the last of the Christmas pictures!

more pictures of Christmas eve...

And the pictures continue...

Christmas...

Ron and I celebrate Christmas by hosting a family gathering at our home on Christmas. Ron and I have long believed that our adult children need to establish their own Christmas day tradition of having their little ones wake up in their own home and open presents from Santa. We are so lucky to have our married children living close enough that we can do that. Plus, we have the added benefit of having a nice, quite Christmas morning alone. Later in the day, we will drive to our daughter's homes and let the little ones share their loot with us.
Last night the family gathered and we exchanged gifts using a Chinese gift exchange. Each person purchased a $20.00 gift and we took turns selecting and swapping gifts. Here is a list of the final exchanges. Dad - emergency roadside kit, Mom-body pillow and pillow case, Ron - digital photo ornament, Gwen - WTAMU tee shirt and cap, Ryan - Walmart gift card and chocolate covered cherries, Becca - the same, G - complete car care kit, Leslie - label maker, batteries, and extra label tape, Seth - 4 DVD's. We all had a great time and enjoyed the laughter as the favored gifts were snatched up by someone else. Maggie didn't quite know what to think of opening all of those not so fun presents.
Ron and I also give the kids the same gift each year. They get a bath towel set and a pair of flannel PJ pants. Last year we didn't exchange gifts because of the trip to the condo in Colorado so I think they were happy to get the new towels and pants.
The best part of Christmas eve was talking to Scott. He called in the afternoon when everyone was at the house and he was able to talk to all of us, even Grandma and Grandpa. He sounds a little lonely but is otherwise healthy and safe. Great news! The powers that be are thinking he might be home for good by the end of July or early August! I will try very hard to not get my hopes up too high.
All in all a great Christmas eve. I think the last picture I am posting of Maggie's huge yawn says it all. Merry Christmas everyone!

Graduation & Birthday Celebrations...

What a busy 2 weeks! It started on the 11th when the family all headed to Canyon TX for Ryan's graduation. Becca took Seth out of school and I took Friday off because it is a 7 1/2 hour drive. We decided to break it into 2 days, which made it much easier on all of us. Ryan graduated from West Texas A&M University on Saturday the 13th. It was a wonderful trip filled with lots of laughter, good food, and great company. Ryan was so excited and so happy to finally be finished! I am posting 2 pictures of the grad; one with his diploma and one at the Big Texan Steak House. If you ever pass through Amarillo, it is a MUST stop! Then this Saturday was Maggie's 2nd. birthday. All of her cousins were there and she got lots of Dora presents. Everyone whacked the tar out of the Swiper pinata and enjoyed the afternoon at the local inflatable center. It is so hard to believe she is two already!

Quilts and a parade...

Yahoo! I finally got these two quilts finished. The floral one is Maggie's "big girl" quilt. I really started it before she was born, but who cares! This quilt is one that I made using the blocks I taught during the year I was Block of the Month chairman for the local quilt guild. It was a neat job because I got to pick a block each month, teach how to make it, and then at the end of the 12 month period, everyone that participated had enough blocks to make new quilt tops! I think the purple pansy fabric made it perfect for a little girl.
The second quilt is one I made out of the shirts that belonged to the father of my friend, Penny. Penny's father passed away last year and I asked her if he had worn T-shirts or not with the intention of making her a T-shirt quilt. However, he was one of those guys that wore Oxford-style button ups all the time. So, I simply cut a 12 inch square from the back of each shirt, put 2 together and sewed corner to corner to make 2 hourglass blocks, and put them together. In the upper R-hand corner is a picture of him that was copied onto fabric. She hasn't seen it yet, but I am sure she will love it. It isn't the most beautiful quilt in the world, but Penny will cherish it.
On Monday, the girls brought the kids in and we went downtown to watch the Christmas parade for FHE. (G couldn't make it because he was doing payroll.) I took a few pictures of us as we were waiting for the parade to begin. It looks like we were all bundled up for super cold weather but it was only got down to about 50. Perfect weather for watching a parade!

Thanksgiving weekend: food and new cars!

As always, I am so very thankful for the holidays and the chance it gives me to spend time with my family. This year we were missing a few loved ones; Scott and Ed are in Iraq and Mom and Dad stayed home to continue recuperating from the horrible colds they have had. Ryan, however, did manage to get down for the weekend. We all went to Becca's house for the day and I had intended to take lots of pictures; however, as often happens with this stupid camera I own the batteries died. So I am attaching the few I managed to snap before it died on me.
Dinner was delicious. Becca cooked the ham, her delicious spinach dip, cheese ball, and a to-die-for pumpkin cheesecake. Leslie cooked a turkey with cornbread stuffing and brought a relish tray. Ryan even helped out by staying up all night to smoke a turkey breast. I cooked all of the veggies and made pumpkin bars. Luckily, we had enough food left over that none of us had to cook for the rest of the weekend!
In addition to great food and wonderful company, Ryan had a super exciting weekend! He graduates in 2 weeks and has already lined up a job working for a petroleum company so he took his letter from the university, his great credit history, and an impressive job offer down to the Toyota dealership and bought his very first brand new car. I don't know what it is called but the thing is like a tank! It is a 4 WD vehicle that he can drive through the desert as he visits the oil rigs. He was sooooo excited! And, Leslie and G traded their Jetta in on my dream car; a VW Touraeg. What a snazzy car that is! Of course, I keep consoling myself with the fact that I get MUCH better gas mileage that either of them can even dream of. So, all in all we had a wonderful holiday and have much to be thankful for.

Buckeye fans...

Yesterday Ron went up to Gatesville for some Poppy time with Seth. They ordered some stuffed crust pizza, buffalo wings, and a pazone to gorge on while they watched the Ohio State ball game. I only have Ron's side of the story, but he said they had a good time. Seth has recently started telling jokes and his favorite one goes like this. "How do you make Michigan cookies? Put them in a bowl and beat them for 3 hours." Not being a football fan, I don't quite get the humor of it but Ron said Seth was cracking up telling it. I am adding our last year's Little Buckeyes photo. They are a little bit bigger and a whole lot cuter now.