And Just Like That

 Just like that this year is fast approaching it's end.  Many will celebrate this evening with parties, toasts for good health and a happy new year ahead.  The kisses and hugs, even though Covid and Flu still haunt us, will be given.  Resolutions will be made though we know by February many of those will be on the back burner!  Lots of looking back at this year and wondering where it all went.  Each month, even February that seems like it will never end with it's awful weather, flew by.   2022 wasn't as bad as the few years before it.  We did get some projects finished at the Pines.  We both seemed to be tackling our health and doing pretty good.  We adopted Annabelle after I swore that we would have no more dogs.  I did blame that on Betty White!  We had a few trips to Chicago but no where else as we concentrated on getting caught up here with the yard and house.  Hopefully the new year will bring some travel adventures.  I had no intention of returning to work in surgery but after an offer that seemed pretty good I did just that in April.  I was happy that I could still do the job and also have the freedom to say no if I didn't want to work.  I will continue to do that and play it by ear as the year goes on.  So like all things in life, we marvel at how things change just like that..insert a finger snap here!  Jobs, health, kids who grew up seemingly over night, our living situations, our political views, and world events sometimes catch us off guard. But change is what life is.  I wouldn't want to be stagnant like a pond that only gets scummy and produces mosquitoes!  So onward and upward and best wishes for a very Happy New Year to all my family and friends! 

LIFE CHANGES JUST LIKE THIS:

A week ago we had below zero frigid temps and about 4in of snow.   A white and very cold Christmas.

This week we had temps warming up into the 60's by the end of this week and the snow slowly melting.

Today we have no more snow, just rain and temps warm enough to leave the heavy coats in the closet and Annabelle enjoying her kingdom!  Just like that!

A Very Merry Christmas!

 A very weird thing happened.  I lost this post that I put up last night.  I know a few saw it because of the comments but it isn't on my computer anymore.  Not wanting to rehash this all over I will put the photos back on for my blog book.  I guess all I need to say is we had a wonderful day filled with family and food and fun as usual!  The only ones not able to attend were our Oregon crew and they were in California and had a fun time until trying to get back to Oregon and all flights were cancelled.  They ended up renting a car that they stood in line to get...a  2 1/2hr line!  They made it home safe and sound last night.  Here's the photos and a big wish to everyone for a wonderful holiday season..Merry Christmas!

Our Christmas Eve dinner setting.  We always have breakfast food for this dinner.  Waffles, French toast, eggs, sausage...Yummy!

Making Spirits bright was the order for the day...and it was bright and merry.

Aria and older sis Lexi. That blanket glows in the dark so hopefully that was nice surprise last night!

Mandy in her Christmas leggings!

Step Great Granddaughter, Hazel...we love her and I call her Hazel Nut!

Granddaughter Driana with hubby Jonathan and Theo the sweet doodle!

Cameron and Anthony.  Cam is growing so fast he'll soon be as tall as his older brother...watch out Anthony!

Sibling pic..Cameron, Driana, Summer, and Anthony...love these kiddos!

Another sibling pic...Rae Rae, Lexi, and little sister Aria..we lovingly call her "Munchin"

Megan and Landon the newly weds....Megan is my daughter-in-law Evelyn's daughter.

These are a snap shot of the Saran Wrap game.  Prizes wrapped up into a plastic wrap ball to be undone with oven mitts on.  It's fast and furious and involves rolling doubles with dice.  Lottery tickets are sprinkled throughout and all hope to win big.  Unfortunately, no biggies this year just a few dollar winners but hope goes on for the next time! There are many little prizes in there though that are kind of fun too.  That about wraps up another Christmas at the Pines. The weather was cold but no other issues. We all ate too much and laughed a lot.  Merry Christmas wishes to everyone and blessings for a healthy new year to come.  If  this post shows up again on your feed and you already commented please just scroll on by!  Not sure how my original got lost. Oh well, bye for now!

Holy BRRR!

 Well, this is a fine way to start Christmas weekend.  Like many of you all across the US we have snow, winds, and bitter cold temps.  We got about 4in. of snow this morning but it's the darn wind that's really causing all the rukus.   Jack closed the office today and Jordan is having a few days off so we're home safe and sound.  I've been wrapping gifts and watching Christmas movies at the same time.  Poor Annabelle doesn't mind the snow or cold, it's the sound of the wind that scares her.  The Pines protect us from too much wind but the sound of it blowing through the trees is scary.  Anyway, it's been a while since I've posted so I'll play catch up today.  We went to Chicago last weekend to join with family to celebrate. It was a smaller crowd than normal but we still had fun and ate too much!  Here's just a few pics:

Hope was happy to have lots of new faces and folks to fawn all over her and all she wanted was to play.

Annabelle and Jack had other ideas!  The weather there last weekend was windy and pretty cold. There was snow too but we made it through without weather issues...just traffic issues.  All that traffic is so nuts. I guess I'm just too used to Amish buggies and country roads!  Saturday afternoon we went to my niece Katie's house for the party.

The host and hostess!  Katie and Blake

My sister Midge having a conversation with my niece Vicky and her hubby George. Vicky's Dad is my brother Greg who passed last year.  I know it was hard to come and not spend time with him as they always did in the past.  We miss him too.  

My nephew Tom and his wife Paula.  I only get to see them this time of year so it was fun to talk to them and find out what's happening in their life.

My niece Melissa and her family.  Her Dad is my brother Phil.  Phil and his wife Cilla came up from Florida and the cold weather wasn't a treat at all!  I know it's cold down south now but still nothing like last weekend or this one.

My brother Phil and my Sister-in-law, Cilla.  This was really taken last year but I didn't get any of them together this year! Falling down on my camera duties!

As always we have tons of food...and this was at the end when everyone was taking home sweets that were left.  We had a lovely dinner of lasagna and salad and bread and other delish items.  Usually it's catered and we always would have so much food left over that we trimmed it down this year and it was so much easier and much less food wasted.  Games are also a part of the night and Katie and my niece Amy had some for the kiddos and the adults.  It was lots of fun and we cap it all off at the end with the white elephant gift exchange. You're supposed to bring an item that you don't want anymore but we also get things that folks buy that they think are funny.  I was the winner of one such gift:

Please pardon my French! This makes it easy for me to have a white elephant for next year! Yes, watch out because it's going to be regifted for sure!  I was sad to say bye to everyone and especially my sister but we're getting together in January when she comes here for a week or so. First she's  heading off to Florida for a week with Amy and Eric and their kiddos.  Hopefully she'll have a warm time down there!  I'll be posting again as we celebrate Christmas here with my kids on Sunday.  I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and please stay warm and safe wherever you may be this year.

Christmas Is Coming!

 I had to kick myself in the blog bum and get posting before December was just a blurry memory! It's almost the middle of the month and we've been busy with the usual things of this season.  We've been decorating, shopping, cleaning, working, and going to a few fun things too.   Ashland had it's annual Christmas parade and Phil, Aria, and myself decided to brave the cold night and see the floats and downtown decorations.  The town has really upped it's game from last year and I thought last year was really pretty!

My parade pics came out blurry because I didn't have the action setting on but you can see here the decor that involved garland that went from one side of main street to the other with wreaths in between.  It's hard to see all the trees near the sidewalks that are completely lite up and the paintings on the windows of the shops.  I'm going to do another post this week after taking some better shots. 

Santa and Mrs. Claus came at the beginning of the parade instead of the end but he was probably pretty busy and needed to get back to the North Pole!

The floats were all really good and colorful.

And moving fast! Ha!

Aria enjoyed it even though she was a little tired that night. She was all bundled up in blankets and had a nice cozy seat to watch all the fun.  We didn't stay for the fireworks and tree lighting that followed but I saw a video of it and also heard from folks that it was really good.  I'm glad we have a town that goes all out to make Christmas a fun season for everyone.  This past weekend the Historical Society had an open house at the Manor house near downtown and also at the newly renovated Freer House that's down the road.  Both places were decorated nicely and are available to be rented out for occasions.

The Manor House is an old Victorian home and is kept up as it would have been in the late 1800's and early 1900's.  It's very ornate but so pretty.  All the rooms had trees decorated by volunteers.  I heard it was rented out on Thanksgiving. All I could think of was somebody spilling turkey gravy or cranberry sauce on those beautiful carpets!

Come and sit and enjoy dinner in the dining room! 

All the bedrooms had Christmas trees in them.  After touring this home my friends and I went to the Freer Home.  The downstairs of the Freer Home is more casual and would be a great place to rent out for a reunion, or a wedding shower or whatever.  It's more suited for families with kids that wouldn't do any damage to the antiques like at the Manor House.  

As you can see, the Freer House is not as ornate. But all the trees here were nicely decorated by volunteers also.  All in all it was a lovely evening to stroll around and feel the Christmas Spirit. Earlier in the day Jack and I went to our Church's Christmas social that was a brunch.  I didn't take any photos there but it was set up nice with delish food and wonderful music.  It was nice to do this in the morning so no one had to travel at night and thankfully the weather wasn't too bad.   The weekend flew by and this week I'm only working one day so I'll be able to finish the last minute details for our Christmas as well as getting ready to head to Chicago to have our annual family gathering.  The weather looks cold but not snowy so hopefully the drive won't be bad.  I know this time of year can be exhausting and even the animals of the house feel it:

Good night all!  Shhh...don't wake Annabelle.

The Final Month of 2022

   November seemed to fly by in a blur.  I know it was a lovely month even with a few cold, snowy days thrown in.  We did take time to enjoy a few "adventures" as we call them.  Last weekend Jack and I went to a barn sale.  No, they weren't selling barns, just cute stuff.  Jack would have preferred a real barn sale but he's a trouper and helped carry my treasures as we walked around.

You can tell it's a real barn first by the smell...hay and animals...and by seeing through the barn floors to the stalls underneath!  However, they had the upper level all decked out and I did find a few cute items for gifts and just one thing for me...a pillow!  (Jack would say, "Yep, just what we need to go with the other thousand pillows!)

It looks good on the kitchen bench!  (The stitching says: U melt my heart)  It was small business Saturday so after lunch my daughter-in-law, Evelyn, came over and we went shopping downtown.  I found a few more gifts there and yes, something for me that wasn't a pillow! (just a pair of earrings). I was happy to help support our local small businesses and see lots of folks downtown doing the same.  So the end of  November has come and gone and now it's December 1st and I feel like I'm already behind!  I just need to take a deep breath and realize I'm actually in good shape with many gifts already bought and decor outside done and up and inside almost done.  Whew!   Today dawned very cold but the sun  came out  and It was nice to take a walk in the fresh cold air with Annabelle.  First we stopped at the city street department to order more firewood.  Jack pointed out a totally black woolly bear caterpillar and that means a hard winter ahead.  Yes, I do believe in old wives tales!  Then  Annabelle and I made the trek to the cemetery to change out the flowers on my in-laws graves.

After that was done Annabelle was ready for her walk.  Even when busy it's good to take time to enjoy nature and the beauty of a sunny day...even a cold sunny day!  I've been going to physical therapy for a few weeks and I had an appointment this afternoon and also our church Missionaries were coming  for dinner. Thankfully I had made a stew yesterday for tonight and it was ready to put in the crock pot.  I also made some brownies that I served with ice cream and homemade hot fudge sauce.  So it was a busy day but a good one.  I'm ready to hit the hay and get ready for work tomorrow.  We have plans to do the typical Saturday errands but I also want to attend the Christmas parade and take photos of our little Hallmark town all decked out for Christmas. On the mark, get set, let's go December!