It's not already here, surely. Time to say goodbye to December? And time to say goodbye to 2018?
I rarely sit down to write a post without doing a rough draft and certainly not when I don't even have a clue of what to write. But it's late on Sunday night and this post needs to go up Monday morning December 31 so I'm going to put some pictures up and wing it, with hopefully a better story later on at Dewena's Window to go with more photos of our Christmas weekend 2018.
As usual on the last day of the month, I thank artist Kevin Dodds for his calendar pages that speak to my heart. I loved this year's so much that I ordered a new one that will go up in our kitchen January 1st.
The kitchen shelf next to my calendar changes almost every month, seasonal changes and little things that remind me of our granddaughters every day as I cook our meals.
The sweet photo on the left above is from last year when we got to see Nora play the Virgin Mary in her school play.
I know it's silly to talk about how she and her little sister have grown since last Christmas as children have a way of doing just that...but I truly can't believe how much they've grown.
Someone is peeking through the tree branches!
These old pink camels keep watch over our girls' current Christmas photo.
Help, nothing! This big girl calmly and carefully put the cookies together herself, dipped the edges in the melted chocolate and rolled them in sprinkles--all by herself, with her mom standing by just in case.
Next year she'll probably be taking over my kitchen, and oh boy do I need all the help I can get now!
I'm so thankful I had plenty of help this year as our sweet houseguests saved the day for me, pitching in while making every minute a joy for me as we got ready for family coming for a party Sunday afternoon.
I don't know what I would have done without their help!
But the girls' parents did find time for some Christmas kisses. These aren't staged kisses by any means. I hope they won't mind me embarrassing them but these two remain a marriage made in heaven.
Not all of our guests that afternoon were family. I spy a sweet blog friend sitting on the left end of the sofa who came all the way from North Carolina with her husband to meet us for the first time! And yes, the television is on during the party as well as Christmas music because football is on and RH loves football. And as hard as he works he deserves to have it on...muted, though. Pretty please.
Blog friend Doreen and I did get some time to talk seriously, just as we do in our emails. With our other pen pals Poppy and Tammy we four carry on some lallapaloosas of girl talk. If only the other two had been here too--some day!
I have a photo of Doreen's husband talking to my brother-in-law Fred but can't manage to convert it to jpg. That means a call for help and also I must first get permission whether I can post the Fisherman's photo or not!
I did my Christmas shopping at the local antique mall and among other things, snapped up all nine vintage aprons I found there. Grandsons Alex and Luke modeled them for us, with help from their little cousin.
That little lace apron went to a daughter-in-law whose wedding to our son last fall on their farm included lace covered hay bales.
My dachshund apron was a Christmas gift last year from a daughter-in-law, so every lady received a vintage one even with one saved for a daughter-in-law who couldn't be with us due to bronchitis.
I think the aprons were paired up with the right ladies, including those on our beautiful daughter Christy. Who are those young women with her? Only the loves of her sons' lives, that's who!
My sister Teresa is talking to our granddaughter-in-law. The tiny tot in her mother's arms is our new great-granddaughter! Her big brother is running around somewhere, keeping his daddy busy probably. And that's our beautiful daughter-in-law Courtney in the cool outfit that Christy and I loved and two or our grandsons catching up with each other.
Zack and Bryan sample some snacks and aren't nearly as serious as they look here.
Christmas Eve morning it was soon time to say goodbye to our granddaughters who had to return home with their parents to get back in time for candlelight Christmas service. Believe me, I stretched that getting ready to leave time as long as I could, watching two episodes of My Little Pony with our darling girls. But all too soon it was time for them to gather their gifts from aunts and uncles.
Christmas Eve night was a quiet one with just us and our daughter and son-in-law. Christy grilled burgers for us and cooked a prime rib roast for the next day. After supper we watched It's A Wonderful Life together.
On Christmas Day RH and I finished up some cooking and then we were off to Zack and Courtney's house, the farmhouse they bought from us two years ago.
I love this photo of RH and Courtney but didn't get one of Zack and Court together, both of them too busy hosting.
And this one of Christy and Bryan!
I have other photos for the Window post so hope to cover everyone then. It was a wonderful time together as we all feasted on turkey and prime rib and delicious sides and desserts galore.
It was the perfect ending to Christmas Day but RH and I were tuckered out and were the first to leave. We went home and and put our feet up while the young set cleaned up.
And so Christmas 2018 is over but there's still time for me to read the Christmas books I didn't have time for before Christmas. These below don't include a stack that I have managed to read.
I will continue to observe Christmas through the 12th Day of Christmas and you'll probably find me listening to Christmas music all through January. I'm not ready to dismantle Christmas yet. Not the Christmas trees inside or the one on the kitchen porch with its purple and pink lights that shine in the night and I enjoy while I'm cooking supper.
I'm hoping our neighbors will leave up their Christmas lights a while so I can enjoy them every time I look out my bedroom windows.
Even when the lights go out up and down the street and the trees come down and the last cookie is eaten, I pray that the joy of Christmas will stay with me and with you.
A happy and healthy New Year to all! See you in 2019!
Note: Many of these pictures were taken by our son Defee--all of the good ones were! A thank you to him!
