Family Fun

During the break we also spent time with John's side of the family. We did some more eating, laughing, and playing games. Always a good time when this crowd gets together.

The family

Some of the cousins

More cousins in unplanned matching outfits

John's sisters, brother, and mom

Chelsea, Pat, and Stacy

Girl time

Thanksgiving

We spent our Thanksgiving break in Virginia Beach with our family. It was a great time---lots of food, lots of laughs, and lots of shopping!!!

Jumping on Thanksgiving

Oakley and Krissy

Happy Girl

Shelly & Krissy---cheering stunts

Attacking Cousin Krissy

Silly John and Krissy

Posing

Us

Tom Turkey

Dad and Eric (who was recovering from knee surgery) watching some football

Thanksgiving afternoon

Kathy & Gay

My sisters

Smiling Girls

Lots of hair girl

Krissy and Lin

Cousins

Pretty Krissy

Target Lady

Ok, this is hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love it.

Thankful

Definition of THANKFUL

1

: conscious of benefit received thankful>

2

: expressive of thanks <thankful service>

3

: well pleased : glad thankful that it didn't rain>

Top 10 Things I am Thankful for:


1. My family
2. My warm and cozy home
3. My health
4. My memories of the past and those I have loved and lost
5. My freedom
6. My camera and the photographs 
7. My friends
8. Laughter
9. My kitty cat
10. My life

Moi

Some photos of me that make me smile:

Baby Me on baptism day
Love seeing my mom's hands in this photo

Loved this cake
Mom made it for my 4th birthday and I loved the M&Ms around the sides

On the beach in my bathing suit (1976)

Love that Humpty Dumpty lamp
It is currently in my guest bedroom

Me on my banana seat bike in the 70s!!!

The bunny costume made by mom
Wearing snow boots for an Alaskan Halloween

Me with socks in my hair creating the perfect curls

Regis

I sat and watched the final show with Regis yesterday. I have to admit it brought a tear or two to my eye. I will be sad to see him go. As others have said, he brought lots of laughs into our homes. And sometimes those laughs seemed to come at times when I needed them the most.

When I think about Regis, I remember watching him with Kathie Lee in the late 80s with my mom. We would tape their shows and watch them on the VCR at night. We actually had a VCR that had a corded remote control with it...makes me laugh thinking about that cord running across the den to the couch. My mom was in charge of the remote and when it was time for a commercial I would say to her, "FF!". That meant that she needed to fast forward through the commercials. Together, mom and I had many laughs and shed a few tears while watching Regis. We even discussed his show years later when Kelly Ripa replaced Kathie Lee and I had moved to North Carolina. Over the phone we would talk about the day's guest or some funny thing that happened during the show.

So, I am sad to see an era of Regis end and even sadder that I couldn't watch it with my mom by my side.

Darling Clementine

After seeing this video on Pinterest, I decided I needed to give it a try. I did it, but with a very low flame. I must have done a little something wrong---too much oil or not enough---not sure what went wrong. But, here are some photos of my process.

box of yummy clementines

slice the middle

Peel

Pour in olive oil

Cut a shape on the top peel

Pop out the shape
This creates a little vent for the flame

After the "wick" (the pith) is saturated with the oil, light it with a match

Place the vented top on the clementine and watch the flame burn until the oil is gone
Notice my weak flame :(

Girls Who Love Dolls

As I go through the many photos from my aunt's home, I am warmed by the images that show our family similarities. Like the one of my mom and aunt playing with their dolls. And then one of me as a little girl with my doll. And, finally I find pictures of my own girls with their dolls. The circle is complete. We are a family of doll lovers!

Look-a-likes

When I look back at photos of myself when I was a little girl I am amazed at how similar Shelly and I look at the same age.