End of 2018 Faves

 

Wow....it's the last Friday of 2018.....

I've been thinking of shutting down this blog to focus on some other things in my life but I honestly just love participating in the FFF that Susanne hosts each week...so..I'm going to continue to think and pray about it....

for now, let's pause and share five of our very fave things from the past week.......most of mine center around our youngest daughter's birthday and the birthday of our Risen King!

Join in by linking up at Susanne's site.

Claire is 20!

Gulam Jamun
free birthday dessert for a vegan!

• BALLERINA BIRTHDAY:  Our youngest, Claire, celebrated her 20th birthday on Winter Solstice Day. After opening gifts (she wanted her fave vegan snack food, Hippeas, and an F Scott Fitzgerald book), we all headed over to the Pakistani/Indian restaurant in town.  Her fave place to eat dinner.  They have many vegan options of course and when they heard me say something to her about being the birthday girl, the chef made her a sweet dessert (shown above) that my Indian childhood friend's Mom used to make and serve me all the time.  It brought back so many memories.  What a fun evening out we all had and Claire was so happy with this surprise dessert.  It is just delicious!! I'm so thankful she was happy.

Mike & Jill (my youngest sis) and their oldest gal Emma (15),
my sisters Hope, Joy and Luke (age 26, Joy's son)

Hope's husband Donny and Mike & Jill

Me with my husband Dave and our 2 girls Courtney (25) and Claire (20)

My youngest sister Jill and her two girls: Emma and Mady (10)

Claire and Courtney with their festive head gear
23 December 2018

• FAMILY FUN!  On Sunday, Dave and I hosted my sisters and their families for our annual family gift exchange.  This year we did themed gifts.  It was so much fun!  Fave mugs, socks, snacks, games, books, etc.  We all crammed into our living room near the tree and then spread out for games into the family room ( where the younger generation played Harry Potter Trivia), and dining room where all the food was.  In the living room, some of us had a rousing game of Password going.  It was such a fun afternoon and I was happy and thankful that I could host it this year and  give my sister Joy a break from doing it.  Although we all miss our parents terribly, we do know they both are with the Lord and we will see them one day.  I'm just so thankful we had this time together. 

Dave and I at church on Christmas Eve 2018
24 December

• CANDLE-LIT CHURCH:  The four of us went to church on Christmas Eve and we chose the last service (our church offers a 3 pm, 4:30 and 6 pm candlelight service) to attend.  The dress I'm wearing was a birthday gift from Dave and the necklace was an early Christmas gift.  Dave's sweater was new too.  We asked our oldest daughter to take our photo as we hadn't had a good one of us dressed up for awhile.  Anyways, the service was excellent as always, and afterwards, we went home to have some dinner and then we all watched our fave Christmas classic, White Christmas.  I'm thankful the girls still like to follow the traditions we started when they were younger.

Courtney with her gift from us: a record player...yes...retro!!

Claire's up and ready to open  her stocking!

• CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION!  Dave and I woke up early on Christmas morning so we made coffee and cranberry-orange pancakes and just relaxed in our pj's and read our Bibles and books before the girls got up.  Once they were up, we exchanged gifts and it was really a wonderful celebration of food, being thankful, chatting, laughing and just being together. We didn't do anything fancy this year and everyone pitched in to help which I'm really thankful for as in years past I've done the brunt of the work.  I love that the girls are older and yet willing to hang out with us old folks.  We watched a movie later in the day (Charlie Brown Christmas) and then we all just relaxed with our drinks, books, and music. I shared a bit about my morning devotional time and when the day was over and we were all in bed, I remembered that we hadn't eaten our "Happy Birthday, Jesus" cupcakes!!  too funny...so we're saving them to have on New Year's Eve!!

 

my tea cup and saucer from my mom's collection
 she gave me before she died

a new mug from my youngest sister...she got us all mugs that reflect our passions
(Dave got a Star Trek one, Courtney a Harry Potter, and Claire a Ballet one)

• VACATION!  I'm on vacation all week and don't need to be back to the school until Wednesday 2 January. It's been great being able to have a hot cup of tea in the late afternoon and sit by the tree and just read.  And in the mornings, I've lingered over breakfast with my devotional and an extra mug of coffee.  I love it. I've needed the rest and time to reflect. One of the fave things I did this past week, was yesterday when Claire and I went to Saratoga, our fave little city near us, to eat lunch at a fave vegan cafe.  We then walked across the city to our fave coffee spot and sipped lattes before heading over to a fave bookstore and then walking back to our car.  The weather has been crisp cold but no snow.  It's been sunny and we have loved every minute of this week.

  That wraps up my week.

I hope you enjoy the remaining days of 2018 and have a wonderful time welcoming in the new year!

Peace,