A Visit to Grandma's House

Nate, Misty, and family came to visit for a few days last week. I was so excited to see them. We had a great time together.

We made pancakes with smiley faces and they were loving the blueberries.













Little Elijah's curls are growing back!!!





Elijah was having so much fun with his dad bouncing him on the exercise ball.

Paisley's Party & Grandchildren Photos

It was 28 degrees in Roseville but we went for a short walk. Weston and Benson didn't mind the cold. They are so cute in the stroller together.


































































Benson was so cute crawling in and out of the oven drawer. He was content for a long time in the drawer. He looks so cute with his two little teeth showing.
































































We celebrated Paisley's birthday early so I could be there. Ashley made an awesome chocolate peanut butter cake.





















Paisley and Weston had a great time playing together.

Charity is the Best!

One of the many reasons I love to have Charity come home to visit me is because she is always helping me improve my organization. She has such great insight and great ideas.

I have had a hard time keeping my craft room clean and Charity realized that I didn't have a place for everything. So, we bought this new cube case and it is terrific. Now I have a place for everything and everything is staying in its place so much easier. Thanks Charity for solving my messy craft room problem! You are the best!











This is the new bench that you will find right inside my front door. Out went the shoe rack when we bought this. I put this bench together myself. We found it at Home Depot. It is super. Now my guests can sit on the bench to take their shoes on and off and then I have the cubes to hold some of my shoes. The bench even comes with the cushion. What a deal! I'm hoping this will make it easier for my guests to leave their shoes at the front door when they come to visit! Charity what a great idea. It matches my living room perfectly and is working out great. You are the best! Thanks so much for your help.

A Quiet Christmas with Charity

It was so fun to have Charity come home for Christmas. We had a great two weeks together. She got some much needed rest and relaxation and we enjoyed the holiday season.

We had some great menus for Christmas eve and Christmas day - cranberry chicken, yummy potatoes, a special brussel sprouts recipe, pomegranate salad, caramel apple cheesecake and a cranberry pear tart.

On New Year's Eve we made coconut shrimp and mango creme brulee - they were both super good! We really enjoyed ourselves and it shows on my bathroom scales!

This is a picture of us by the new Christmas tree. Charity had the great idea of getting a smaller tree and I love this new tree so much better than the one we've had since the kids were little. This tree is perfect and I'm so glad I downsized!

You can see one of my many Christmas gifts in the picture above - Jason and Ashley got me a fabulous blu-ray DVD player! What a surprise and I love it! They are so good to help me keep up with the latest technology. They were so generous to also sent me a gift certificate for Kindle books! I'll be using that soon!

Charity brought me a suitcase full of presents - I couldn't believe how much she brought me - gloves, scarfs, pajama pants, shirts, fleece tops, hot pads with my chefs, a chef picture for my kitchen, a book, tons of beautiful jewelry, and so much more! Charity is so generous - she is amazing!

I love the calendar that Nate and Misty got me. It is full of fabulous family pictures and must have taken a very long time to create. This was a special gift and I so appreciate it. They also sent me a gift certificate from Amazon that I will use for Kindle books or something from my wish list. In addition, they promised to come visit me and I'm excited about that and hope it will be soon.

Casey and Jenna were fantastic in shopping from my wish list! They bought me a new set of dishes with red so they match my kitchen decorations. I love them. They also got me a Taylor Swift CD that I listen to in my car everywhere I go - I have been wanting that for a long time. They also remembered and got me my favorite chocolate covered cherries from Harry & David's! They also sent an awesome family picture that is in the living room proudly displayed. There is one more gift and now I can't remember what it was - jewelry? (Jenna, please remind me......)

Charity and I shopped the after Christmas sales, went to Weight Watchers meetings, and visited the Grotto in Portland (one of the popular Christmas events). At the Grotto, we heard Michael Allen Harrison play the piano and enjoyed some delicious hot chocolate recommended by my friend Mo. I had a great holiday. Thanks Charity for making it so special!

I am so blessed and really enjoyed the holidays. The time went so fast. I'm now looking forward to seeing everyone I missed very soon! I'm going to California and hope to get to Grants Pass sometime this month.