New Year Tradition

"Eat poor on New Year's,

and eat fat the rest of the year."

We have *Friemily, who are from Texas.

When they lived up here, they always served

 Black Eyed Peas on January 1st.

Our Friemily has moved back to Texas but we still continue the tradition.

*(Friemily is a term we use to describe

friends, who we have adopted and 
now are part of our family)

Happy New Year

2014!

Grandchildren at Christmas

 One, I held and kissed...

Four, we blew our kisses and our hugs to, via Skype.

(It won't be long before I will get hugs and kisses in person!)

Tom and I had a very nice Christmas with family.

How was yours?

Merry Christmas

Isaiah 7:14

Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign:

The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and you will call him Immanuel.

(Source: time-bazaar, via tournes ol50)

Merry Christmas

Blessing to you and your family.

Date Night

Tom and I make an annual trip to the Mall,

 this time of year.

Last night was the night.

We enjoy watching parents and their children, 

when the little ones sit on Santa's lap.

All those eager, excited, scared, shy, happy, 

and sometimes naughty little kids. 

A long time ago, 

I worked as Santa's Helper at this very same place.

Now, that is a story and a half!

 If you have a couple hours I can tell you some really funny stories.

We don't buy anything except a coffee.

Just walking around and looking at the decorations,

 is all that we need.

OH, WAIT ...

LOOK !!!

You can buy a car inside the Mall!!

This is a first for me.

It's an electric car.

 Comes with a Snowboard!

After all the window shopping we could take in,

we then went out for a seafood dinner.

The view from the restaurant overlooked the water,

 where The Christmas Ship sails.

The biggest boat is the leader and is followed by several

smaller boats, that are all decked out with lights.

They all tour around the lake and stop at arranged stops,

 where there are bonfires and caroling.

We also drove around to look a certain homes that

are all aglow with lights.

This morning we woke up to snow.

For many of you this isn't a big deal.

But for Tom, who loves to play in the snow, it was exciting.

He quickly took off to drive around in it.

I kept the home fires burning.

Lucy's Bed

 Miss Lucy is our dog and
 has had this bed for twelve years.

It is well loved and now all wore out.

Lucy has scratched, scraped and rubbed most of the fake fur off the pillow.

She does this as her method of "nesting" right before she lays down.
I didn't have the heart to toss this ratty, old cushion.

But I had finally had to do something!

So, off to the second-hand store I went.

I found a little, bright, pink, girls jacket.
It's the same sort of fake fur look as her pillow once was.

I zipped up the jacket, slipped the pillow inside,
 flipped it over.
Then I tucked the pink jacket into the sides the bed frame.

Ta Da!

Best of all NO SEWING or CUTTING!

Shhhhhhh....

 I think she likes it!

Decorating with Poinsettias

The proper, and loving care of a Poinsettia is so important.

Look at these beautiful 

and colorful pictures below.

Now, this is how to take care and decorate with 

these wonderful holiday plants. 

Use them as center pieces for your table.

Have them for outside decorations (ummm).

A fun and whimsy style for a mantel.

How about a teapot in the kitchen? Cute!

Churches have huge displays on their alters.

They even look great by a cozy fire.

AND THEN THERE IS MINE!

I was so excited when I bought my Poinsettia. 

I had high hopes when I brought it home. 

And then...

It kept dropping leaf, after leaf.

I had to add a Christmas bow for more volume. 

 In the end it was just some sticks and the bow.

How do you decorate and care for your Poinsettias?

Redmond Lights 2013

 It was a  {{{{{{cold  }}}}}} night.
(they said it was clear and cold, 19 degrees)

My friend and I were dressed warmly from head to toe, even had hand warmers.

Nothing was going to stop us from enjoying

 this special evening, no way!

We had waited all year for this.

The city of Redmond celebrates the lighting of the TREE.

Thousands of us gather around 

and helped with the count down.

5, 4, 3 ,2 ,1....

Afterwards, we all were invited to walk, along the trail, lined with thousands of luminaries.

It's about a mile starting out at City Hall and ended all the way down at Redmond Town Center. 

The trail was full of families, couples, youngsters 

and the two of us, laughing and talking.

The music and colorful lights made the walk so enchanting.

 Here's Destiney at the Train crossing

 The Hot Air Balloons were huge and

 full of color when they were lit up.

They made such a cool sound,

 when the flames started up.

Bon fires and barrel fires were a popular 

and warm welcome.

We stopped long the way and listened to a church choir,

 bag pipes, musical bells, steel drums, violins, 

and my favorite, a live nativity scene.

When we arrived at Redmond Town Center things were 

 busy and exciting.

On stage were beautiful, dressed Russian dancers.

Reindeer and goats were there for little ones to pet.

The Ice-Man, with his chain saw, was hard at work.

It was a wonderful, cold and fun night.

Thanks Destiney, for sharing this special time with me.

Can't wait until next year!

Limited Time Only!

Gift Idea- Christmas Or Wedding Shower

I have been invited to a wedding shower.

It's for a daughter of a good friend.

  The theme is "Entertaining".

 The young couple enjoys

having friends over for every occasion.

We are to bring something to help them with entertaining.

 I bought variety different styles and 

colorful cocktail napkins

and put them in a basket.

Plus, we were asked to bring a recipe for an appetizer.

I found this dish towel with a recipe already on it!

I used the dish towel as the wrapping paper

and tied a big bow.

 I had so much fun putting this gift together.

(  : ) Betsy! )

I thought this would be a good gift to give as a 

Christmas gift for someone on your list.

Thanksgiving, Birthday and Christmas, All In One Visit

Over the river and through the mountains, (lots of them),

to Idaho we go!

We were welcomed with a homemade banner.

~The Table Fort~

           top -They all fit in the Table Fort.

           left - Anticipation!

           right - Snacking inside.

It was a hit!

What could be better then a 

homemade birthday present?

TWO presents!!

Lulu sewed two cloth bags for me!

I even have one that matches hers.

Not to be left out of the "bag" party,

 Ila May used the gift bag as a hat.

I just had to show you this picture.

My Cowboy all dressed up!

 The Annual Thanksgiving picture.

 Another family tradition is to make Gingerbread Houses,

will the turkey is cooking.

Each child builds their own house out of graham crackers.

Lots of frosting and candy are a must. 

The adults took turns building and adding onto the large house.

Each added their own special touches to the house.

Hands down, Tom won the "Ate the Most Candy" award.

Everyone working hard on their houses!

There was plenty of time to hold, play and enjoy 

this little one, Silas (7 months).

He even took his first bite of solid food, an avocado! 

After researching what would be the best first solid food, 

an avocado was considered a perfect choice. .

Picture of Love!

Stop by Kimmy's blog and see her

pictures of our visit.

Table Top Fort

This is a Table Top Fort/ House

My new sewing machine has been working overtime.

One king size, flat sheet;

 one brown fitted sheet; 

colorful felt squares;

 black, grow-gain ribbon 

and presto !

 You have a house.

I didn't have time to add curtains and other details.

But I know certain, there are some children, will love it, as is.

Windows * garage * flowers * and a grandma who loves her grandchildren.

I found the tote at Target in the "tote isle" and

 thought it was a perfect place to store the house when not in use.

~*****~

All my Christmas presents are bought, finished and wrapped.  

Soon, we are heading to Idaho. 

Thanksgiving, a birthday and Christmas celebration's will be all rolled into this visit.

The snow has started to fall. 

In a few more weeks (days?!) we won't be able to drive over until early Spring.

The car is packed to the brim.

Our studded, snow tires are on. We even bought those new 

tire socks that replace chains. They are cool!

I'll be gone for awhile.

(I'm sooo excited!)

Until then, Happy Thanksgiving !

Good Grape!

Went to Costco to pick up a few grocery items.

I bought some grapes and decided to nibble some,

 on the way home.

Look at this HUGE grape!

Oh yea, it was delicious, too!

"Tear Down This Wall"

"Mr. Gorbachev - tear down this wall. "  

- Ronald Reagan, Berlin 1987~

That's what I kept saying.
This wall has to go, and so it did.

We had to make way for a new addition.

We bought a new couch.

               Before                                                  After

                  Before                                                  After

When you live in a 750 ft. sq. cottage, every inch counts!

What a big difference