HAPPY NEW YEAR SWEET FRIENDS AND FAMILY

I've spent the day putting all things Christmas back up for another year, re-arranging, de-cluttering and sweeping out the garage.  I just did it in May and it's amazing how things just "gather".  George loves to take things away, thank goodness, so he helped by making trips to the dump and Goodwill.  It sure feels good to start the new year with that job behind me.

Now.....it's time to get myself cleaned up and ready for the party tonight.  That's a big job too!

Have a great New Year's Eve.  Be safe, okay?

See ya next year..............

Hugs from the beach,

Kat

"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

DECEMBER, REALLY?

Gosh, it's hard to believe it's December!  Actually very very close to January.

Today was absolutely gorgeous...almost 73 and sunny and so very very BEEEE-U-TI-FUL!
The resort is packed.  People everywhere and all are enjoying themselves with tennis, golf, the beach, biking and walking.

George and I took a long bike ride and stopped at the village for a burger.  It was so nice to just sit and chat after being so busy for so long.  I had lots to do at home, but said "to heck with it".  I did end up getting all my Christmas packed up later in the afternoon.  The plastic cartons are stacked in the garage, but not up on the shelves.  Yet.  Maybe tomorrow.....

Looking forward to some fun plans this weekend.  We are going to our annual New Year's Eve party here in the neighborhood.  Another friend has invited us over for her annual New Year's Day dinner.  And then on Monday a tennis friend has invited us to a Holiday Open House.

What's your plans?

Saw this and had to laugh -

Dear God,

My prayer for 2012 is for a fat bank account and a thin body. Please don't mix these up like you did last year.

AMEN!

Hugs from the beach,

Kat

"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

WHEW!

I don't know about you, but I'm tired.

The holidays have a way of doing that, but mine involved more travel than usual and that wore me out even more.

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas with Bree and Jay and Daven.  Daven is not quite 3 months old and is really showing lots of personality.  It was so special for George and I to be there for his first Christmas.

We're pretty sure his eye are going to stay blue just like ME (and his Uncle Eric)...even though Bree and Jay have brown eyes.

In the midst of all our Christmas joys, we received the sad news that my Uncle Jesse died on Christmas Eve, so I literally was only back home for less than 24 hours before I had to drive about 5 hours away to attend his funeral.   After the funeral, I drove to my Mom's (another hour) because the very next morning we had to be at the hospital (at 6:00 AM!) for my Mom's heart cath.  We received the best news possible....no blockages whatsoever!  Praise God!  The nurse who brought her back down after the procedure told us he would LOVE to buy her arteries.  80 years old and no blockages!

I had to take a photo when I looked above Mom's bed and saw the sign.  We teased her about being put in "Time Out". 

Mom should be be poster child for heart caths.  No problems at all afterwards.  Not even any bruising.  And no pain!  My sisters and Aunt Sherry and I had trouble keeping her from wanting to do too much though. We kept her sitting and had fun playing Chicken Foot dominoes.

Thank you Lord for such a wonderful outcome of Mom's procedure and for the time I got to spend with my family.

I drove back home this afternoon and hope to catch my breath, unpack, do laundry, take down the Christmas decorations, etc.... and then maybe have some time to see what all of YOU did for Christmas.

Hugs from the beach,

Kat

"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!

He's happy!
Mommy and Daddy are happy
Goose (that's me) is happy
Granddad is happy

Hope you are too.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!

Christmas hugs from the beach,
Kat

"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

GOING TO SEE OUR NEWEST LITTLE ELF

So excited! The sleigh is LOADED and we leave in the morning to go spend Christmas with this sweet little elf!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Have yourself a merry little Christmas, okay?

Christmas hugs from the beach,
Kat

"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

HMMMMM.....

Only four days until Christmas and, just like Santa, I'm thinking "Did I remember everything?"  "Have I missed something?"

I think I've finished shopping, wrapping and gathering of gifts.  Tomorrow after tennis it's laundry and packing time.  I'm even thinking about taking down the big tree before we leave on Friday.  It sounds sad, but I think I'd rather do it now than have to face it when we get back home.  We shall see....

Are YOU ready for Christmas?  Hope so sweet friends 'cause it's coming....FAST!

I'm so excited we are spending it with Daven and his Mommy and Daddy :-)

 

Christmas hugs from the beach,
Kat

"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

WILD AND CRAZY AROUND HERE

This is the only kind of snowman I'll see this Christmas!  LOL


I'm rushing around like a crazy person.  How about you?

It's wild and crazy at my house, on our roads and in the stores.

It's Christmas and I'm loving it!

Christmas hugs from the beach,
 Kat

"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

WHO SAYS I CAN'T HAVE A WHITE CHRISTMAS?

Who needs snow when you can have sugar white sandy beaches?

Christmas hugs from the beach,
Kat



"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

I SURVIVED THE BIG FAMILY CHRISTMAS PARTY!

You know those t-shirts that say "I survived ....."?   They seem to sell them for lots of things.

Well, I think there's some of us in our family that would love one that says "I survived the 2011 family Christmas party!"   LOL

We just got home this afternoon and I'm a tired "puppy"!

My Mom's annual Christmas party was yesterday.  It's the one time every year when "everyone" gets together in one place at one time. 

It's WILD!  It's crazy LOUD.  It's fun...and funny.  It's exhausting.  It's definitely chaotic.

We're one big mess.  But...we're family.

Thank you God for every single member of my family.  I love them so much.

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After Mom's party, George and I went over to our oldest daughter's house where all of our children and grandchildren gathered for our family Christmas party. Ours is a large wild and loud group too :-) With the 2 of us and our 4 children and their spouses and our ten grandchildren there's 20 of us.

All those gifts that everyone took so much time thinking about, shopping for and wrapping were ripped open in a flash.  LOL


How very blessed we are to be together with family during the holidays!


Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas hugs from the beach,
Kat

"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

HOPE IT ALL FITS!

"Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go"

We're packing our bags and loading the "sleigh" because we leave in the morning to go for my Mom's annual Christmas party on Saturday.  I'm so excited to see everyone, especially all four of our children and their spouses and all 10 grandchildren together.  And I get to be with my Mom and all of my siblings and their families.

Color me HAPPY!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas hugs from the beach,
Kat


"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

DEAR SANTA

At least I'm honest!   (snickering)

Christmas hugs from the beach,
Kat


"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

IT WON'T BE LONG NOW

Are YOU ready?

I'm close.  Very close.  :-)

Christmas hugs from the beach,
Kat


"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

O CHRISTMAS TREE, O CHRISTMAS TREE

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy candles shine so brightly!
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy candles shine so brightly!
From base to summit, gay and bright,
There's only splendor for the sight.
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy candles shine so brightly!

I love my carolers.  Over the years, I've moved them from one spot to another.  One year they graced the mantle.  One year they stood proudly on the baby grand piano.  Sometimes they are on the foyer table.  So many possibilities.

This year they are on my antique sideboard in the dining room.

I love them.  I love the detail.

I love the idea of having carolers stop by.  I would love to stand on the front porch and listen to their beautiful voices and then applaud, of course.   Afterwards I would love to invite them in for cookies and hot chocolate.

Just thinking about it makes me smile.

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Just a few more gifts and I'll be finished with my shopping.  Of course, they are the hard ones.  You know...the ones that take more thought, time and effort.  There's always a few each year, right?

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Remember me mentioning that my oven (my beautiful 6 year old Wolf) got sick the night before our family cookie bake.  Well, the repairman finally arrived today.  Somehow the bake element has gone "wacko" (my description, not his) and he has to order a part.  And it won't be here until after Christmas!  Thank goodness we will be away quite a bit and in between I can get by with grilling, using my crock pot and stove top.

I'm proud to say I'm keeping my Christmas spirit though :-)

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 We couldn't bake our family's traditional cookies this year, so we made candy.  Two kinds of fudge, white chocolate salties and some toffee bars.  I filled Christmas tins this afternoon for the neighbors with some of the candy we made.  It's all good, but especially the PHAT COW FUDGE  we made. Oh.My.Word!  "Slap your mama" good!   I got the recipe here.  So yummy!  Let me warn you though...one recipe makes two 9x13 pans...that's a lot of rich yummy fudge.  I would definitely half the recipe and make two separate batches next time to make it easier to stir.  It took two of us taking turns, but it's so worth it.

The problem for me?  Staying away from it.  I certainly don't want to be PHAT or fat!  LOL  Luckily I will be taking all of the candy to my Mom's Christmas party this weekend.
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Dear  Santa, 

I  don't want much for Christmas.  I just want the  person reading this to be happy.

Friends  are the fruit cake of life - some nutty,  some  soaked in alcohol,  some sweet - but  mix them together and they're my  friends ;-)

Love  ya.

Christmas hugs from the beach,
Kat


"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

THE CHRISTMAS OF NO COOKIES ?????

If you've been reading my blog for awhile you know my family has a tradition of making Spritz cookies, wearing Christmas aprons and silly hats.   We've done it for years.  Can't remember exactly how long, but we're guessing maybe 15 years.  Never missed a year.
Until this year.  "2011 - the year of no cookies"  :-(

Why?  My oven is sick.  Wouldn't you know it...the night before the cookie bake, it decided to act up.

But when life hands you lemons, you make lemonade, right?  So, we changed things up and made 4 kinds of candy this year.

You can't keep us girls from having fun!

First....a toast with mimosas :-)

My sister Kim, Mom, me and my Aunt Sherry

"What big ears you have little elf!" :-)


I missed making our traditional Spritz cookies, but it really doesn't matter what we make to put in our Christmas tins. 

It's the memories we make that are precious.

Click here and  here and here and here and here to see photos from past cookies bakes.

Christmas hugs from the beach,
Kat

"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

OUR CHRISTMAS PRESENT

Guess who's two months old?

Can you believe it!

And guess what?  We'll be with him for his very first Christmas!  Sooooo excited!

Christmas hugs from the beach,
Kat

"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

OH CHRISTMAS TREE, OH CHRISTMAS TREE

No matter how hard I try, I can't get a good photo of my entire tree in one photo.  sigh

Sooooo...here it in in sections :-)

I like a lot of ornaments.  This year, as I was decorating, my sister and husband kept asking "how many more ornaments are you gonna put on that tree?" Silly people!  I just gritted my teeth and kept going.

Do you do this?  I have "gift pretenders" under my tree?  I've done it for years and years.  I absolutely hate a "naked tree".  You know, before you have gifts under the tree AND after all the gifts are gone.  A "naked" tree is just SAD :-( 

Soooooo..... I keep some pretty decorated, but empty, boxes in a large Rubbermaid container and bring them out every year so there's ALWAYS gifts under the tree....from the moment it goes up until it goes down.  Makes me happy!  And my tree looks happy too.

Some of the gifts you see are REAL and some are the " gift pretenders"   :-)



I'm loving the Christmas season.  I hope you are too.
 

Christmas hugs from the beach,  
Kat 

"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."