Mothers and Daughters

Relationships change over the years between mother and daughter. I am fortunate to have taken a wonderful journey over the years with my daughter, Jennifer. It's amazing sometimes, how when I look back over the years, I wonder, "Where have they gone?" It seems like it was only yesterday that I remember Jennifer being so excited to have gotten her Cabbage Patch Doll, or when she was barely a teenager and she got her leather bomber jacket. I can still close my eyes and see the excitement in her face as she opened those and other Christmas gifts.I also remember the year she went to and 'elf' party and I made her an elf costume. It sure was cute.

I've been lucky to see her evolve into a great mother and wife. I can even say I have learned from her. When I was staying with them, I would always see Jennifer go through the house at the end of the night and pick things up. Now I do that, and it really makes a difference in the morning. I am so grateful for all the support and friendship my daughter has given me over the past years, especially this past year. She is an amazing person, and I think she is just beginning to realize that herself. I look forward to the next phases of our journey both as mother and daughter and as friends. Here is a picture of Jennifer with her husband Josh and children Braiden and Emma.

Christmas and Family

One of the best things about Christmas time is that it is a time that brings family together. The love and warmth of those get togethers is very special to me. I love to see my family happy, laughing and enjoying each other. This year Mark and I hosted our kids at our house. First we all met and went 'caroling' to Henry's Farm Supply where Shaun was working on Saturday. In case you don't know, Shaun is serving his time in county jail in relation to meth charges from his arrest nearly two years ago. We have a lot to be thankful for this year, as Shaun is doing so well. He has kicked the meth and has 120 days down and 100 days to go. He is working for his dad and learning how to put carburetors and magnetos together. It is really fun to get to know him. So anyhow, we all headed down to see him on Saturday with a tray full of cookies. The weather was great. Here's a picture of Shaun opening his gifts.

Later that afternoon, we gathered back at our house with our children and grandchildren. The grandkids were all anxious to open their gifts. Of course there were quite a few of them under the tree. I love Christmas and I love to shop at Christmas time for the perfect gifts for everyone. Braiden, Kiara and Emma were ready to open thier gifts and see what surprises were inside.

Of course, the adults also enjoyed getting their presents. Everyone seemed very happy with what they received. Here are a few pictures of the big kids with a few of their gifts.




Mark and I received some really great gifts too. As I mentioned earlier, family is important. We have family in Michigan that were not able to be here this year. That is Mark's daughter and husband and our other two grandchildren. We so wish they could be with us at this time of year, but we still send off gifts. Here is a piture of Mark & I with a gift from Michigan.

Am I brave or what?!?!?!?!?!

Last weekend we hosted a gift exchange party for Shantel and her friends. My daughter, Jennifer came up with the idea as a way to save on buying gifts for all of Shantel's friends. So Shantel made up an invitation and we printed them on cute snowmen paper. I think she gave out about 30 invites. Well, over 25 girls responded and said they would be coming. Luckily we had the foresight to ask everyone for $2.00 to help defer the cost of food. I was subbing at the highschool the day Shantel gave them out, and I had the girls in her classs right after lunch for phy ed. Everyone was so excited. It was fun for me to have the chance to see that. Well, Shantel & I baked sugar cookies and made popcorn balls one night and made chex mix and puppy chow another. The day of the party, we made tortilla roll-ups and ham & pickle roll ups. We had plenty of food to eat and I made a good punch using cranberry-raspberry forzen concentrate, frozen lemonade, 7-up and water. It was fun to hear the girls shriek as they opened their gifts. We also played several games. One which is a little strange was to guess the reindeer poop. You melt candy bars and form into little balls, then number each container and the girls had to guess what kind of candy bar they thought it was. It was a huge success, and by 7:00 that night, I was laying down with my feet up, pretty much wiped out. Having 25 girls can be a bit taxing. They are all very nice girls and very polite, but they can get a little chatty. Shantel did tell me afterwards that everyone really enjoyed it and she was thankful for the party. Who knows, maybe it will be a yearly tradition.

Shoes from some of the girls at the party. I have never seen so many shoes on our rug!

Girls Night

Shortly after I married Mark, his sister and sister-in-law along with their girls decided to have 'girls night' every so often. We take turn hosting these events at our different homes and we potluck it. We always have great food to eat and have a good time talking and catching up. We usually have a movie or an activity that the hostess selects. Well, in December I hosted Girls Night. Of course we had a great time eating and then we did a Christmas Ornament exchange. It was fun to see everyone's ornament. Well, instead of watching a movie that night we played Mad Gab. We had given the game to Shantel for her birthday in November. In case you haven't played it, it's a game that gives you several words that when said together resemble a common phrase, location or person. We laughed so hard playing this game. When the other team is trying to figure out the word, it seems so easy, but when you're team is doing it, that's not necessarily so. The picture on the top is of all of us who were at the December get together in front of our tree, Annette, Shantel, Monica, Jennifer, Stacy with her baby Parker, Linnea and Sheena. The piture at the bottom is of Tessa, Linnea, Annette and Sheena as they try to figure out one of their Mad Gab cards.

Dancing Girls

December brings a time when we go to see our children in their performances whether it be a school play, concert or recital. This month we went to see Emma in her first dance recital and Shantel in her annual Christmas recital. It was fun to watch them both. Emma fist dance was a tap routine to a song called "Little White Duck". There were technical difficulties with the music. The curtain opened, the music started and about 12 little preschoolers started their first dance on the stage and then the music stopped. They started the music up again and once again the little dancers started the dance to only have the music stop again. The curtain closed and they walked the little dancers off the stage. We could see Emma's feet and at first she didn't move, it was as if she was saying, "I came here to dance and dance I will." Well after the intermission, they had fixed the glitch and the little girls did their dance. Emma was so proud of her flowers. When she got home she asked her mom for a vase and then put 'her roses' in her bedroom. The following week we went to Shantel's annual dance performance. It's always so fun to watch Shantel dance as she has such enthusiasm for dancing and always has one of the biggest smiles. Her group did a fantastic job and she was also pleased with her flowers.