Christmas Celebrations

Merry Christmas Eve to you and yours! I meant to post these photos earlier this week, but time got away from me. Last Saturday evening we had five couples from our street over for a Christmas Party; we hadn't done this before and decked out our basement. It was such a fun gathering; wish I had gotten photos of all the food on the table. Everyone had a great time catching up.  The food tables were eventually filled; I think I need to live at the gym for the next month.  All the neighbors brought appetizers or a dessert and I'm still full; don't think I can eat another sweet.

This morning all of us went and saw Frozen 2 and I liked it better than the first Frozen.  Our youngest granddaughter mentioned she wants to see it again; I think we will add it to our collection when it comes out for sale.  Tonight hubby and I will be joining our girls families attending Christmas Eve service; afterwards hubby and I will drive around looking at lights.
May your Christmas be blessed with peace, love, joy and 2020 be healthy and happy.
Blessings to you.
Noreen

The Countdown is On

Hello there and from our house to yours, Merry Christmas.  We are finishing wrapping one present and have to buy French Bread for another,  but everything else is done.  We had a great party on Saturday with 10 neighbors.  It was the first party we've thrown during the holidays and I am so happy it turned out well.  Tomorrow morning all 17 of us are continuing a Christmas tradition and going to the movies together to see Frozen 2.  Even the teens love going and I love it that we get to go as a group.  Tomorrow evening we will all go to Christmas Eve services together and then hubby and I will drive around our area to look at lights.
What a blessing to live so close to our girls and their families.  I've already started a goal list for quilting starting in January and I've still got to finish one granddaughter's quilt.  I've joined a monthly club at a local quilt shop and will work on small wall hangings once a month; add in the challenges from our mini group and I'll be busy all year.  I'm also going back to Southern California for a huge quilt show at the end of January; it should be an adventure and I'm meeting my best friend at the airport.  The very first road trip we took was to Road To California about 16 years ago; I haven't been back since, but she goes every year with her mini group.  I knew the gals in her group when we lived next door to each other, so it will be fun to see them as well.
I pray you have a wonderful Christmas and end the year on a positive note.
Blessings,
Noreen

Christmas Love

Happy Thursday to you! I know everyone is running around trying to finish getting ready for next week, but I can honestly say that other than two gift cards for two people that give us excellent service on a regular basis, we are done. The presents are wrapped and we have a neighborhood party Saturday evening that we are hosting and everything but the appetizers is taken care of. It feels so good. So somehow last week I forgot to post these photos of fun at my brother's and sister of my heart home.  We spent Saturday afternoon at their house and the kiddos got busy with different card games.  It still amazes me that all the cousins are so close, it's more like they are siblings. I love it that they all enjoy each other and there aren't any disagreements.

Our oldest Carrie and her hubby Brent.  They, as well as our younger daughter and her hubby, are a true  example of love.  The give so much to all of us; this trip was possible because of the generosity of Brent; he shared frequent flier mileage with each of us.  Such a beautiful photo of them; they are as beautiful inside as they are outside.

My Christmas tree; I love it!  I especially love that two granddaughters come over and help me decorate it each year.

Our little Hunter; we loved how he was up against our stuffed Polar Bear.

I've run errands this morning and planning on visiting a friend who had her knees replaced a week and a half ago.  I'm thankful that I haven't had to go through this!
Blessings to you on your day.
Noreen

A Quilter's Christmas Gathering

Happy Monday to you! Last Friday our quilt mini group met for our Christmas party and it was such fun. We started out making two crafts~one a sock snowman and the other a felt ornament.

One of our gals used to teach school and did this craft each year.  For some reason, I didn't get pics of the ornaments~probably because I was busy making one.

Aren't they just adorable.
Next came lunch time and we had a feast~we had grilled chicken, corn bread and mashed potatoes from a local restaurant, steamed vegetables, coleslaw, iced tea, water and punch.  Here are the five desserts that the middle gal brought. They looked incredible, but I couldn't taste since I'm gluten free.

There were only ten of us present and it made for a wonderful day.  We missed the two that weren't able to attend though.

After lunch we had our annual gift exchange; this year it was charm packs and we all have to make something with them.  Our fearless leader brought examples of items her other group made from the same exchange; this gave us inspiration and ideas.

There were several that caught my eye; right now I'm still focused on two projects I've got to finish, then I can decide what to do with the squares.  Thankfully, it isn't due until next November.

Love the charming fabrics on the table topper.

Look at all those dots.

Absolutely love this table runner; in fact one of the projects our group is going to do is seasonal table runners and we split into groups.  My good friend, another gal and I ended up with fall-I think this pattern would be lovely in fall colors.

This was our leaders project; she is an incredible quilter and teaches us so much.

Love these next two projects-I was hoping to slip them in my bag, but that didn't happen.  Just kidding.

My good friend Loretta and I hosted the party at her house.  It was a lot of work and Loretta is an incredible hostess.  I'm glad it's over and we aren't doing it next year.  Now we are getting ready to have five couples from our neighborhood in on Saturday night for appetizers and wine to celebrate Christmas.  Lots of work still let to do; I will say that we only have one gift left to purchase and hubby is wrapping the two items that came last night.  Once we have it all together, we can relax and enjoy.  Each evening we've been watching Hallmark Christmas movies and love them.
Blessings to you!
Noreen

It's Beginning to Look A lot Like Christmas

Hello Friends and Family, I know it's been so long since I posted~somehow life just gets in the way! I think because Thanksgiving was so late this year, then we had guests from Idaho and then the whole gang flew out to northern California to visit my brother and sister of my heart. They hadn't been able to make it out here this last year and we just all needed to love up on them. My brother is retiring and we never thought that would happen, as well as  Sue had a birthday on Sunday and both have had some health issues this year. One thing led to another and all 17 of us boarded planes for the weekend. Hubby and I arrived on Thursday and  after getting to my brother's, we headed to Santa Cruz to meet our dear friends from Carmel Valley. It was such a wonderful dinner on the wharf! Rich and Sue have known Dave and Aletha for the last 41 yrs and Aletha and I went to high school together.  Friday all four of us headed to Half Moon Bay for lunch at Sam's Chowder House and it was so good.  Susan and I went shopping in Los Altos in the afternoon. The rest of the gang had various activities on Friday and our plan was to meet for brunch on Saturday.  On Saturday morning we all met at a restaurant called Buck's of Woodside; can you imagine the patrons looks as we all entered the place. It was wonderful.

Next we gathered back at Rich and Sue's for a day together, which included lots of photos.

Back row-left to right-Rich, Sue, myself and hubby.  Those kneeling from left to right-Brent, Carrie, Kim and Eric.  Love this photo.

All the grands.

On Friday, Carrie's family went up to Armstrong Woods north of Santa Rosa-where we used to live.

It was a whirlwind trip that included going to Tech Interactive and seeing a dog movie at the IMAX theater, have lunch at In & Out, then spending more time with our loved ones, including going to church with them.  Finally, we all headed to the airport-we took up a whole area as you can see. Our flight was delayed and we didn't get home until about 4:45 AM Monday morning.

The rest of the week was busy, including breakfast Monday morning at my neighbors house(which I made it to), then on Friday my quilt mini group's Christmas party that a dear friend and I hosted. It was wonderful, but so glad it's over. Next weekend we are having five couples over for appetizers and wine to celebrate. I'd love to say I'll be back this week, but no guarantees.
Snow has returned, but we have almost all our shopping done and can spend snowy days wrapping presents.
I hope you are enjoying the season!
Love,
Noreen