What a Wonderful Reunion!

I am in heaven. I had such a terrific visit with my cousin and his daughter. It has been years since we've seen each other. Our daughters were toddlers the last time.
His brother hosted a couple of delicious dinners at his house and we ran around like crazy for the time we had. It may take all week for the adults to catch up on their sleep. The kids seem just fine if a little sad it's over.
We went to Victoria Gardens for shopping, The Hip Kitty in Claremont to watch Mark play guitar and sing,. Laguna Beach for fun in the sun and more shopping, then back to Mark's for lobster and pasta. Yummm.
It went so fast though. I hope we get to do it again soon.

Merry Christmas One and All

The Christmas table with 3 of 4 of my kids.
Christmas Eve - while the creatures were still stirring...
I awakened to chirping birds and drizzly rain this morning. All my kids were home. We had the traditional potato sausage, eggs, and fruit salad, then opened presents.




Hubby took a nap while we watched a movie.
Then I made roast beef with, asparagus potatoes and gravy. Actually it cooked from breakfast time until 1-ish. My daughter made Red Velvet cake and my son made Peppermint Bark yesterday and I made cheesecake so we had quite a selection of desserts. My friend was held up so we missed having her over. We have LOTS of food left.
Yummm, my son just brought me a margarita.
Here are my daughter and son at the local coffee shop for their holiday guitar concert this past weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving

Can you believe it's Thanksgiving already? It's been a whirlwind year. I imagine the rest of it will go as fast as well. What are you doing today? Us? We're having dinner here. This year I get to have all of my kids together again. That is really my greatest joy, so yes, I am extremely thankful. I hope they are happy being here as well. I've been pretty pissy lately, not at them, but other things. Life is up and down.
The holidays...I remember the wonderful gatherings my mother put together for the holidays. My parents went all out for us all the time. The delicious smells and tastes, the comfort, the laughter and tears. We had the full range of emotion on holidays. The love always won out. I miss her and my dad.
It never feels like I am able to provide the comfort and support I was given. I hope I am wrong. They are amazing people and I love them more than I ever thought possible.

Didn't take any pictures. I'll have to get some from my daughter and friend to post here. I was cooking. Had a great day! My whole immediate family and best friend were here for the day. We even celebrated Leigh Ann's birthday with her. Knitted a little too. We made birthday change purses. Still need to felt them and sew in zippers. They're pretty cool. Mine may be a little small when felted. We'll see. It was a beautiful Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have to share with all of you just how happy I am this Thanksgiving with all my children home and safe for the holiday. It's been a couple of years since we were all able to be together for Thanksgiving. I am so glad we could be together and everyone wanted to be. I love this marvelous group of people.
We had the traditional Turkey dinner with the trimmings. Yumm. I am stuffed...