... And the Holidays are over!

That's it ... as quickly as they came, they are over.  Okay, we haven't celebrated New Years Eve yet, but that's not really a holiday, it's just the start of a new year.  

Thanksgiving starts the holiday season for most people, and for us here in our home that was certainly the case.  A first Thanksgiving for our combined family.  The panic over what to cook and how much to have became reality,  simply because my mother taught me it was always best to have to much rather than to little. 

 Never let someone sit down at your table and go away from it hungry.

Our meal was "Gi-normous" with a delicious oil-less fried turkey, homemade dressing, mashed garlic potatoes, my moms mashed turnips & carrots, cheesy potato casserole and a green bean casserole.  The dessert table was loaded and as is typical of this type of meal we were all too stuffed to eat much.  We had guests from both sides, my sister Sandy, Pats mom Wilma and daughters Taylor and Karina as well as Wolfe and my daughter Morgan and her boyfriend Justin and a family friend Jordon.  It was a good day.

Black Friday came and went with only one person from our home setting foot in the stores.  Yes, I sent Morgan out to buy her Christmas gift from me, it was an electric piano with a price that couldn't be passed up on at "The Guitar Center".  It felt good not to be rushing around looking for gifts.

Christmas fast approached ...

and at that point suddenly the fear that I wouldn't have everything done hit.  Somehow though we found a few extra moments to go to the Boat Parade in Long Beach, it was a very nice evening.  

 In past years I have always had my gift buying done by the weekend of Thanksgiving.  No rushing about to find "the perfect gift" for everyone.  This year however, after a year full of changes, packing a 10 room house, moving across country and settling in with Patrick it seemed nothing was normal for myself and Morgan. 

 The calendar moved so quickly it made me dizzy and before we even knew what had happened Christmas Eve was here.  So ... we packed up the sleigh, oh wait no, sorry I got caught up in the season, we packed up the car and headed out to Rialto to spend Christmas Eve with Taylor and Karina's family.  It was a Peruvian Christmas with yummy food, lots of loud music and wonderful people to meet and enjoy.  We were home late and only had a few hours of sleep before we awoke to find that Santa had visited our home.  The tree was filled with gifts and everyone seemed to be happy with the presents they received

Dinner was served later in the day with a delicious Pineapple & Red Currant Glazed Ham, Scalloped Potatoes, Maple Glazed Carrots and Asparagus.  Desserts included a variety of items such as Pecan Pie,  Minty Brownies, Lemon Coconut Bars, Snowball Cookies and homemade Fudge.

We were truly blessed this holiday season.

Patrick and I have now had our first winter holidays together.

We Survived!

and

We look forward to a happy, healthy 2014 with many more firsts to come.

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!