There is an old saying that goes. The faster I go, the hinder I get. Well in November and December I just got hinder and hinder with my blogging! So this will be an attempt to catch up a little bit.
The week before Thanksgiving I took the train to AR to meet my new granddaughter, Tessa. Oh how I enjoyed that week. I got to hug and squeeze that sweet baby for a whole week. I was in heaven. She is just such a little butterball and so much fun to cuddle with.
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| Sweet Tessa |
Got to spend some quality time with Tori also. Was able to see her swim in a swim meet, went to her school, went to her favorite yogurt place and we danced and danced. Dancing bout did me in but sure did enjoy it at the time Tori is a great swimmer and for a 6 year old, she has the most beautiful strokes. Probably doesn't hurt that her Dad is a swim coach!!
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| Dancing! |
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| Diving in! |
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| Mimi, Tori, Tessa and me. |
We fit an awful lot into that week. Got to go out to eat at some fun places and meet a lot of Evan, Traci and Tori's friends. Even got to spend some time will Mimi, the other grandma. I really loved my whole time in AR and being with my family.
Then my son, Evan drove me to just south of Kansas City and my son Eddy came from Iowa and met us and he took be up to Iowa. Then I got to spend a week in Iowa and got to see a lot more of my family. Ended up having 3 Thanksgiving dinners. I first stayed with Eddy, Karen and Owen and had wonderful Thanksgiving Day dinner with them and Karen's brother and his wife. That evening we went over to Ethan and Maya's house, where we had delicious appetizers and soups. A lot of my family came to that. Then on Saturday a big gang of us went up to Elin and Terry's for another terrific Thanksgiving Day dinner, It was another great week. Everyone made great efforts for us all to get together several times and I loved being with my kids and grandkids..
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| Some of my tough girl, granddaughters. Carrie, Katy, Anna and Jenny. |
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| Erin and John. |
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| Anna and Ian. |
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| Elin and Terry who hosted one of the great Thanksgiving dinners. |
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| Eddy and Karen feeling mighty full. |
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| Jonathan and Owen chilling! |
I got back around December 1st and it dawned on me that Christmas was not far off, so I got busy shopping, mailing cards and packages and baking up a storm. My daughters, Elie and Erin came all the way from Iowa to be with me for Christmas. On Christmas Day we had Elie, Erin, Jeff, Dawn and Bob and Sue here for most of the day. It was a fun day.
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| Bob and Sue enjoying their Christmas. |
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| Christmas Eve dinner with Dawn, Jeff, Erin, Elie and me. |
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| My "Kiss My Face" lotion. It is just peachy!'' |
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| Elie at State Park with her new cross country ski's |
So I got thru the holidays pretty good. I still had my times of sadness when I started missing, my Mom, Dad and John. They all loved the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays so much. Must be thankful for all the wonderful holidays we did have together, but it is very hard sometimes. It is always amazing to me, when you can be in a whole roomful of people and suddenly waves of sadness hit you, cause you know someone is missing and you know how much they would have loved being there. I believe I will always have these moments for as long as I live.
After the girls left for home, I had another downer time for a while, until I decided I had to make some things happen. I guess I have to have things to look forward to or I don't do so well. So I got busy and made plans for "The Sisterhood with the Views" to come spend a weekend here on 15th. Then I go via train to Iowa for my son Evan's induction into the Swimming Hall of Fame at end of month. I will come home from that and a couple weeks after that will leave for FL for a month. By the time I get home spring won't be far off and there is always lots to do at that time of year. Then summer with family visiting, garden, flowers, golf and beach - I should be good for a while again- but who knows!! Besides by the time I get back, I should have lots to blog about!!
