Home Again, Home Again, Fiddle-De-Dee

My gosh!  It has been nearly a month since I posted here, and we're now in the swing of the Christmas season.  I promise that I have a really good excuse!  Really! 

I've been playing with the kids and the grands.

They're really getting big.  And Grandma had a lot of fun.

It was wonderful...

and exhausting.

And then, just when it was time to go home, there was this....  Yup, that's my car.  Nope.  I didn't drive in that stuff.  It snowed for 24 hours straight.

This is the second day.  The snow was at least 8 inches deep.

Lovely to look at, but...

Very, very cold.  I left for the airport and it was -7* F

And arrived home in my Ugg boots and 3 or 4 layers of sweaters (after 20+ years in Florida, I don't own winter clothes any more).

So, there you have it, the story of my Thanksgiving vacation.  In between, I caught a cold, ate lots of turkey and lots of pie, laughed and played with the grands, and the kids, made a quilt top, and even

Helped out a bit in the shop on Black Friday.

I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving too.

Giving Thanks!

Thanksgiving weekend is over and the countdown to Christmas begins.  I don't know why I always feel it is a race during the 4 weeks or so between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but somehow it is always bittersweet - sad to see the year go, and anticipation of the most blessed and exciting day of the year.  I truly don't know where this year went, but it flew by.

Handsome Son was home for Thanksgiving week and I can honestly say I watched more football and basketball in the last week than I have in the last year.  Wonderful Husband is an Oregon Duck, so their success this year has been very exciting - prior to this year no one ever knew they had a football team!!  BYU's game was disappointing (but as HS said, BYU was playing not to lose, rather than playing to win), as was Boise State's game (I would sure hate to be in that kicker's shoes), but there were other games I barely remember.  Still, it was great to hang out with HS and do something he really enjoys.

Being in front of the television restricts my sewing productivity, however.   With Christmas just a few short weeks away, that is not a good thing.  Thankfully, I had a few projects that required hand sewing and were perfect for TV time.  Some of them are Christmas gifts, and so can't be recorded here for a few weeks yet, but the little birdies above were one of the projects that got done while we were cheering on the teams.  They are intended for a Flickr swap.  What do you think?

Meanwhile, as this Thanksgiving weekend comes to a close, I am reflecting on this year and the many God-given gifts I have to be thankful for - a wonderful husband, three terrific children, a great son-in-law, a happy, healthy granddaughter, our health, a comfortable roof, plenty - or maybe too much! - to eat, a good job, and many opportunities this past year to enjoy being with those I love.  It really doesn't get much better than that.  Thank you, Heavenly Father!