Saturday, December 28, 2013

Oh My...We Need an Update!

First, I would like to thank all of you for sending thoughts and prayers for my husband's family after his father's passing. Rob is doing as well as possible and has done the normal male denial thing...thrown himself into his work! This is the second weekend in a row that he is working. His only time off was Christmas Day. Sigh...if it works - whatever.

It seems time is passing quicker than I realized and the new year is around the corner. Which has had me thinking about next years stitching plans, our trip to BC Canada, our 25th anniversary, this blog, and everything I haven't shared. So, go get a cup of something yummy and sit down to hear what's been going on around here. btw - this post will be somewhat picture heavy!

So, should we begin with the grade school Christmas program Garin was in?

Garin is standing beside the little guy in the red shirt playing with his tie. 
Oh my, it's been years since I have been to a school program. Some things haven't changed (too close seating - my knees were smashed into the seat in front of me) and yet I found myself seeing Courtney and Logan on the stage. Garin did well after Alivia yelled at him to wave to her. Until then, he was waving aimlessly trying to find us. :)

I'm still watching Alivia on Monday's to give Keri a bit of a break. She was over and we made cookies.


She insists on sitting on the bar to watch me. The cookies we were making needed to be rolled in powered sugar before baking. She decided to play in the sugar (and eat some too). What a ham! Look at that smile.

You can see a bit of the Christmas tree in the background - that's all you get. I was not a fan of this tree. Next year though -- I've got plans!

My Mathews' family get together had a weather related issue. Ice and snow! Some of the more northern relatives weren't able to make it and other's from town - well, we had a time related problem. Seems I never gave Karen a time to be here. Oops!

Front row - Carol-Sue, Alivia, and Mom
Back row - Me, Courtney, Keri, and Bryce
We ate well and had a crock pot hot chocolate. Only three of us managed to go shopping in Roscoe Village, but the weather had turned rainy by this time so off we went. I didn't buy anything but I was able to send Rob back for Christmas gifts! lol

We had family over on Christmas Eve and had a wonderful time.

Marcia, Me, Lonnie
 I realized I didn't have any pictures of me with my aunt and uncle in ages. Problem solved! Lonnie is my uncle that I mentioned is battling cancer. He has finished his round of chemo and is awaiting the results from an upcoming CAT scan to tell us what his next step will be. We are hoping for a much cleaner scan than before!

Here are a few pictures from Christmas ~

Playing with the camera
Andrew and Rob showing off their stocking Reds. 
Christmas 2013 family picture
Logan and Courtney
Rob and I
A little explanation about the picture with the Reds. Our Christmas stockings tend to run amok some years. This year was the year for Red's Apple Ale for Andrew and Rob. I didn't want to forget them in the basement and so, I stuck them outside. Bad move...didn't know alcohol would freeze. What I didn't think about was the volume of alcohol per drink...lesson learned.

Now to the stitching. Wonder how many of you have made it this far? Like I said before I've been thinking about my 2014 stitching. I think this up coming year will be the year of Santa. I have several L*K Santas to go, there are several more Leisure Arts Santas I have the patterns for (read, a whole friggin' book of them), a set of 4 from JCS magazine last year, and another pattern for an all red collage of Santas. That should more than cover one year! But, I have 2 more patterns of the perpetual calendar to go and I want to do the Gettysburg Address. Maybe a should call it the year of Santa Almost. :)

Here are my latest finishes -



September had many changes and then the October pattern had only color changes. Go figure! November is another set that I have redesigned but December will have very little changes. I can't believe I am down to 8 more tags to go. Woohoo!

Time to go get my shower and get moving today. Many things to do to get the house ready for the new year. I follow the silly notion that how your house looks on New Year's is how it looks all year. I can NOT have it looking like this for the entire year.

Hope you have a safe and happy New Year! And happy belated Merry Christmas!
Denise

16 comments:

Barb said...

It looks like you had lots of wonderful family activities! Love the Christmas program and the cookie baking!

Anonymous said...

What wonderfully happy family photos. Best wishes to all!

Karen said...

Looks like you had a great Christmas! Love your tags too.

Happy stitching in the new year...

jayne@~an eye for threads~ said...

How is it that it is this time of year again? first and foremost, I am very sorry to read of Rob's father. hugs to all from afar.
Now, on to the stitching,,, wow girl you are really enjoying that retirement eh? good on you. I have to say that all the pictures show a very warm and loving family which so many folks do not have the pleasure of sharing. I hope you are all well and smiling in the days ahead and wth is with going to bc,,,, what ever happened to Ontario?????? yeah for a passport though. Cheers to all you do and all you have.
As always
Jane

Shebafudge said...

The Almost Year of the Santa sounds like a great idea! I look forward to seeing all your progress.

Happy New Year...almost :)

Robin said...

Thanks for sharing your holiday. Even with the loss of your family member it seems you made the best of it for everyone. Love the notion that your house is as it is throughout the year as it is on New Years Day! For years I have done the grand sort out of my kitchen cabinets on the first but I can tell you if certainly doesn't stay pristine all year. Good thought thou and maybe I will try to live up to it this year. Have a happy

Vicki said...

Wow, what a fun Christmas you had - lots of family and friend time! That's the best, isn't it?! I am still thinking about my stitching for 2014. I need to come up with a plan. The only thing I've decided so far is that I'm NOT doing the Crazy January Challenge this year. I never finish it... Happy New Year!

stitchersanon said...

A lovely post...so nice to see all the piccies. Have to ask, what is crockpot chocolate? xxx

Happy New Year!

Natasha said...

Looks like great Christmas Memories were made. I am sorry to have heard about the passing of your FIL. Many hugs to your husband and yourself..

Love the pictures you two a re a cute couple :) Wishing you a very happy new year!!

gracie said...

Wonderful pictures

Vickie said...

Very nice update with great pictures!

Chris said...

Great update! The family pics are wonderful.
You are so close to having the tags all done! They look wonderful.
Happy New Year!

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

You have a beautiful family! And you have done some gorgeous stitching!

Catherine said...

Busy fun times!!

Maggee said...

Maybe by now you have only 5 or 6 tags left, since I am so tardy in reading my blogs. Just cleaning up Christmas2. My daughter and the family could not come up earlier, so arrived Friday and just left. So, it looks and sounds like you had a great Christmas time with family and friends. Hubby looks good, and your uncle looks like he weathered the chemo well. Best wishes in 2014! Hugs!

Charlene ♥ NC said...

Looks like a great Christmas season. Love your winter blog theme! Glad I haven't heard that how your house looks on New Year's ... theory. I am going to forget it right away! LoL Happy New Year!