Quiet

Happy Saturday my friends!  We've had a relatively quiet holiday weekend so far.  It was just Dennis and I and so I made the chicken enchiladas that he requested.

They were delicious.  Larry, Nita and Sophie stopped by in the evening and we shared dessert of pecan pie and pumpkin cake.  Yum.

Kyleigh's Wonderful Wallaby is finished!  I'll try to remember to get a picture of her wearing it at Christmas.  She chose the color and I think it turned out well.

I changed up the pattern to seed stitch instead of garter stitch for the accents around the hood, front placket and pouch.

I really like how it turned out don't you?

And now I've begun one for Caleb in the Denver Bronco's colors as he requested.  I think he's going to love it.  :-)

Yesterday I decorated for Christmas.  I didn't put out as much as I usually do since we'll be gone a lot this December.  We have a friend staying here while we're in Hawaii, along with her daughter, son-in-law and grandson who are visiting from New York.  I don't want them to have to worry about things breaking so I didn't decorate as much.

This nativity gets a prominent place every year.  I made it 36 years ago for our first Christmas together.  I'll try to get a better picture during the day when the light is better.  I hand painted each piece and it will be handed down to one of our kids someday.  36 years and not one piece has ever been broken.  A miracle to be sure, considering we had three kids and I had an in home daycare for 13 years. :-)

The tree.

I made this tree skirt a few years ago.  Mandy had always loved the one we had when she was growing up, so when she and Brad got married, I gave it to her for their first Christmas together.  You can see the Christmas Moose sitting there.  He sings different Christmas songs.

Today I wrapped presents and had a nice fire burning.  It's cold outside.  We have lots of wood scraps from the building of the shed.  The guys were going to take the scraps to the dump and I ran out there and collected them all.  No sense wasting good firewood is there?

I mailed our Christmas cards yesterday and got ALL the wrapping done today.  Monday I will go to the post office and mail the boxes to Mandy & Brad, Alex and the box with the blankets I made for the Navajo reservation.  I will be completely done with Christmas preparations and it's not even December yet!  I strive for this every year but don't always manage to do it.  I love being able to relax and enjoy the season without any panic about gifts or decorating.  Now, I can sit back and enjoy the hustle and bustle.  I've been known to just go sit at the mall with a hot chocolate and watch the crowds as they scurry around.

I'll be heading to Portland, Oregon to see Taci, Teresa and Gracie on December 19, one day after we get back from Hawaii!  Dennis decided he didn't want me to drive the 6 hours each way by myself in the winter, so I bought a plane ticket and rented a car for the day!  In the past it wasn't a big deal.  If the  weather was bad I could just stay with Mandy and Brad until the roads got better.  Now I've lost my free hotel!  I can't wait to see the girls, it's been a long time, I think it was in July or early Augustwe last were together.

I hope you all have a lovely remainder of the weekend and I'll be back soon.

"Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name." Psalm 100:4

Blessings,

Betsy