Hello dear ones! I hope you had a merry Christmas and that you have a lovely new year! 🙂 We’ve enjoyed my family all week long and Chris’ family on the weekend. Now we are on our way home and to a new season. The hubby starts spring semester soon and homeschool starts up again. It may be awhile before we see family again. So we relish these moments….these days of cheer.
I have three sets of grandparents on my side. My family is split by divorce. I’ve always been close to my grandparents so we have to visit them all. Shoot, two of them practically raised me. My mom and I lived with my Granny several times and I stayed at my Mema’s (Dad’s mom) a lot. I’ve lost three grandpas but still have three grandpas. I have two step grandpas. My Step Dad’s father and my Mema’s husband. I love them like they are blood. My husband doesn’t have grandparents at all so he has adopted mine.
Enjoy the pics from the days of cheer…
Christmas Eve
My sister Jen’s face when she saw the Darth Vader/ Belle dolls I made them. My brother in law Josh beside her. Guess who likes which ;P
You won’t find that match anywhere else 🙂
Chris’ present from Michael: Darth Vader and Son
My Step Dad Kim with Christmas ribbon around his neck.
Kim’s Dad, Mr. Hubert and his fireman ornament
Mom & Kim holding their trophy. My sister gave Michael a human body toy with squishy insides. My parents put it back together which was a complicated process. Go team!
My sister made this yummy turkey. She had to butcher it and do horrible things to get it that way but it tasted great. I think she should get an award from C.S.I. lol. I only have one cookie tin to bring home with us. The sweets got gone fast. We ate the same thing Christmas day…which went like this…
Christmas Day
Chris and I set up a train around Granny’s little tree.
Michael’s face when he woke up… the kid did not want to wake up. I put Christmas music on Pandora but he still didn’t get up. I had to sing him awake!
You sly parents! When did you put up a train?
We kept “The Nativity” on in the background as a reminder.
We opened stockings. Here’s Michael trying out his doctor kit on Chris.
We finished our Advent book and reread the Christmas story. Chris & Michael below.
Then it was present time again :). Michael and I having a “snowball fight” with wrapping paper.
I took a trip to the cemetery before Christmas lunch. I put some flowers on Dad’s grave. I wish I had taken my camera. It was like a beautiful garden…..all the Christmas flowers on the graves and the fog. Some even had lit Christmas trees on them. It was sad in a lovely way. I know my Dad can’t hear me but I always ask Jesus to give him messages. I guess one day I’ll find out if it works that way. I don’t know why people are scared of grave yards. It’s the living that are scary.
Anywho, we had a big lunch and finished the evening with a couple hands of rummy. I was a bit rusty :(. I’ll have to teach Michael how to play.
My brother in law Josh helping Michael build Legos.
Josh had to work part of the holiday 😦
Granny Frye (my Mom’s mother) and Michael cheezin’ it. She’s my sunshine.
Josh & Jenn
Mom & Kim
The ladies
Me & Jenn
Me & my sister Jenn being goofy
Granny with the guys
The next morning I headed to my other grandparents (Dad’s father and step mom). I’ve put pictures on here before. Back in the summer we visited and their century tree had bloomed. They also had an unwanted “pet” raccoon. Well, the century tree was bent over and mostly dead. Michael was fascinated by the Mexican swords. This set of grandparents used to travel a lot when they were younger. We again, had turkey…
We stayed with them most of the day and then headed to my last set of grandparents: Mema (Dad’s mother) & Grandpa David (Step grandpa). We stayed with them for two nights. I stayed with Mema a lot when I was a kid. While we were there my awesome husband fixed several things for them. I’m so proud to have such a helpful husband.
Mema, Michael, & Grandpa David~ Grandpa David is one of my greatest supporters with my book. He was best buds with my Dad for years before he married Mema. We like to have church when we get together 🙂
My Uncle helped my grandparents set up the Christmas tree before we came. They also had a train set and Michael spent a lot of time with it.
We were soooo thankful to have something besides turkey. Mema cooked chicken and dumplings for us. It was the second time she’s cooked since her stroke. The stroke was the deadly kind. It’s a miracle she’s still alive. Praise God!
My Mema treats her doggies like children. She was devastated when her Maltese Miley died. Now she has one named Molly.
This creepy cat is Willow or Will Will (aka Willie). We got him when I was a kid and he’s still going. We say he got creepy because I’d make him watch Unsolved Mysteries with me. The super fat cat spent most of his time sleeping. Don’t stare into his eyes! He may bite you through the screen. He’s not sweet like our Chester.
Molly, Mema, & Ginger. Ginger, on the right, is the poodle we got when I was 13. My step Papa, J.A., who was like a second dad to me had just died and Ginger was given to us as a puppy. The poor dog is blind and has a glass eye. This pooch used to go everywhere in Mema’s purse.
We had a lovely visit and I got good video footage of Mema talking about her childhood. Michael starts a study of the 20th century Tuesday and I figured Mema was a great person to talk to. She actually won a dance contest and met Elvis. I’ll probably put the video up when we get to that. We’re breaking our study into quarters. I’m so excited about it :).
The night we headed to Chris’ parents we stopped and visited my Aunt Lynn (my Dad’s sister & my middle namesake) & her hubby, Uncle Kenny. Awhile ago I showed you pics from his garden. He’s a great redneck farmer and he kept us laughing. He had an interesting impression of Gollum from Lord of the Rings.
My aunt is like the queen of Victorian country decor. She showed me a book Dad had given her before he died. It was an old copy of Tom Sawyer and he wrote a sweet inscription on the inside cover. We relaxed and watched several episodes of Duck Dynasty. My own red neck husband fits right in with most of my family. You’d never think my Mema came from New York.
Aunt Lynn wouldn’t let me take a picture of them so I got a photo of a bird sleeping in their carport. The poor thing looked cold. Aunt Lynn works at the Vets and knows a lot about animals.
We got to Chris’ parents late Friday night. I was surprised that they weren’t watching Duck Dynasty also. Michael opened the rest of his presents from them. Then I gave them the picture from Thanksgiving, of their special tree. Mom Dover put it on their mantle. Dad Dover is feeling a lot better, praise God! You can see Shadow on the couch. The cat is decrepit but a sweety.
We had to get up early for our nephew’s wedding at the same place Chris and I married. I will show you the pics next week though. I think I’ve got plenty of photos for today. There was no school all week so I have nothing to show for Crafty Monday. I spent most of the time socializing and relaxing. I did do a couple of sketches out of this drawing book my sister gave me. I also got an art bag & an artists’ manikin. I’ve got to figure out how to use it properly.
It’ll be nice to get home and see our pets. I bet Snowball is freaking out. Michael’s been sick on and off all week. So we may be taking a trip to the doctor. I can’t believe how fast Christmas passed and how long it will be before we see everyone again, Lord willing.
It’s almost 2013 and the world did not end. Yaaa! 😛 So I think I’ll go ahead and compile my 2013 bucket list. Every day Jesus gives me is a blessing and every day my family lives longer is a blessing too. I have lost many loved ones but I praise God for those still with us. May we never forget these days of cheer!
God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover
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