So Fleeting

When we're children it seems that Christmas will never get here. We grow up and wait for it more patiently. At some point we realize that waiting is part of the gift of Christmas. R.H. and I waited a bit more impatiently this December because for the first time a new granddaughter would be coming here to celebrate Christmas with us. The day finally came and she arrived at Mimi and Pawpaw's house for the very first time.

There was a night of getting to know sweet Nora after not having seen her in several months, and of visiting with our son Defee and his wife Wallace after Nora went to sleep. The next morning we all spent the day getting ready for the rest of the family to come for dinner--and of trying to hold and play with little Nora every chance we got. And of taking pictures, lots and lots of pictures!

Wallace made the punch, Oprah's Vanilla Citrus Punch.

And R.H. took more pictures.

With Wallace's help, R.H. and I made Carne Mechada, four eyes of round stuffed with a mixture of chopped olives, onions, capers and bacon. Defee made pictures of this whole process and I will try to post those pictures and the recipe in a couple of days as it has always been a hit with our family. Meanwhile, R.H. took more pictures.

How could he resist that face? I'm sure you can guess that he took lots more, but we won't post all of them here. And soon other family members came, all except for grandson Luke who couldn't make it, and for Christy and Bryan who couldn't make the trip from Florida this time.

Grandson Alex arrived.

Grandson Drake came, and got stuck taking a picture with me.

Drake's brother Caleb came.

Their parents Gurn and Teen came and R.H. was so busy catching a quick photo of my camera-shy daughter-in-law, which is very cute, that Gurn is only in a tiny part of it.

 Zack and Laura came, but poor Bentley had to stay at home this time, what with a new baby in the house. (Bentley is our beautiful English Bulldog granddoggie.)

Sorry, Bentley, but even our Brown-Eyed Boy had to curl up in a nest outside the glass doors, and be content to look into the kitchen. Wallace said that his eyes look as if a person was in there, and she is right...there is. A person with a very old sweet soul.

The table got set and the food all prepared somewhere along the way. Would you like to see a picture of my pretty Christmas table?

See, I have been studying all my blogger friends like Laurie who do beautiful table settings. Now I must admit that I have only managed to accumulate 4 of these beautiful chargers to go under my Spode Christmas tree and the gorgeous, if I do say so myself, cranberry red and white Spode plates that I put on top of them. So for the real dinner we used only the Spode Christmas Tree plates. Maybe next year?

After desserts of my Viennese Sandwich cookies, custard chess tarts, and Costco's Red Velvet Cake, the evening wound down and eventually everyone went home except for Nora, her daddy Defee, her mommy Wallace, R.H. and I. We went to bed.

And do you know what came next? The next day they went home so that Nora could have her first Christmas in her own home.

Such good times but so fleeting. And I feel so bleak and bereft.