Taking Down Christmas

It's shocking to imagine, last Friday Family Dinner Night with both sides was postponed due to a winter snowstorm, ice, high winds, and windchill far under 0 degrees. Today, it's sunny and 62 degrees. Thank you, Jesus!!

Today is my last day of two weeks off work. It was much needed time off and I am so ready to go back. I may have slipped into the office a couple times, but I'm refreshed and ready.

Only if it were as easy as saying, "Alexa, take down the Christmas decorations." It isn't and I did. Our home is sparkly clean too and I had the windows open for fresh air. 

Thank you, God, for 2022!

 

Grandbaby Smooches

 

What is the magic behind grandbaby smooches? When these little loves pucker up for a kiss, something inside me, let's call it indescribable love, makes the world wonderful!

Kiss after kiss, smooch after smooch, I fall in love over and over again. 

This is FaceTime kisses with little Claire. My crazy expression cropped out. 

Christmas with them is definition of the magic of Christmas. 

I had all three babes the other day and Sofia asked if I would put their presents in my Santa sack. I couldn't believe she remembered. Sofia had to be 1-1/2 years old when I couldn't wait any longer and wanting to extend her Christmas, I loaded up her presents in a giant cloth Santa sack and delivered them the week before Christmas. The Santa sack is the perfect grandparent touch and I memory I want for them.

Today is Christmas Eve Eve. Tonight, is a new dish cookoff of pasta alfredo with a new noodle we are practicing, seasoned chicken in the air fryer, and shrimp. Me, overly excited for him to be home will be dolled up in something alluring and "Christmas festive" with a chilled bottle of wine, a fire in the fireplace, and snuggling under a blanket watching movies. 

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and we will be ready with anticipation, hugs and smooches as our littlest loves arrive. 

A Winter Snowstorm for Christmas

 

Once upon a time... it would have been a certain death to have to be stuck in the house during a snowstorm, nothing slowed me down or kept me in. 

Today, nothing makes me want to leave the comfort of home.

The view from my dining room window, the 2nd highest peak in the county, has a view of 5.7 miles. It is a frozen tundra today. Our family pasta night dinner with both sides, postponed for safety reasons. Below zero temps, high winds and flash freezing is the perfect trifecta to stay nestled inside. 

It's better than okay. The Christmas tree and hearts are aglow in anticipation of Christmas.

A white Christmas. 

Merry & Married This Christmas

 

The week of Christmas. Final preparations, a pending snowstorm, and I have two weeks off. 

Christmas is a production for sure. Instead of going over the top, gifting crazy, we are keeping it simple this year with gifts and a strong family focus. Several days' worth of family event gatherings.

This year I even changed traditions with girlfriends. Let's gather and enjoy a great meal and time together, less gifts. Gifting gets so out of hand, becomes so secular, robbing what Christmas is truly all about.

Focus on the little ones, creating the magic of Christmas in their eyes and little hearts. Reminding them always why we celebrate. My favorite gift this year goes to my grandbabies: 5 years, 3 years, and 1-1/2 years old. The thrill and excitement of Christmas with them is magic in my heart. 

This is my 1st Christmas being merry & married and my heart is already so grateful for my husband. Yes, we have gifts for each other, but HE is my gift this Christmas. Waking up in our new home, with my husband, honestly, it can rage and snow on Christmas and I will be snuggled in with my love saying, "happy birthday, Jesus" and "thank You for the beauty of a white Christmas."

A Maternity Photo Shoot

 

The months have slipped by so quickly and the day arrived, Brooke's maternity photo shoot. 

Brooke looks stunning in her green dress with her red hair and she's beautiful pregnant. It's been a joy for me to watch her plan when she wanted to get pregnant, she thought through details such as January, after Christmas when no family member has a birthday and ready for summer after the birth. She planned the timeline about 1-1/2 years out, went to appointments to make sure she is healthy and ready, and voila! First month she tried, pregnant.

My step-daughter, Taylour, is a photographer and the three of us spent the day together with the photo shoot and lunch. 

Looking forward to her photos coming back from this afternoon, it's so hard to believe my granddaughter arrives in five weeks!!

Everything is ready, especially my little girl. 

Before and After Marriage

 

That magical phase of ''before" marriage, where all things were perfect, like my hair, makeup, the outfits I chose... it was effortlessly wonderful. Does she wake up like this? Well, that's the perception.

I remember the days where being caught without makeup, my hair up, and glasses on would have been a certain death. 

Before marriage, doing his laundry was romantic. Washed, folded, lovingly put away... I was wife material. 

Before marriage, my betrothed thought I was an exceptional decorator. This list goes on...

Imagine my shock when we moved into our new home and putting up decor, he asked, "are you really putting that out?" I was stunned! "It looks like something my grandma had in her house" he boldly shared. Back up! First of all, I AM a grandma. Second, this decor is from Arhaus, and it isn't old and dated. In fact, I like it so much, I bought two in different colors. Respecting his request, I keep it on my nightstand. 

That's okay, I stopped doing his laundry. If he wears a pair of lounging pants for 1 hour and changes, it goes in the wash. He has extensive laundry and doesn't mind doing it himself as a fulltime job, so I let him. 

He thinks I look cute with my hair up and glasses on. I truly don't think he even notices when I don't have makeup on. 

The outfits I wouldn't have been caught in, that he knows they are secretly my favorites, he tells me how adorable I look and how much he loves them on me. Girls, that's love! 

I'm pretty sure he was well-informed; I am such a creature of habit. If I had 200 pieces of clothing, I wear 5% of it 95% of the time. 

Being married, things have changed in a very relaxed, wonderful, and comfy way. He is my best friend and life with him is absolutely the very best! 

Many things haven't changed like when we are in the house together, we are always in the same room together, always touching, snuggling and affectionate. We have coffee together in the mornings, watch the Coffee Quiz on channel 8 news (starting every day off in competition), and when we both get home the end of the workday, we put on a pot of coffee, sit on the couch and share our days before we do anything else. 

Before marriage wasn't smoke-n-mirrors, it was a natural dating process. Thank goodness that wanes. 

Aged to Perfection!

 

Aged to perfection, happy 60th birthday to my husband, whom I love!

60, that cracks me up! Don't let the age fool you though. My husband is the ultimate badass. Disguised as an overly friendly, always laughing and joking, kind to every human, and genuinely the nicest guy, he is BRILLIANTLY smart, and he trains law enforcement and SWAT in weapons, ground fighting, and defensive tactics. He is fast as lightning, and I laugh when he displays his skills because I am always amazed. 

What a husband I have! I'm SO proud of him! 

When it comes to me... he is all love. 

For David's 60th birthday, we took the day off and slipped out of town on a surprise date day. Never experiencing a professional massage, his first massage experience was a Couples Four Hand Massage. Yep, both of us in the same room, two massage therapists for him, two massage therapists for me, for 80 minutes. It was wonderful!

David is a chatty-cathy, going into a spa, one knows the quiet room is where the experience begins, so I emphasized "quiet." We lounged robed, with sweet champagne in hand, listening to spa music, with a variety of snacks, teas, and mimosas at our disposal.

A four-hand massage truly is the ultimate. After our massage and feeling slightly drugged and relaxed, we went back into the quiet room to linger a bit longer. 

He said we should do this every month. I laughed and explained his first experience is far more significant than the average massage. So, we bought a massage table for us.

Stopping for lunch, we headed home for part 2 of Happy 60th Birthday! Our families, mine and his, joined us in our home for a birthday dinner and celebration. It's a lot of people, a lot of laughter and conversation at once with grandbabies running around. It was exactly what he wanted. 

Happy 60th birthday, my love! 

Brooke's Baby Shower

 

A Little Pumpkin is on Her Way was the theme of Brookie's baby shower. Autumn chic and lovely, I used accent fabrics, fresh gourds, higher-end place settings, autumn soups, an autumn salad, and a variety of sandwiches to give our guests options.

It was beautiful and perfect!

Alex's mom created a caramel apple station with toppings for guests to create and Brooke & Alex were showered in love with so many gifts welcoming my granddaughter. 

Special thanks to Roann (Brooke's dad's fiancé before he passed) for doing her shower cookies. She created the vision I gave her and they were delicious! 

A lot of special touches to make her shower elegant and this cake was phenomenal! I will certainly order from this bakery again. 

Brooke looks beautiful pregnant and so pretty in her sage dress. 

I appreciate each generous gift she received, and my daughter is so ready for the arrival of her little girl. We all are!