Pages

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

So this was Christmas.... 2016

Seasons Greetings dear friends.. 
Well, this was Christmas this year of 2016... 
And a lovely one it is turning out to be.. 

Our Christmas lasts all week this year !  
A bit one day and a bit more the next.. 


Our oldest son and his family could not be here for Christmas day because of work schedules so we are having a Family Day on New Year's Day.. 
Grandpa and Grandma are pretty excited as all 5 grandsons will be arriving on New Years eve and having a sleep over with us.. 
Perhaps their parents will be here, too or so we hope..
So nice to have all of our children under one roof once again.. smile.. 

Anyway all is well and we have been enjoying getting ready and having a few wonderful few days already.. 

Just sharing some pics of our doings.. 
Decorated the front step and trimmed our lovely Christmas tree..
That is a story in itself.. lol.. 
I guess I will tell you it as it is rather funny.. 

Last year we had a very pretty tree and I was kind of excited about it because trimming a tree just is not my forte... smile.. 
We had bought it at a tree lot and the kids all said it was the nicest tree we had for a while.. 

This year I kept bugging Terry to go buy our tree.. 
Then on Friday when we drove by all they had were a couple of small ones and I was a bit dismayed .. 
Not to worry says the dear man.. 
He will just go out to his woodlot and cut one down.. 
No problem.. 
He got right to it and a couple of hours later I look out the window and there he stands as proud as a peacock holding onto a rather tall fir tree.. 
Smiling he says he only needs to cut the bottom off and it will be great!  
Sure..... 
He sees the look on my face and gets all defensive so I just go along for the ride and say ok.............

I was talking to Shonda on the phone and she says that perhaps he felt bad because he had spent all that time trying to please me.. 
Yup... So I feel guilty and think I may as well do the best I can with it..  
To make a long story short he brings it in and cuts off the bottom and it is still too high so I say to cut the top off so that it will fit.. 
Oh dear lord.. 
We had the middle of a very sparse tree.. 
On go the lights and I spend all the afternoon trying to fill in the spaces... I even put on icicles.. Remember them?

Let's just say that I was not very successful.. 
When I went to the end of the living room and looked back I thought it looked like a drunken sailor with two arms outstretched trying to stand straight.. 
Moving over the the other side it looked like a cross in the middle of the tree.. 
I called Shonda and told her and she said well everyone will just think that you are religious, Mom.. 
Brother!! 
To end this sad story I will tell you that it is coming down tomorrow before someone sees it and won't let me forget about it for the next few years.. 
A tree has not ever been that important to me anyway as we don't even put it up till Christmas eve usually.. 
Oh and when Dustin came home he wanted to know if we got the tree for half price since it was only half there.. grin.. 
I just cannot stand to hear all the lovely comments from the rest of them so it is coming down.. lol...

Oh, I did take some pics so I could prove to our daughter just how bad it really was.. grin.. 

On with the story.. 
Prepared a few care packages.. 


Sprayed the bells copper... 

Made some shortbreads, white sugar cookies, coconut macaroons and a few pans of squares and fruit cake.. 

Making soups as usual...
Writing out cards... 

The fireplace mantel in the living room.. 

The little lighted houses are vintage and used to belong to a dear Pastor's wife who I loved.. 
Her name was Sister McNair... 
It is a lot prettier than the picture shows.. smile.. 

My old Santa that I remade a few years ago... 

Another care package for some very special people in our lives..
The mantel in the family room Christmas morning.. 
Dustin and Charlie ...

Then on Boxing Day we went to our daughter's home for dinner.. 

Some of her decor.. 
An old santa I made for her on our homespun Christmas a few years ago.. 


Her beautiful huge poinsettia.. 

Gramp teasing Carter.. 


The men just hanging out.. 


A little pose of Shonda and Dave.. 
Note the wonderful roses that David gave Shonda to celebrate their 25th anniversary last week.. 


Aren't they sweet?? 

I wonder who Matt is texting.. smile.. 
When is dinner ready??? 


It was delicious!! 
I forgot to take a pic of the food but it was wonderful turkey and ham dinner.. 
And the best apple pie that I have had since last Christmas.. 
Shonda is known for her wonderful apple pie.. 
Just like her Grandmothers... 

Today, Terry and I went Boxing Day shopping.. 
I did not buy anything... 
Just too much for me so we went and had our annual Christmas Chinese dinner... 

Then we dropped by my Mom's and had a lovely visit with her and Gerald... 
She gave me some lovely gifts but the one I loved the most was an old chocolate box filled with old handkerchiefs that belonged to my grandmother.. She thought the box was well over 50 years old.. 
I am going to go and make a cup of tea and just sit and go through the box and savour and smell each one of them.. 
So blessed to still have my mama with us... 

So dear hearts this is all for another time.. 


This is a pic of the moon out of our kitchen window yesterday morning... 
Tomorrow, Lord willing I will start getting ready to have everything ready for the weekend.. 
Hope you sweet things had a great Christmas day and enjoy this final week before we go into 2017.. 
Just imagine !! 

Take care my dears and God bless.. 
He is so faithful !!

17 comments:

  1. What a lovely Christmas! Thanks for sharing. Enjoy the rest of this week with your sweet family and Happy 2017 to you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It is never just simple with you is it. Teasing of course, I enjoyed your treestory 😊
    Your photos are wonderful, so glad you have wonderful family to share your life with,
    Hope you stay over with the fellows goes great!
    Blessings to all for the coming year.
    It has been such a hard year in so many ways, it's always a joy to read an uplifting post from You!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beautiful Family Christmas Pictures! Looks like a very warm inviting lovely place.
    Love ya,
    Char

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh Faye ... I so love your blog and seeing all your beautiful pictures. Carter reminds me of our own handsome grandson. xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  5. A lovely wander through your Christmas.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Faye - everything looks lovely as usual. U have such a beautiful family and make such great memories. Luv u forever more my friend. Pam c

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you for that lovely warm and comforting Christmas blog, specially the old chocolate box that was your grandmas, thank you for sharing xx

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love seeing your winter photos, Faye. I am so pleased you had a wonderful Christmas. It was very quiet here without my grandchildren.

    ReplyDelete
  9. A belated Merry Christmas to you....thank you for the smiles, friend.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Everything looks wonderful! Even your tree (the part I could see in the pic). Hope the rest of your holiday is just as lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thank you for sharing your fun & family times here, Faye! Lovely to see you at Shondas enjoying time together & your home looks so beautifully decorated also!
    God bless you all in 2017!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks for sharing. Your story of the tree reminded me of our own Christmas tree fail. A very warm memory for me. Thanks for that.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hello Faye Dear, Your post is lovely. It was great going through your photos and pretending that I am right there with you and your family. We had the nicest Christmas with our family. Our 2 year 4 month Cayden was so sweet and such a good boy. I will write later. I am pretty worn out but will get over it in a day or two.
    Happy New Year!!!

    L...
    S...

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love your stories Faye. They bring back so many wonderful memories for me. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Phil put lights on the rhododendron bush again this year. One half of one of the nets was out but I didn't notice til he told me. It looks like an angel! I guess we'll have to check them next year b4 he puts them up. They worked ok last year! Glad you had a nice Christmas with family. We were at our son and family's home Dec 24 and enjoyed cookies and gifts then headed out and stopped to get dinner before we got home. Few places were open then and glad Phil and Megan looked to see what was open. We enjoyed our 3 grandchildren as always. It was Lydia's first Christmas. Will be blogging that soon. I met up with P and M since we had different plans during the day. Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Happy New Year from us here in the mountains of PA... :D May this new year be filled with joy and much laughter! :0) mari

    ReplyDelete
  17. Good Morning my dear, Regarding the picture of Terry teasing Carter....Carter has strong Weston features. I see Jeff (my son)
    Sandy Maynard and Billy Reid in Carter's forehead and eyes. Handsome guy.
    Bugsy xoxo

    ReplyDelete