More of Texas at Thanksgiving

 Abby with Grandpa Mike.  She is wearing a dress that belonged to her mother when she was a little girl.

 Abby, Sara, Jory, and Aaron on Thanksgiving Day.

 I posted this even though I'm not happy with my picture.  I had lost 20 lbs by this picture, but I don't think you can tell it.  Also, my hair was in a lousy style.  I'm trying to grow it out and was doing a short page-boy which is not complementary to me.  I have since changed it to a more swept back and curled look. It suits my face better.  Hopefully, one of these days, I can show it.   Also, since this picture I've lost five more lbs.!

 Abby modeling a princess dress.

 Aaron mesmerized.

 Isn't this a good "men" shot?!  Usually it involves blue jeans, ball caps, and a car. They were trying to do something with the computer and the TV.

Aaron's Gingerbread House

Aaron's school puts on a display of gingerbread houses.  If the

children want to, they can buy a gingerbread house kit, assemble

it, and bring it in.  It is solely voluntary.  This is Aaron's 2nd year

of making and displaying one.  He did most of this himself.  He 

needed a bit of help in lining various parts of the house with icing, 

but the rest was his doing.  He cut the green stuff to make the door

and the trees and put all the candy on. Aaron is 6 and is in 1st grade.

Sara wrote his name on it.

Thanksgiving in Texas

We spent Thanksgiving in Grapevine, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, with my daughter and her family. We arrived on the Tuesday before and left their house on Sat. morning to drive to Austin for four days.  We had a wonderful time!

 This is the cheese, crackers, etc,  and dessert table.

 This is a view of Thanksgiving dinner from one side of the island.

The menu was: turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, carrot souffle,

biscuits, creamed corn, tossed salad, deviled eggs, Brussels sprouts,  

stuffing, and a cranberry dish.  My daughter will tell me if I left 

anything out.  It was absolutely delicious!

This is a view from the other side. 

 This was the sweet potato and pecan cake---one of my

favorites! The other dessert was apple pie.

Sara and Abigail

We were goofing around -- this is my son-in-law's step-father, John.

He and wife Kim were there also.

Abigail, Sara, Jory, and Aaron

Mike and me with Abigail and Aaron.

All of us.

Retirement with the grandkids

The first week of retirement I scheduled a day with the grandkids.  Friday was their first day off from school and they would be staying Thurs. night at their dad's.   So I arranged to get there when he had to leave for work, so that the oldest, Peyton, could sleep in.  Dillon opted to go to the sitter's as there were going to be boys there that he hadn't seen for awhile.  That left the girls and me.

I had bought the game Quirkle for them for Christmas.  It's a game much like dominoes except it uses shapes and colors.  I had bought the extension boards for the game which makes it much harder to play. Peyton loves it.  It can't keep Addy's attention and Dillon hasn't played it yet. We learned one of the extended board games that day and we each won one game.

Next we went to the Cambridge city pool.  We arrived there a little before 11, so we got in right when it opened and found good chairs.  The chairs were taken up quickly.

Addy headed straight for the diving boards to jump off.  She did not go on the high one though.

Peyton hooked up with some friends who were there also.  Eventually, Addy found a friend there too. We  were there for 3 hours, I read an entire More magazine, and the girls had a blast.

After we went home and changed we went to DQ (Dairy Queen) to get ice cream.  They had pizza at the pool.

Peyton is the third from the left and then there is Addy.

The next week Peyton stayed overnight here so we could go shopping together at a near-by mall.  I drove to Cambridge and picked her up at her middle school after she finished a volleyball open gym. We went to Bob Evans for supper and took some food home to Grandpa.
The next day we went shopping at an Old Navy store where she got jeans, tops, and a bathing suit.
We stocked her up on purse size hand sanitizer at Bath and Body (her request), took some things back to Penny's, and made a quick stop at Target.  We had a lunch of broccoli cheddar soup and bread at Panera Bread. It's a favorite lunch of mine.
After we got home, we played another game of Quirkle, then I took her to her mom's. It was a wonderful day.

This past week they've been gone on vacation with their mom and her family.  They got back Sat. and left today for a week long vacation with another set of grandparents, their dad,  Aunt Sara,Uncle Jory, Uncle Eric, and cousins.
However, we managed to get a supper in last night.  Doug had to bring his dog over for us to dog sit. So I made tacos, corn on the cob, and pasta salad.  We then went for ice cream.  (I think that will be a recurrent trip this summer.)

The younger ones helped bring the bird feeders in and threw out corn for the lone deer that visits. They always enjoy doing that. It was another pleasant time with them.

Corner View: Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time a Japanese princess with a reindeer crown and a bright red hair bow discovered an ancient trunk and just had to open it.  Treasures awaited her.

[Abigail played dress-up one Christmas and of course had to look in the old trunk to discover the treasures awaiting(catalogs)].
For more corner views go to Francesca's.

Corner View: Cuddle

 This moment is one of my favorite captured on film.  It is Christmas 2011 and my son is getting his niece to sleep. He felt he had had plenty of practice with 4 children of his own.  He succeeded then fell asleep with her.

My mom had a cat named Muffy.  When she and my dad moved into a retirement home, they couldn't take the cat with her.  I believe my daughter gave this stuffed animal cat to her grandma to cuddle with.  Her son (mom's great-grandson) now loves it and keeps it close.

For more corner views, head on over to Francesca's.

Christmas and New Year

 This was taken over Thanksgiving.  It was our Christmas celebration with Sara and her family from Texas.

Dillon wanted a Seattle Seahawks Marshon Lewis football jersey.

It was his most wanted gift and we were able to give it to him.

Grandpa and Dillon 'hulking' for the camera!

 I bought Doug's crew all a Santa scene Lego set and they were quiet and busy as they put them together.  We had Doug and his crew over the Saturday before Christmas.

 We iced cookies together after opening presents and eating Subway for dinner.  I was able to enjoy the time with them and not stress over food preparation.  Everyone loved it!

 Our kitchen is a gathering place despite there being limited  seating.  The evening was drawing to a close here.

 Next are some of my decorations:

 My snow babies.

 Mom's antique ornaments, of which I meant to give some to my brother this past summer.  I will still mail him some if he's interested.

 More of my angel collection.
Just a few Christmas items are placed among the Precious Moments.

 Also in the dining room.  The ceramic tree was my mother's made and given to her by my Aunt Eleanor.  She then gave it to me when they downsized.

 This is the first year in over 12 years that I've been able to set out my village under the tree.

My mantle had some of my Santa collection on it.

This manger was bought for my older brother Roy's first Christmas.  It is 68 years old. I was always fascinated with it, so Mom eventually gave it to me.  Pieces have been broken and paint is chipped, but I don't want a different, newer version.  I cherish this one.

 Even my bathroom got some holiday cheer!

It's taken me awhile to start blogging again.  I took a long break so I could get caught up on a lot of other things.  I succeeded with most of them.

New Year's Eve we spent a quiet evening at home with Chinese take-out.  We watched shows that we had DVRed.
New Year's Day we first cheered Oregon on to victory and then rooted for Ohio State.  In the play-off game, we will be rooting for Ohio State over Oregon.

I hope to continue posting. I hope all is well with you all.  Tomorrow, we return to school.  Is it terrible that I'm hoping for a snow day?!