It's beginning to look alot like Christmas at Mimi's

My Saturday of decorating for Christmas started with dropping off Penny Pricilla for her Grooming appointment. When I picked her up she looked like a new dog. Even though she's a long haired daschund, we like to keep her cut short. Now she's all ready for the Holidays.I caught Santa in the corner riding the pony while I was putting up the tree.The Grand kids stocking were hung in the entryway with care.

We decided to go a little more simple this year and put up the small tree. Hubby's idea was to wrap a large box as our tree table. I wanted to make it fun, so I went with Toy Story 3 theme and put up my Disney ornaments. I like to change it up from year to year.
I love how this display turned out. I put some of my snow baby ornaments on a little tree. I wanted to display my Christmas cards after seeing how cute Steph's display turned out last year, by clipping them on a rope line. I'm going to add more greenery on the curio cabinets. So this is a little sneak peek at the start of my decorating. I feel like I can breathe a little better, now that this is behind me. Now it's on to the wrapping of gifts and finishing up the shopping. Thanks for coming by and checking out my Christmas. I would have offered you a cookie, but they sorta got burnt.

Thanksgiving memories from 2010

It was a very enjoyable day of family & feast. I adore my Thanksgiving plates that I get to take out of the cabinet once a year.

Miss Abby, pretty in pink

My son Nate with daughter, Abby. She is a daddy's girl for sure.

My lovely daughter-in-law, Elsa with Jack Jack...He is a mommy's boy! And loves his passy.

Noah brought the centerpiece for the kids table. He made it and was so proud.
My two beautiful grand-daughters. They never sit still long enough for me to get a good picture.
It's tradition that my son-in-law, Jeff does the first load of dishes. He is a blessing in our family. Look at little Gray in the background. He actually ate ALL day. I don't know where he put it. You know the old saying "he must have a hollow leg"? Well Steph was trying to remember the saying and said " he must have a peg leg"......cracked us up.
Gray enjoying Aunt Elsa's cream filled brownies.Carter and Noah watching Dora's Christmas show. Grampa got it for Ivy, since she is a big Dora fan, but the boys enjoyed it too.

Jack is sitting in my husbands old high chair that he sat in over 55 years ago. Jack looks like a little man sitting there.Gray created an interesting looking Mr. Potato Head.
At the end of the day, we passed a ceramic pumpkin around the room and pulled out a slip of paper with sayings that had what we are thankful for that each person wrote down earlier. It was so fun hearing all the interesting things of thankfulness.

Then the highlight of the night was when Steph read us a special Book "Thank You"....I looked at my beautiful Daughter and couldn't stop thinking, how thankful I was at that moment that I birthed such a wonderful, unselfish being.....I am truly thankful for this day!

Give Thanks with a grateful heart!

I struggled at what I would say on this Thanksgiving Day. This week has been one of the most stressful weeks in my family. Without going into details, I learned that even in your darkest of times and situations, we have a Heavenly Father above, with a heart full of mercy and a heart full of Love. He really cares when our head is bowed low. He picks us up when we fall. When the situation seems hopeless, he encourages us to never give up hope. As my tears flow off my face this morning, my heart is so heavy. I just have to remember and keep saying to myself, it's all in God's timing, not ours. We don't understand why chain of events happen and we can question ourselves and wonder why didn't we do this or that, or say this or that. I've learned that I want to be in God's will. I don't want to open my mouth to speak if it is not positive speaking. I want to stop and LISTEN.
Don't get me wrong, I am so very Thankful for the many blessings that God has given me. I am Thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ. I am Thankful for my husband, family & friends. I am Thankful for a wonderful job and the best Boss & co-workers anyone could ask for. I am Thankful I have a home and all the comforts I need.

I am Thankful that I can count on special blogging friends who I have never met face to face, lift me up when I am down. Pray with me. You know who you are.

Today as we sit down with family members around a beautiful table, let's Give Thanks with a Grateful heart.

He Cares

I started feeling out of sorts on Wednesday with a scratchy throat, then by Thursday it was in my head with congestion. I came home from work on Thursday and Friday and went straight to bed. I wasn't running a fever, so I went ahead and made it OK at work. I had my green tea, honey & halls. Saturday I spent ALL day on the couch. My hubby tried to see what I wanted to eat but I was just eating toast. So, he went to the store and later when I got up off the couch, I found this on the counter in the kitchen. He knows that when I have a cold I like to drink lots of pulp OJ. He also knows how much I adore sock monkeys. He not only got me 1 carton of OJ, he got me 3. He wanted to make sure I was really going to get well. I appreciated this little surprise so much cause it came from the heart. I am feeling much better today. I'm spending most of the day catching up on what didn't get done while I was down. I would much rather be up and around than lying on a couch....Thanks Mike for caring.

Mom's 77th Birthday party

We celebrated mom's 77th Birthday last night. Instead of going out to eat, I had her a little family party at her house. She didn't know what we were doing until we all arrived. I had ordered pizzas and made some munchies. I also made her Birthday Cake. I went overboard and made enough to feed the whole block. I wish the whole family could have been there, but that's OK. It was a special night, celebrating a very classy lady and one who would rather give than receive. I made her some special ornaments showing off 6 of her 10 Great-Grand kids. My sister had already made her some with her other 4 Great-Grand kids. My mom has a lot of medical problems and is in pain daily, but you would not have known it last night. She looked radiant. I am so thankful to have her with us another year. Happy 77th mom....I love you...

I wanted time to stand still...

If only we could freeze time for just one day.....My sister made the fastest trip home she's ever made. Her and her hubby drove all the way from Louisiana to pick up a boat that her hubby inherited from his brother, who lives 2 hours away from me and our parents. So she got to hang out with us while her hubby hung out with his brother, but we only had 1 night and 1 day. Talk about trying to fit everything in that we wanted to. After I heard they were coming, I made her favorite, lemon bars.

She was in heaven....I love to make my sissy smile!

Steph, Ivy & Gray came over for the day and we enjoyed singing songs and reading books. Ivy loves her Great Aunt Diane.
I have never seen Ivy sit so still as I did while Diane was reading to her.
Saying good-bye to Ivy, Steph and Gray was hard for Diane. I know she was so happy to have the time with them.

A quick picture of the 4 beautiful women in my life who I adore dearly....four generations...my sister, mom, grand-daughter and daughter.....

I am so thankful for the time we were able to spend together.

A Nice Surprise

It is very rare that I get to see my sister, unless it is a planned visit months in advance. Friday, I will get to see her for 1 whole day and night and I am so excited. She is traveling with her hubby to his brother's house 2 hours from me to pick up a boat. So, it worked out that I am able to get the day off (I have the best boss). I will take our parents down with me and we will spend the night and leave as my sister leaves the next day to go home. Even though it is a short time together, it will be cherished time. We always make the most of the time we have. This has been a great year of getting to see each other in June, Sept. and now Nov. I hope the time stands still on Friday. I feel so blessed to have a Best Friend in my Sister.

Waking up to Snow!!!

My big plans to rake leaves this weekend will have to wait....We woke up to 2.5 inches of beautiful, pure white snow this morning. It filled my heart with such joy and happiness. I am a "Snowbaby". I love snow so much that I started a collection in the 80's, collecting Dept. 56 Snowbaby figures. I must have over 100 by now. I haven't counted. I keep them out all year because they bring me joy. I was outside in my flip flops snapping pictures at 7am. I yelled to the dogs to come out to play with me, but they didn't want to walk in the cold wet snow. I need to go doggy boot shopping today. I don't know what it is about snow that puts me in such a good mood. It's so strange to see the snow on the leaves that have yet to fall off the trees. By tomorrow it will all be melted, since we are expecting 60 degree temps. I will have to wait for the leaves to dry out and try to rake. Until then, I am going to enjoy this Saturday morning Surprise.....It's just what I needed! Let it snow, Let it snow......

Rest in Peace Vicki

I met Vicki in October 1992. We were both judges in the first Elvis Fantasy Fest to raise money for Special Olympics. We developed a friendship right away and since she owned her own hair salon (Victoria's Hair Affair), and I was looking for a new hair stylist, I started going to her. She would always tell me she enjoyed doing my hair because I would change my styles often and she loved that I wasn't afraid to try new things. After going to her for so many years, she knew exactly what I wanted. I always loved our conversations and wanted the appointment to drag out because it was more like a therapy session. We were together thru so many stages in our lives, from our kids growing up, weddings, babies, illness and so many other events. I can always remember leaving her salon feeling more pretty than when I walked in. She made sure every hair was perfect. She eventually moved out of her salon into her home to set up her shop.
I will never forget the start of her illness. I walked in her home for my appointment and the shop area was dark. I thought at first she wasn't home. I walked in the shop area and she had her head down in her hands on her desk. She said she was so sorry, she couldn't do my hair, but she was having a really bad migraine headache. I told her it was no problem and I wanted her to feel better. She insisted on getting her appointment book out to reschedule, but I told her not to worry about that, and told her to call me when she felt better. She had a person there that was going to give her a massage. I patted her back and told her to get well.
Within the next few days I get a call from her daughter, who is also a hair stylist. She was in tears, telling me that her mom was in so much pain that her doctor sent her to Chicago for tests and found a brain tumor on each side of her brain. She would need surgery.
Vicki told her daughter to call me to have me come in for her daughter to cut my hair that week. This is the type of person she was. She cared more about me missing my appointment and getting taken care of. So, I went in and her daughter, Lisa, cut my hair. We cried and talked about her mom who was facing a difficult surgery. The road ahead was very very rocky. Vicki went through the brain surgery but they had to leave one of the tumors. She went through radiation and then later chemo. Her daughter and sister shaved their heads in support of what Vicki was going through. Then as if this wasn't bad enough, she fell and broke her foot, developed cancer on her back, leg and tailbone.
I will never forget during all of this, asking Vicki what she had a taste for. I named over things and she said she loved potato soup. So I rushed home to make her a huge pot and took it to her. She said it really hit the spot and tasted so good. I tried to send her cards of encouragement often. I didn't know what else to do except pray. I was watching this beautiful person change looks every time I would go in for my appointments, with now her daughter.
I prayed so hard for God to heal her. She didn't deserve this. I wanted my Vicki back. My hair missed her.
Then last Saturday I heard from my mom, who has her hair done by Vicki's sister, that it was a matter of time and she was slipping away. I had to rush over to her house to at least let her family know I was praying and to see if they needed anything. She passed away 3 hours later. At the funeral home, as I was hugging her daughter, she told me that her moms wishes were for her to carry on with her business and keep it going. I was thrilled. She told me to call her at the end of the week and book my appointment. I will continue walking in Vicki's warm home and sitting down in the same chair. Even though she will not be there, I'm sure we will feel her warm spirit. I am now feeling more at peace, knowing that Vicki is out of pain. Life goes on and I'm thankful that her daughter will full fill her wishes.