Family Christmas

Well, technically not my family, but Ron's. However nobody could make me feel more welcome. We flew to Denver on Monday the 21st and spent a lovely week with them.

The first thing Ron does when in the area is run to the Danish bakery. I was attracted to all the chocolate coated pastries. (I'm not sure what those green frogs are.)


However, Ron's favorite is an almond kringle. The best kingles come from Racine, WI, but he said this one was very acceptable.


We stayed with his daughter Kim who treated us royally. Here she is with her 'taco ring' creation which was artistic and tasty.


While she went to work, we all pitched in to help out. Here Shannon and Grandpa Ron unloaded the dishwasher. It's a good thing Shannon knew where things went.


Ron's son Jim pitched in and helped with the cooking. . .


Under the supervisory eye of Ron's daughter Kelli. (Just kidding, Kelli did more than any of us.) As a professional organizer, she couldn't resist organizing a couple of kitchen drawers.


The day after we arrived it began snowing and continued for 24 hours. But it didn't accumulate much and just created a winter wonderland. Here's the view out Kim's back door.


Little Maddie enjoyed the snow, but didn't stay out too long in the cold.


Here's Kim with her family - husband Tom, Shannon, and Adam (and of course, Maddie.)


And the siblings - Kim, Jim and Kelli.


I even managed to get all of them in one shot. Aren't they a great looking group?


Shannon modeled what all the well-dressed 8-year-olds are wearing this year.


Christmas morning the kids were soooo excited to see what Santa brought them.


Kelli began to worry that someone thought she needed to exercise.


Don't worry, Kelli, if you can fit into those tiny shorts, I don't think you need to worry.


Kim snapped this of me when I modeled my present from Santa - just what I wanted! Hey, is that Kelli on the box?


Adam's birthday is on Christmas! Like me, I guess he never has summer clothes either.

I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday!

Happy Holidays!

This is our first Christmas as home owners and some might say we are minimalistic in our decorations. I remember years ago when I moved to Florida from the Northeast and everyone on the block had fantastic decorations. In fact my helpful neighbor asked if I needed any help hanging my lights. I asked, "What lights?" Since then, although I moved into an RV, I seem to have accumulated some stuff. Ironic, huh? The only new thing I bought was the wreath on the window. Even that might have been a mistake. Where do you store things in Arizona where the summer temps reach 120 so the attic is out and there is no basement?


This is our cute little fiber optic tree.


I thought this was the best outdoor decoration in the neighborhood.


We asked Brenda to take our picture for our Christmas card. Although she kept trying to move us out of the shadow, I guess we didn't move far enough. I was discouraged and almost gave up.


But wait!!! We attended a dinner put on by the local assisted living establishment. They fed us prime rib and are hoping we'll remember them when we need their services. It was really nice, but the best was a chance to pose with Santa! At first I hesitated, but then they mentioned the magic word - FREE!

I do wish we had dressed more seasonally, but we were so happy with the results that it went out with the Christmas cards.

Ron and I wish all of you a wonderful Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year!!

Winter??

Being from the Northeast, I get a kick out of the weather forecast. Check this out.

Treasures

Probably the nicest thing about owning a house is having a place to display objects that have special meaning to us. Once again, this post is only interesting to me and maybe a few others, but I'm going with it anyway.

First, we carried some of my father's photographic prints across the country in the RV. If you think that wasn't a challenge, just look at the size of these babies. Don't they look great?

My father has been taking gorgeous pictures for most of his life. I like to say he designed his house around the darkroom. To see a few of his pictures on Flickr, click here. (Keeping in mind that they were scanned in from film.)

I also have several of my mother's cross stitch masterpieces.


Here are some more of my mother's cross stitch pictures. Brenda gets the credit for suggesting that I put them in a triple frame.


Speaking of Brenda, she loaned us a few of her treasures too. After all, why should they languish in her storage space?


I also have a very special cross stitch sampler created by my aunt.


This is my favorite knickknack. I found it when I was out with the same aforementioned aunt. I love it because it reminds me of my two precious girls.


I know you're probably wondering where are Ron's treasures. Well he has some amazing pictures of his ancestors and has claimed the hallway for their display. So far that's a work in progress.

Life as Homeowners

I have been very neglectful of our blog lately, but for the life of me, I can't figure out what to write. I could mention that we've been having a real cold spell where it hasn't even made it up to 60 and we even had, heaven forbid, rain!

Or I could tell how I've been trimming the citrus trees which shot up four feet since last year. The scratches I received from my battle with the wicked lemon tree prompted one person to ask if I have a cat. I replied, "No, I have a lemon tree."

I could brag about how I found a valance in my favorite thrift shop that I thought was similar to the print in the living room sofa. When I brought it home to try in the living room window, it wasn't similar to the sofa material, it was the same!

Or how about the day we met fellow bloggers Carol and John for a fun three hour lunch. I've been reading their blog for a year or so, following their travels and transition from part time to full time RVers. They are just as charming in person as they are in their blog. To check out their adventures, click here.

I could say that I'm still practicing my hostessing skills with mixed results. You'll have to ask Brenda, Pat and Harold, or Judy and Max about that.

But alas, I have no pictures of any of this, so it's not very interesting. I did miss a good photo op the other day when Ron and I helped Pat and Harold put Christmas lights along their roof line. Okay, so Ron did it and the three of us just watched. This reminded me of the old joke, "How many seniors does it take . . .?" (You can fill in the rest.)