Sunday, December 27, 2015

Little Miss Ariel

Michael and Valerie had a Holiday Party to attend when they got back to Tallahassee.  I decided to follow them back and watch Chloe!  She had gotten some dress up clothes for Christmas.  She dressed up as Ariel this evening.





Sorry, can't figure how to turn it around!  She is just too cute!


Out and About

Michael and Valerie were leaving Sunday to head back to Tallahassee.  We decided to go "out and about" for one last adventure.  We ended up at the Grand Floridian Hotel at Disney.  We thought it would be festive to check out all the Christmas displays among the Magic Kingdom properties.



The fireworks went off just as we arrived.  Not enough time to make it to the waterfront though before they ended.



The grounds were all lit up.  Many people were swimming in the pools.  It was the perfect weather for it....well in the mid 70's!



The Grand Floridian had a nice Gingerbread house display.  It was large enough that it was a sweet shop that you actually went up to the window to purchase sweets!






I can't fathom cooking with such a quantity of ingredients!



A Disney band was playing music.  Chloe thought running around in circles is dancing!



They had a nice Christmas tree.



Then onto the monorail and over to the Contemporary Resort.





Not nearly as impressive or festive.  I was rather disappointed.









Lastly, we went to the Polynesian Resort.  That was barely festive as well.



Chloe enjoyed the boat ride back to the Grand Floridian.  That was an enjoyable ride.  I tried to get a decent shot of the castle.  It was so pretty.



Had we had known how disappointing the other 2 hotels were, we would have probably gotten back in the car and headed over to the Ft. Wilderness Lodge.  Oh well, perhaps next time!





Friday, December 25, 2015

Merry Christmas 2015

Well, we did it, or should I say...Valerie did it!  Christmas Eve was the most wonderful day I've had in a long time.  We celebrated the start of Christmas by attending the 4 PM Mass, ALL of us, together! :)  I was SO happy!!



Valerie had worked hard all day preparing dinner. It was amazing.  Prime Rib roast, roasted potatoes asparagus carrots and onions, mashed potatoes (Clif can't live without those), and wild rice. I had baked the pies for her.  For dessert we had pumpkin pie, apple pie, and Stephen and Amber brought a coworker's maple syrup pie.



Dinner was ready when we got home from church.  She just turned off the oven and left everything in it while we went to church.  We just came home and ate.  But first, I had to get a family photo.



No, she didn't wear that to church.  She had already changed before she realized I wanted a family photo!

We bought a slimmer tree this year and gave Michael and Valerie our old one.  They said it fits much better in their "larger" living room than it did in ours.  I love our new tree.  Clif says, "what's the point?  The presents still take up just as much room as previous years.  They're just not all under the tree anymore!"



Valerie and Amber passed them all out while the rest eagerly awaited.





Watching the grandkids open their presents was such a delight.







Once the mess was cleaned up, the kids enjoyed playing together on the mats.





Levi enjoyed one of his new toys.




Christmas Day was our lazy day.  Valerie was exhausted from all her hard work.  Chloe enjoyed her snuggle time with Mommy and Daddy.  She kept taking turns between them.  It was cute.





They skadoodled over to her parents for the remainder of the day.

Stephen and Amber came over after they were done with her family and had Christmas dinner with Clif and I.  Diane had sent out a text suggesting we set a place in memory of Dad.  I cried at the thought, and did it.  I thought it was a great suggestion. (Michael had suggested after her text that I should just go to church again and be with Dad because during the Mass we state before the consecration "With all the Angels and Saints..."  and certainly Grandma and Grandpa are Saints!"  That made me cry some more!  We miss you dearly Dad, but are also happy you are now with Mom.



After dinner, Levi enjoyed another Christmas gift.  We took advantage of another opportunity for photos.  :)










Merry Christmas.  Wishing you a New Year filled with peace, joy, love, and abundant blessing.
Love to all! :)


Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Holiday Crunch

Okay, so it's only 2 days until Christmas Eve.  I FINALLY did and sent out my Christmas cards today!  For those of you who are not Catholic, Christmas actually goes through The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord which is the Sunday after Epiphany Sunday.  That being said, your Christmas cards will be right on time!!! :)

Has anything else gotten prepared for Christmas?  Not really.  Presents are "paper wrapped" but no ribbon, bows, or name tags on them.  Only traditional Chex Mix has been made a few times, but no baking.

I have tried to make this Advent a season of service to those in need.  It has been interesting.  I didn't realize how hard that would be.  For some reason, I thought because I was doing these gestures, I wouldn't stress about doing all the expected preparations one usually does between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Heck, it took me 3 weeks just to put up the Christmas decor, and if it wasn't for Clif's help, I would still be working at it!!!  I decided when the kids come home, I will display for them what was not used and give the option to claim it for themselves.  If not, it goes bye-bye.

Shopping...again, Clif to the rescue.  He did the majority of the shopping again this year.  I did go with him Saturday when we had our "1 day" cool front that put me temporarily into the Christmas spirit.  We had a wonderful day together.

Valerie is going to prepare our Christmas dinner and breakfast for us this year.  I am SO excited!  I told her I would help her, but it will be nice not to be cooped up in the kitchen all day while others enjoy festivities.  I am looking forward to spending time outside the kitchen this year!  YEAH!!!

Thought you all might enjoy Amber's 4 and 5 month photos she took of Levi.  She gets such great shots.  I just have to share.  Enjoy.....    And Merry Christmas!

The LCR are his initials... Levi Carter Rando









Okay Mom, here's a cute pose for you.



I'm getting frustrated with this hat.  It's too hot!



There.  Now I can cool off.  Whew! Put that in your pipe and smoke it!



I'd much rather pose this way.  Much more comfortable.



Until next time....

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Calorie Counter

Valerie had sent me an email last month.  I forgot to post it.  She says, "She picked the french bread pizza... Then looked at the calorie content hahahahaha!!! Not really of course, but it sure looks like that's what she's doing!"

That just made me belly laugh!





If she keeps this up, she'll be the "fit" one in the family. :)

Light up the Wild

Clif and I went to the light display at Moss Park this year.  It evidently has been going on for 3 years.  Who knew? Certainly not us!  However, tons of people evidently know about this.  When we got onto Moss Park Road, traffic was backed up for miles.  Crawling along at 5 mph, it took us an hour and 15 minutes to get into the park.  Once inside, it took 20 minutes to drive through.   You can cut back in line (which we did) and go around as many times as you like.  We did it twice.  There was so much to see, we didn't want to miss anything!



Moss Park is a special place for us.  It was the location for our first family camping trip.  Scouting events and church events took place here.  Michael and Valerie got married there.  So it was only natural for us to want to see this latest attraction!

It was so neat to see all these light up displays throughout the woods.  How clever!





The roadway was lined with lights.  Drivers were encouraged to drive with headlights off.  Not all adhered to the request.





They even had Santa flying in the helicopter!











Someone spent a lot of time wrapping numerous trees with lights.





Yes, even Grandma got run over by a reindeer!





They even had a tribute to our service men and women.



They even had turkeys in the trees!





One could say it was an enchanted forest!  How festive this display is.  It definitely puts one in the Christmas spirit! Merry Christmas!  :)