Thanksgiving
I was privileged to have both girls join me Tuesday to prepare the food.
We decided to celebrate Wednesday instead of Thursday so they wouldn't be
stuffed eating at both households (parents/in-laws).
The cousins were able to play while we worked.
It's easiest to have Judith stationary otherwise she explores everything!
A quick picture with the Thanksgiving decorations.
One more day, and they will be stowed away for next year.
Thought we'd be smart and have the kids at a table of their own.
That was short lived!
Valerie had found a cool table cloth that you could color.
People could doodle on it while conversing with those cooking in the kitchen.
What a clever idea!
The grandkids spent the night Wednesday night.
I had the big idea of having them help put up Christmas decorations.
Levi and Judith were the first to rise and shine.
So precious!
They are all patiently waiting for their breakfast,
humoring me while I took a picture.
We decorated the little tree first. It was then moved into their bedroom.
I used to have this tree in our room, but with the new bedroom furniture, there
isn't room for it anymore. The kids were excited when I moved it to their room.
Then we ventured outside to put up the outside lights.
My how our weather changes from day to day.
A cold front came through overnight and it was a bit on the chilly side.
Judith enjoyed watching.
She is now pulling up on anything she can get a hold of.
I had asked Clif and Valerie if they could take pictures of the grandkids
for our Christmas cards. Clif has a nice Nikon camera.
Unfortunately, when I put the Sim card in the my computer, it wouldn't read it.
This project would have to wait for a future date. I don't have time to mess
with technology when it has its own timeline!
Ugh!
At least you get to see what I intended to send!
Then we decided to take other pictures to display around the home.
I made Judith's stocking on Thanksgiving Day. It is nestled behind Chloe's.
I have a photo frame in the bedroom that says
"Grandma and Me".
I wanted to have updated pictures to rotate within the frame.
We call Judith "Valerie's mini me".
She is Valerie's clone.
Sunday night, when Amber, Levi, and I were coming around the corner
from our walk, we saw our roof lights go out.
When Clif got home from his walk, he investigated only to find it was
criminal mischief. Someone cut out bulbs from the string. He took the one string down.
I came home from work the next day to find the next string of lights cut.
Each roof clip shows a missing bulb.
This got frustrating because no neighbors saw anyone do it.
We put a surveillance camera on that side of the house, only to come home
the next day and have a bulb removed from the opposite side of the house.
Stephen came over Saturday after Thanksgiving weekend and helped
Clif put up 8 more cameras. The good news is whoever the perpetrator was stopped.
The In Between Days before Christmas
Valerie's brother flew in from Minnesota. This meant we had them 2 weekends in a row as the
bookends to his visit to Tallahassee. Flights are much cheaper flying into Orlando.
I was able to snag some cute pictures while they were here.
Some taken by me, and some shared by Valerie from her phone.
LaDon's Cookie Bake
I took a weekend and went to visit Aunt LaDon. She had requested we have
a cookie bake again this year. Only my cousin Michele and I were able to make it.
We had a wonderful visit.
Michele always does such a great job setting the table and making dinner.
I forget what she called it, but it is her version of apple pie,
and boy was it delicious.
The only contribution I made to dinner was creating the flower arrangement.
Christmas Celebration
We celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve.
Many pictures taken were blurry, so I only have a few to share.
First up, before we started opening presents, the dog next door was barking.
This is what we found it barking at.
Second of all, when Stephen went out to his truck to get Dad's present,
he noticed the roof lights not working again. Dad investigated to find another cut wire.
We spend over an hour combing through the video surveillance tapes.
We found the culprit! A squirrel. Yes. A squirrel busy at work meticulously chewing the wires!
We will be checking with our next door neighbor to see if he hid the bulb stash in their yard.
The only thing I thought of was Caddyshack when the gopher got the best of Chevy Chase.
Clif had sealed the holes to our attic in October when we realized the squirrels had made a home there. I guess this was their way of getting even.
Christmas Day
to her family's for Christmas.
No one was here for the rest of the day, so,
I finally got the time to do the Christmas Cards!
Hence why you all got them after Christmas!
Lowry Park Zoo
All I wanted for Christmas was to spend time with family.
The girls along with the grandkids and I spent a day at Lowry Park Zoo after Christmas.
Now this was a perfect present. I had so much fun being with them and making
memories with the grandchildren.
Levi was exhausted, so while he slept...
...Chloe enjoyed some rides.
And as soon as Levi woke up, he joined her.
Levi even fed the giraffe.
It was the perfect gift.
Thanks for the memories Amber and Valerie.
I had a blast!
Awaiting the New Year
Valerie and the girls go back to Tallahassee New Year's Day.
These are just some of the fun times we had in between.
Chloe had gotten a bird feeder for Christmas.
She wanted to paint it, and have it in Grandma's tree.
What better toy than a box?
It has gotten so much use that it is ripping at the seams!
And lastly, Valerie had gotten a bunny blanket robe type thing for Christmas.
Chloe was having fun with it this morning.
Judith was amused with her sister.
What a nice way to finish out 2017...reminiscing about recent events.
Happy New Year!
Hope 2018 brings many of God's blessings to all.
