary and Kevin and wish them a lifetime of happiness. I love the way it made me feel afterwards and still does. The happiness and love felt there was almost understandble, but the fact that we were able to take it home and let it live on in our memories is priceless.
Clara Elaine was born on November 9, 2010 and she is gorgeous. I can’t wait to see her and hold her.

Mary & Kevin's Rehearsal Dinner Oct 29, 2010

My niece, Mary and her husband-to-be had their rehearsal dinner at a park in Columbia, SC. It was a beautiful setting and the weather was perfect.


Kevin and his family provided a Low Country Boil for everyone and there were homemade desserts, hotdogs and lots of wonderful food. In my next life I am going to be a good cook. There was a fresh baked apple cake with cream cheese icing that was to die for. Honestly, I think everyone in this family cooks like this and so do all their friends! I do know that a close friend of theirs
(Brenda, Alvin and the family) made that cake. Judy Cooper is such a good cook, so is Co Sizemore and Cathy Brooks. Oh, my. I’d weigh a thousand pounds if I was around them long.

Bill went on about how beautiful Judy is and how nice she is but I knew all along that he just got a taste of that cake and it was all over for us! Oh, my, I have digressed totally onto food. I am a sick puppy.

So, back to Mary and Kevin. I was sorry I only got one photo of Mary and it is blurry. She was busy and so was Kevin so I just stopped taking photos.



We met Bonnie and James Clinton. Bonnie is my cousin that I united with on Face Book. I never knew Bonnie but there was a connection on FB and I just knew we would hit it off. She was like family already..pretty cool..since she IS family! ;) I just loved her when I saw her..just like I knew I would. I told her that she must be my long lost sister since we were so much alike. Since Marsha was going to be my brother, Mike’s name, if he had been a girl (after five boys we were SURE I’d finally have a sister. ) but NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOO. I wouldn’t take anything for my baby brother but I still have visions of him in a skirt. LOL Now here is the weird part. I thought so from looking at his photo on FB but I couldn’t be sure. But, when I saw her husband James, my jaw dropped. Everything else on my bod has already dropped so I guess that jaw was the only thing left to sag. Sigh I told Bonnie, “HE looks like a McBroom!”. LOL Then Alvin said, “he looks like Dad”. OMG. He does! He looks like Dad and Mike. He has the same expressions. It blew my mine and my brothers as well. I had to hug him a couple more times until I suspected that James was hiding from me and I behaved myself. We STARED though, for we just couldn’t help ourselves. That was amazing to witness and be around. We got settled down as the evening wore on but James looked more like dad the more I was around him. Even his mannerisms, build, eyes, and hair were so much like dad’s (mostly absent on the hair). What a nice guy, too. I’d say that wasn’t too much like dad but everything else was. LOL


We had such a great time seeing family and old friends and meeting new family members.

The kids (young ones) have grown up so much and Lisa and Scott are expecting their little girl any day now after two boys. We are all so excited for them and they are so excited themselves.LOL Lisa is a tiny woman but her stomach is HUGE.
I hope she does have Clara soon or she might pop! They are such good parents, this will be one lucky little girls, spoiled by everyone including her two older brothers. Everyone should have such a blessed beginning.


One funny thing from my funny husband. There was a strange contraption on the picnic table beside us that had billowing steam like stuff coming out. Bill picks it up and takes a deep breath. “What is this he asks, studying it intently. He took a big breath of the steam and says, “It looks like something for asthma doesn’t it? “ Kevin comes over and takes it out of his hand explaining that it is a mosquito killer. Geez. What a guy, huh? LOL Bill is none the worse for wear and he gave us a laugh for the rest of the night.

I hope Mary and Kevin are always happy and build a wonderful life together. They make a wonderful family and look so happy and in love.Kevin has a couple of children, two and maybe three. He has a beautiful daughter and a handsome son. They both are so intelligent and the boy is an artist. He is a junior in highschool and the daughter has graduated. Mary just loves them to death and they her. That is as it should be for sure.