Wonderful Family Visit -- 12/31/16

Jeff-youngest son;  Mom-OLD WOMAN;  Bert-eldest son;  Mark-middle son

On December 31st  (New Year's Eve),  George and I drove to Gatlinburg, Tennessee to a beautiful mountain cabin,  to meet with family for a day of JOY and HAPPINESS and lots of LAUGHTER...As I have told my Facebook friends,  this is the first time in a LONG time that I have been with ALL three of my SONS together.   As you can imagine,  I was a very happy Mama who felt as if I was in 7th Heaven!!!!   Here are some pictures for you to enjoy!

Granddaughter,  Brooke, and her Navy Husband,  Tristan

Bert (who goes by Tre now to all but the family);  The great news for me is that Bert is now a Tennessee Resident residing in Chattanooga... YEAH!

Mark and his fiancee,  Debbie

Jeff and his beautiful wife,  Dawn;   They are holding a gift that Talented Jeff painted for George and me.  That painting is proudly hanging in our living room now.

My son's father,  Mel,  and his wonderful wife,  Sally

My Hero---husband George,  holding a gift (Champion Chicago Cubs glass)

A happy Mama with new Daughter-in-law-to-be  (wedding in June)

Mark, Mom and Debbie:  (The good news is that these two came to our home in Fairfield Glade and spent a couple of days with us from Jan 2-4... Their visit was TREMENDOUS--and I'll share pictures of this visit in another blog.)

A SILLY picture of my three sons  (HA HA ---wonder where they got their craziness?????)

A Fun-Loving Family for sure!!!!!   We played some crazy, silly games-- including this one!!!!  ha ha  (Try to talk with that thing in your mouth!!! ha)

The FAMILY

Finally,   here is a good picture of ALL of us.   From left to right:  Row 1--Debbie, Brooke, Tristan, Betsy;  Back row-- Mel, Sally, Bert,  Mark, Jeff, Dawn,  and George   (We missed grandchildren Bay Lee,  Landon,  Christopher,  and Avery on this day.)

To say that this wonderful day 'made' Christmas for me is definitely TRUE...  Thanks be to God for FAMILY.

Happy 2017 to all of you!

Hugs,

Merry Christmas to our Friends and Family

Merry Christmas to YOU.   Hope you are having a fantastic day/weekend.

This year has been such a blessing and I thank God for EVERYTHING.

Today,  we celebrate the birth of the Baby Jesus.... What JOY.    Hallelujah!

Hugs,

"HEARTH and HOME" Theme ---Biltmore House and Garden Candlelight Christmas 2016

Welcome to a BILTMORE ESTATE CHRISTMAS 2016

George and I celebrated Christmas on 12/14/16 at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC.  And the best news for us was that we (everyone) could now take pictures inside the home (as long as we did not use the flash).   We had not been inside the big home for several years (mainly because they didn't allow photos to be taken)--- SO it was like a brand-new experience for us...  Oh My HEART.... Did we have a great time!!!!!!!! WOW..... 

The theme this year is "Hearth and Home" ---so their decorations paid special attention to the many fireplaces in the house.... Did you know that there were at least 70 elaborate, hand decorated trees in that mansion? Unbelievable!!!!  (I'll show pictures of some of the many trees soon.) There was live music (choirs, instrumentalists, etc.) throughout each area --so just being there with all of that colorful beauty and the sounds of Christmas music all around made me feel as if I was truly in heaven on earth... Thanks to George for this wonderful Christmas present!!!!! THAT is what Christmas is all about to me...

Today,  I'll share just a few pictures of some of the gorgeous HEARTHS in the home... Hope you enjoy seeing these pictures of SUCH an amazingly beautiful home...   You can click on them for enlargements.

I'll close with a picture of the Winter Garden area inside the house... (The first and last pictures are NOT mine.  I got them from the Biltmore site since their pictures turned out MUCH better than mine.)  IF you want to read/see more info about the Biltmore Christmas,  click HERE.    We highly recommend a trip to Biltmore --especially at Christmas.  

Merry Christmas to you and yours.

Hugs,

Christmas Photos from our Home to Yours in 2015

This is what Christmas is all about at our home.

As you probably know,  I LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas...   Even though George and I enjoy seeing and being with family/friends (and we always try to work that out during the Christmas Season),  Christmas DAY (and part of Christmas Eve) is OURS... We have some special routines and traditions  --and we both totally enjoy these two days together.

On Christmas Eve,  one tradition is to sit quietly and listen to the MESSIAH from beginning to end... This helps us relax and take in the true meaning of the Birth of our Christ.    We also take time to go to church for the Christmas Eve Service... After getting home,  we share a glass of Eggnog (or wine) and each of us opens ONE gift before going to bed.

Then on Christmas Day,  we first read our devotions and then have breakfast... After that,  we both get dressed,  and spend quite a bit of time taking lots of Christmas pictures together...  (We choose one of our favorite pictures for the following year's Christmas Cards.)

After the pictures,  we always are involved with church activities/service.  When we get home, we open our gifts --taking pictures throughout the day...  I love going back through all of  our Christmas  pictures from previous years.  The memories are fantastic...

The afternoon is spent relaxing,  napping,  listening to music and just enjoying the JOY all around us,  while celebrating Baby Jesus' birth...  Then,  about 4:00----we enjoy a delicious dinner together (usually turkey and the trimmings)....

Well---those are some of our Christmas Traditions...  Today,  I'll share some of the pictures from Christmas of 2015.... Hope you enjoy them!!!!

Another Tradition is to exchange ornaments (some very unique and/or silly)...  As you can tell from this one,  our Backyard Birds are a BIG part of our lives here in Fairfield Glade!!!!! ha

Our wonderful fireplace and the Fireplace Babies are also a big part of our lives.

This was our new Fireplace Baby,  a sweet little Snowman,  who joined our family in 2015... This little guy just jumped into our car when we were visiting Callahan's Christmas Store in Calabash, North Carolina... (Just wait until you see what jumped into our car this year --on our trip to Calabash.)

Here's a happy lady--enjoying a gorgeous canvas picture from George.

Santa left some BAD GIRL a sack of coal for Christmas......  Wonder why????

WELL---maybe this would be the reason for the 'sack of coal' ornament above... Ya think?????? ha ha 

NO SNOW (in 2015) ---but "Baby,  it was cold outside".... I love my new mittens!

I surprised George this year with a canvas of us --taken when we were at the Grand Tetons in late August.

Oh --how I love this man of mine!!!!

George makes me laugh and he makes me cry... I loved the Willow Gift (called TOGETHER) that he gave me.

George does warm my heart.....  

Two people in love,  having fun on Christmas Day,  2015

Hope you enjoyed seeing some pictures from our Christmas....  My prayer for you is that you enjoy this joyful season as much as we do..   Blessings to you for a Christ-Filled Christmas.

Hugs,