Thursday, December 31, 2020

“The first of December was a wintry day…and the year seemed getting ready for its death.” ~Little Women, Louisa May Alcott

December 1

"Nothing burns like the cold. But only for a while. Then it gets inside you and starts to fill you up, and after a while you don't have the strength to fight it.” 

~George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones.






Windshield ice art
December 2
Knox celebrated his 9th birthday
Hover Board
I think he was surprised
Birthday pic with his cousins and sister
Ella wasn't having it
December 3
Veggie beef soup = comfort food
December 4
She was trying to stop her
stack of little board books
from falling over
Her magic spell worked
December 5
December 6
Ready for pictures with Santa
Photo by Kelly

Wall of M&Ms
This must be Sam's
December 7
Finally figured out how to
maneuver on the metal bird feeder
Knox's hair cut inspired by
PrestonsStylez Fire logo
If you're ancient like me, you may
not know that Preston is a famous
(and very rich) 26 year old You Tube video blogger
Don't say I never taught ya nothin'
A little fire on a cold night
Neil set up our Christmas village
for the first time in probably 
a dozen years. Our Christmas
tree lights are reflected in the windows
December 9
December 10
The temperature went from 23 degrees
the night of December 9 to
67 degrees the next day
Neil and I were sitting out in the sunshine
on the deck eating lunch when a
flock of geese flew low right over us
They look like airplanes
Another flock joined them and they
spiraled higher into the sky,
finally merging as they continued
their journey southward

Holly, Ella, and Knox walked (rode his
hover board) down
to our house from Kelly's house
for a visit
Knox rolled while Holly and Ella 
ran after him up and down
the street. Guess who got 
tired first. 
It's a cool hover board
Its lights flash and it also plays music
when it's connected by
Bluetooth to a device such as
an iPhone
December 1 1
Ella found this pint-sized
walking stick on our walk
around the neighborhood
December 12
Saturday lunch (pizza) at Mamma Rosa's
We haven't done this in a long time
They would only seat six people
at one table, so they separated
our group of eight into this
absurd seating arrangement
The two tables were about a foot apart
Life in Covid Land 2020
Chick-fil-A 
Peppermint Chocolate Chip Shake
I look forward to this treat
every December
December 14
Shelby, Knox, Elijah
Last week of school for these
three before winter break
December 16
Well this is nice
But we didn't order it
So right back to Amazon it went
Wonder who got the Whack-A-Frog game?
Daughter Holly celebrated her 42nd
I don't think she's ever had a birthday
cake that wasn't decorated
in Christmas colors
She doesn't seem to mind
Blowing out the candles
<covid style>
Grand Peeps
Photo by Kelly
December 18
Another icy morning
Neil's version of a scraped windshield
Hat Lady
She loves wearing this one
that Knox wore when he was a baby
"Reading" one of her brother's books
December 19
Ralph's Donut Shop
We're here for the Christmas cookies
before they're gone
December 21
First day of winter
Borrowed this Snapchat from Kelly
who added some special effects
We all rushed out right after sunset
to find a clear view of the
"Christmas star"
All we saw was a white dot
in the southwestern sky
I had to use the Night Sky app
to even locate it
At least we can say we witnessed
the rare "great conjunction" of
Jupiter and Saturn
Although I'm sure everyone knows
about this already, here's a link
if you'd like to check it out:
Merry and bright
Town square fly-by
December 23
Christmas Eve Eve
Supper at Panda Garden with
almost the whole family
Maybe we'll make this a new tradition
We all went to Dogwood Park to watch
the musical, flashing lights
Christmas tree show
We enjoyed the show in spite of
the cold blustery wind


Holly bustin' a move to the music
Rockin' around the Christmas tree


One-horse open sleigh
Hey!
The horse thought we said "Hay!"
and stayed home in the stable
Fun evening with the fam
Thanks for the pics, Kelly!
December 24
"Santa" placing the presents
under the tree
We have our family Christmas
on the 24th each year
Traditional spaghetti supper
I make the spaghetti sauce
using my dad's awesome recipe

And after supper it's
Picture Time!

Shelby & Elijah
Knox & Ella






Myers Family
Holly, Jerry, Elijah, Shelby

Kimbrough Family
Ella, Kelly, Kerry, Knox

So done with all the picture taking
She decided to be in Granny & Grandpa's
picture
We decided to make it a grandparents/
granddaughters picture

And a grandparents/grandsons
picture
Ma & Pa & Daughters
(should've done one with our sons-in-law)

Time for presents!





















In the middle of all the gift unwrapping,
we realized it was snowing!
Best unexpected Christmas present of all
A white Christmas
"The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other." ~Burton Hills

“And when we give each other Christmas gifts in His name, let us remember that He has given us the sun and the moon and the stars, and the earth with its forests and mountains and oceans--and all that lives and move upon them. He has given us all green things and everything that blossoms and bears fruit and all that we quarrel about and all that we have misused--and to save us from our foolishness, from all our sins, He came down to earth and gave us Himself.” 
― Sigrid Undset

"Like snowflakes, my Christmas memories gather and dance — each beautiful, unique, and gone too soon."  ~Deborah Whipp

December 25
That Christmas morning face
Thanks for sharing, Kelly
Blueberry waffles, bacon, eggs
Daughter Holly hosted the family
get together this year
Our group was much smaller
because virus 
Ate too much
Enjoyed spending time together
Holly started this panoramic pic
then handed the camera off to Shelby
who took over filming
while Holly ran behind Shelby
and managed to be in the shot
in the nick of time
(Not sure how Ella managed to
stay still long enough to 
complete the picture)
Cousins
All the old folks
And Kelly
Good times!
Thanks for hosting, Holly&Jerry!!
December 26
Untrimmed the tree
December 27
After Sunday worship service lunch
at Grandma's Pancake House
I enjoy their French toast
Finally wrestled the tree
back into its box
until next year
Lord willing, as always
December 28
Cleaned
all
day
Even the floors
Stuffed everything back into the attic
that's supposed to be in the attic
Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas
decorations
I was a little behind to say the least
I don't think I've ever been so tired
at the end of a day
December 29
Enjoyed having Knox over for a
dinner/movie/sleepover night
He picked Subway for supper
He and Neil played the magnetic dart game
we gave him for Christmas
Then we pigged out on candy and popcorn
while we watched 
The Christmas Chronicles
Parts 1 & 2
Neil and I had never seen either one
Fun movies!
We stayed up way too late
but the best part of that is knowing
you can sleep in as late as you want
December 30
Enjoyed having Shelby and Elijah over for
a dinner/movie/sleepover night
They chose Cheddar's for supper
Then we ate popcorn and Ralph's donuts
and watched Jumanji--Into the Jungle
Even though they've seen it before,
they insisted that we watch it
It's a laugh-out-loud fun movie
Of course we stayed up way too late
We all know the best part of 
staying up too late...
Deja vu all over again
December 31
After a late lunch, we snapped
a goodbye_2020 selfie before they
headed home
Good times with grand peeps!
New Year's Eve tradition
Supper at Olive Garden
with the Kimbroughs
And, thanks to whoever gave us
gift cards this past year or so,
this meal was pretty much a freebie
Thankful for that and all the
wonderful blessings God has
favored us with this entire year

“Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.” —Hal Borland

"The thing about new beginnings is that they require something else to end." ~Blair Waldorf

I think I can safely speak for all of us
here on planet Earth when I say ...
... and don't let the door hit ya in the caboose on your way out of here

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
God bless us every one!













4 comments:

  1. Even though this year STUNK, lots of good times were had! One for the books (blogs)!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If there's one thing I've learned blogging about our family it's that we eat a lot :) And eat out a lot. I enjoyed the good times this year. Could've been worse I guess. We'll see what next year throws at us.

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  2. Enjoyed your year-end blog! The year wasn’t all bad, and as you say, it could’ve been worse. I love seeing your family traditions and glad you all are able to spend lots of time together. You are blessed!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Jane! I’m glad our families could spend time together throughout crazy 2020 whether it be birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas or church. Family is a blessing for sure. Trying to be more thankful each day for everyone and everything. Thanks for your encouragement, always.

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