Our Christmas 2020

Wishing all of you a belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year ahead.

We are still in the moving process and will be for the unforeseen future.  Actually, we closed on our new home in Plano, Tx last Wednesday and delivered our first car loads when we went over for Christmas on Thursday.  The actual moving will happen Monday and then the fun of unpacking all these boxes we have labored over for weeks, will begin.

I told Dick, it will be like Christmas with every box.  They are labeled but who knows what we will actually find inside.

There may or may not be much blogging during that process.  That remains to be seen, but I will keep you informed along the way.

Now, let me share some sweet, pretty and fun highlights from our Christmas with our daughter and her family.

Christy's table was beautifully set with family Christmas china and stemware.

I rediscovered these Christmas dishes while packing and knew it was time to pass them on.  I hope Christy and her girls will enjoy them for years to come.

The buffet held these gorgeous antique pieces.

Christy uses blue and white throughout her house but especially in the kitchen.  I loved the McKenzie Child piece mixed with these beautiful vases.

The living room was bedecked with family stockings, poinsettias, and plenty of gifts under the Christmas tree filled with ornaments that each carry a special meaning.

Ava Grace had a pretty tree in her room that repeated the colors in her room.

This shows some of the gorgeous, large blue and white pieces Christy has collected to showcase in her upper, lit kitchen cabinets.

These pieces add such an elegant look to what might otherwise be just a kitchen.

Speaking of elegant!  Chandler and Brad had dinner at a fine restaurant with Brad's family on Christmas Eve.  It was a very chilly evening and a perfect time to wear her mother's long (real) mink coat.  Does she not look stunning!

Santa's elves in the kitchen getting ready for Christmas morning brunch.

It was so fun being part of the family's tradition of matching pj's on Christmas morning.

Even the guys get into the act and Dick loved his pretty jammies.

And these sum up our Christmas Joy 2020.

Christmas Day closed with Dick reading the Christmas Story from Luke to our Indiana family, which has been our tradition for many years, except it was done on Facetime this year.  So, our Christmas was complete.

We look forward to a Joy-full 2021 as we focus on the source of all joy, Jesus Christ.

A Giving of Thanks Post

I really do not have time to participate in the usual Wednesday Hodgepodge this week.  I actually don't foresee having much time to blog at all in the next several weeks.

I did want to give a quick update on what has transpired in our lives lately since deciding to move to the Dallas area to be near our daughter.

As my husband is a realtor, we decided to have an Open House in our gated community before we listed it.  The first person to enter, a young man engaged to be married next summer and a medical student, made an offer and we had a signed contract on the house a week later.

This past weekend we went to see our youngest granddaughter play the lead role in "Moana Jr" and also had an appointment to look at a condo in a 55+ gated community in Plano, Tx.  There was one other unit in there for sale and we saw it the next day.  We felt this was the place God had for us, so signed a contract that day and it was approved on Sunday.

We will be less than 10 minutes from our daughter and 15 from our granddaughter.  We are within walking distance of Ava Grace's school and the church we will likely attend.  There is excellent shopping, a nature preserve for walking outdoors, and gorgeous homes all around us.  And would you believe our neighbors are also from Louisiana?

We will close on our Shreveport house on Dec. 18 and on the Plano house on the 21st.  The movers will be here bright and early on that day and by midnight, we should have everything unloaded in the new house.  No Indiana white Christmas this year, but memorable nonetheless.

There are so many ways God has made our path plain and straight and it is so humbling to watch how He has and is working to bring His plan about in our lives.  We give Him all the praise and glory for blessing us so richly.

Now, the fun part begins with packing everything and hoping it all will find a place in this smaller home.  Once we are settled, I will share with you all about the move, transition and new house.  In the meantime, let me leave you with shots of our own precious Moana, who by the way, did an awesome job even in a mask.

Happy Thanksgiving!

You may enjoy reading one of my dear friend's blog on

"Giving Thanks in an Imperfect World"

A Daunting Hodgepodge

Thank you Joyce for this week's Hodgepodge questions.

1. It's Mickey Mouse's birthday (November 18)...happy birthday Mickey! He reads here, right? Have you ever been to Disney, any of the parks at all? Are you a Disney superfan or something less than that? They're open right now so tell us, would you go if you had the time/money/a free trip?

I have never been to Disney and regret not taking our children when they were small; however, I have absolutely no desire to go at this point.  I am not a Disney fan although I did enjoy watching many of their early shows/movies when my children and grandchildren were young.

Speaking of Disney, our youngest granddaughter, Ava Grace will be playing the lead role in the North Texas Performing Arts production of Moana Jr the next two weeks, in Dallas.  We can't wait to see her perform again.

2. Your favorite place to go when you want to be quiet as a church mouse? Would those who know you well describe you as more churchmouse or perhaps more like mighty mouse? 

I usually retreat to my screened back porch for solitude and quiet, even though any room in my house is usually a quiet place most of the day.  I'm thinking those who know me best would put me somewhere in between with a heavy slant toward Mighty Mouse.

3. The day before Mickey's birthday happens to be National Homemade Bread Day. Did/will you celebrate? Do you bake your own bread? Last time you had hot out-of-the-oven homemade bread? What's your favorite kind of bread?

I used to bake our own bread and it was so good right out of the oven, but I haven't done that in years.  There was nothing quite like a warm slice slathered with butter.  The last time was this past week when a neighbor brought over hot rolls right out of the oven, to go with our dinner at my sisters.  She knew we had been too busy all day painting furniture to think about cooking.  I am not a big bread eater, but would find it rather hard to pass up a hot yeast roll like our school cafeteria workers used to make  My next favorite would be a hot cinnamon roll. 

4. What's something you might say is 'the greatest thing since sliced bread'?

Facetime 

5. Let's keep the gratitude theme we started last week rolling on through November. Share with us five little things you're grateful for today. Small blessings. One catch-they all must start with the letter T. Gotta keep us thinking, right? 

Time with family - though not too small a thing

Tea - hot and sweet

Taste

Tenderness

Toothbrush

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

We will be going to Dallas this weekend to begin our search for our future just-right home.  This is a daunting task.  Then to pack up one house and move to another.  Speaking of daunting; that is a task I am not looking forward to.

Before & After for a Sister

In one of my posts last week I mentioned that we would be having a sister's get together this past weekend at our middle sis's home in rural south Louisiana.

Gin's 1,250 ft. back covered patio was in need of some freshening up, so Sarah and I were all over that idea.

Gin and Thomas's heavy solid wood patio furniture was made by skilled prisoners at the renowned Angola Prison many years ago.  There is no doubt the furniture will outlast them, but it all needed a good coat of paint.

The coffee table and doily belonged to Thomas' mother.

This old baker's rack, a catchall for plants and whatnots was serviceable but not pretty.

This old table also belonged to Gin's mother-in-law and the little rocker was used by her two now grown sons and grandsons.

Gin, my Sanguine sister loves people and color, so she chose bright, happy colors for the furniture.  It took us two and a half days to prime, paint and seal everything plus do all the little finishing touches.  It was so rewarding to sit out there and enjoy it together Saturday morning before we parted ways.

AFTER

Sarah is the artsy and crafty artist of the three of us.  She created and surprised Gin with this pretty welcome sign made from an old rescued board.  The colors introduce the color scheme for the rest of the porch.  The large rock at the bottom was also painted by Sarah several years ago.  She is so talented.

Gin chose two shades of teal and two shades of a light mauve for the furniture.  She spray painted the bakers rack a copper and it looks brand new.  I touched up the grape/leaf design on the top.

Sarah also surprised Gin by painting the little rocker and making pillows for all the rockers.

I stenciled doily patterns on this little table to compliment the real one on the coffee table.

This old owl was a piece I have had for years and was rather colorless although a beautiful piece.  Sarah decided to add some color and I think it turned out better than ever.  We all loved it!

Sarah and I added color to every available surface.

This fun ugly gargoyle was something Sarah and I gave Thomas years ago that she took and completely gave a new life to.  He is now a happy, funny, not so ugly gargoyle and Thomas loves it!

This will be Gin's happy place day and/or night.

Again, to show you how Sarah finds beauty in the most unexpected things, she took this old piece of cypress and is turning it into a work of art.

It will resemble a Hobbit house when she is finished and I can't wait to see it.

And this is the culmination of lots of planning, doing and loving on our sister.  As this will be our last visit together before I leave the state, it was a bittersweet time.  It was a lot more sweet than bitter though.