Thoughts After Christmas

Hello, Dear Friends - I hope you enjoyed your 

Christmas Day celebrations! 

It is raining here in the foothills of the Cascades,

 in Washington State, which signals a return of 

day to day life once again. 

Rain in the 'lowlands' means plenty of snow in the highlands, 

which makes for a pretty scene and 

gives the skiers in the family plenty to get excited about. 

Although, they have been kept pretty busy with the Seahawks

this season! All of my children are die-hard fans. 

So far we have had a mild winter and the ski resorts have not opened yet, 

but after this weekend and heavy snow in the mountains, 

that will change. 

Christmas Day was unusually sunny and mild

and I captured this photo in the morning

before the family arrived for dinner. 

My two 'Lemon' Cypress trees that I found at my favorite 

nursery a couple of weeks ago. 

I have one other that I bought years ago when it was this size....

You can see it to the left after I transplanted it to a large pot. 

These are lovely evergreens that need a bit of shade in the summer,

and are quite happy in pots. 

My table umbrella provides this one with shade in the summer. 

A bit of gardening trivia when I am missing my time outdoors! 

I want to thank all of you for your Dear Christmas Wishes, 

especially for my daughter, Heather, who I am 

happy to announce, did spend Christmas Day with us. 

Her wonderful doctor stayed on duty through Christmas

Eve to get her ready for release, albeit with a 'port'

in her arm for intravenous administration of 

her antibiotics! A home health nurse came

to her home on Christmas Eve to teach her and

husband, Eric how to administer the medicine

themselves, so she can be an outpatient. 

We have to give gratitude to these dedicated

medical professionals who daily go above and beyond

for the well-being of their patients. 

I put Doctors and nurses right up there - one step below the Saints. 

So here she is, on the far right, with some color in her cheeks finally,

and a big smile on her face. 

These are 'my girls', from left to right. 

 Erica, my son Gabe's wife, (our soon to be new Mommy),

my youngest daughter, Jennie, 

my new daughter in law, Jen (Dustin's wife),

and our little patient, Heather, complete with big red bow. 

These are three of my favorite guys,

Eric (Heather's), youngest son, Dustin in his 

Seahawks Christmas sweater, and son, Gabe. 

I can't tell you how happy these smiling faces make me! 

My daughter, Jennie, snapped this of my favorite guy

and me. xo

He has been my sweetheart since I was 13 years old - 

we have spent 45 Christmas' together! 

I still have the ID bracelet with heart charm that he gave me

that first year. <3

We have been very blessed!

But with picture time over, it was back to work! 

Here I am rolling out biscuit dough to serve with dinner -

glasses perched on top of my head. 

The 'girls' set the table....

We always begin the meal counting our blessings. 

Everyone has a favorite one to share, 

and with the New Year just around the corner, 

we share our hopes and dreams for the coming year. 

Then we open presents (we draw names at Thanksgiving). 

Even the pup-dogs get treats <3. 

Weenie-Baby, my daughter Jennie's mini-dachshund. 

Everyone gets sent home with a plate of food,

 two of my decoupaged candles,

 and a big plate of cookies. 

You can see that I had to bake plenty! 

Now the clean-up is done, the house is too quiet, 

and the Mr. and I are relaxing for the weekend, 

holding sweet memories close to our hearts. 

It was a wonderful Christmas. 

Even the paper-whites bloomed on time! 

(They were so strongly scented that it was a bit much at times!)

Now it is time to look back on the year we leave behind, 

and make plans for the new. 

(Can you see the tiny hummingbird on the Alder tree branch?)

Time to make those New Year's Resolutions. 

In these quiet hours, I will be thinking of mine. 

I know one of them will be to pay closer attention to 

the beauty and blessings around me. 

I had the strangest dream last night. 

I dreamed that I was gathering up pennies that 

were falling from the sky! 

Pennies from Heaven! 

I found this poem when I researched what that could mean....

I found a penny today

Just laying on the ground.

But it's not just a penny

This little coin I found. 

Found pennies come from Heaven.

That's what my Grandpa told me. 

He said Angels tossed them down, 

Oh, how I loved that story!

He said when an Angel misses you

They toss a penny down, 

sometimes just to cheer you up

to make a smile a frown. 

So don't pass by that penny

when you're feeling blue,

It may be a penny from Heaven

That an Angel tossed to you. 

xoxo 

Here's wishing you Pennies from Heaven in the coming year, 

Dear Friends! 

xoxo