where did I leave off..

The last time that I was here it was early October.

The start of my favorite time of year.

First,  I need to tell you that I am here courtesy of Sally (my youngest) who bought me this amazing laptop for Christmas.   I am still touched by this special gift.  She said that she wanted me to do the things I love again,  blogging and writing.

To catch up,  I snagged some pictures from my social media accounts . 

I missed a lot of my favorite blog seasons so I will just give you some highlights.

A quick visit to Halloween brings us to a wedding.

Skelly and martha tied the knot in the "Til Death Do Us Part" themed sun porch.

The ceremony was perfect

up until Skelly smashed cake into martha's face.

On Halloween Paul and I took a 9 hour road trip and spend the night in this little cabin in the Tennessee mountains.

The purpose for our visit to Tennessee was more then just a weekend away,

but a weekend to scout out potential properties and neighborhoods around Norris lake.

Have you ever been there?

Simply said,

It is beautiful.

 I could definitely live there!

We were home in time to cast our votes on Election day.

This year, this deplorable was especially excited to vote and i went to the polls a few days early.

Mid November was a milestone birthday in our house.

Our youngest daughter turned 18.

SAY IT AINT SO!

My little girls grew up much to fast!

Thanksgiving came and I felt extremely grateful to share a great meal with good friends and family. we had much to be thankful for.

I cheated a little this year and instead of roasting a whole turkey,  I put a bone-in turkey breast in the slow cooker...  best turkey I've ever had.

Once thanksgiving passed I was in full house and Christmas mode.

I needed to get the house clean and decorated before our special guest arrived at the start of December. 

The house was festive and it was finally time for our visitor to arrive.

Do you remember back in the summer when my oldest daughter went to Switzerland to work as a nanny to a family that used to live here in the states?

We joked about how she would find her future husband while she was there..

the joke was on us!

She was just in Switzerland for 2 days before she met the German Physicist who would steal her heart.    Talk about long distance relationships!

The past few months have been tough and Michelle was counting down each day until his arrival here.    Paul, Sally and I were anxious to meet him as well.

He is just as we expected,  a kind soul who is very much in love with our daughter.

There's just one huge problem that we had with him..  He lives on the other side of the world and he was taking our daughter back home with him until the end of March.

I don't know what the future brings for these two but I pray that it is wonderful. 

They are perfect for each other.

In the 3 weeks before they were due to leave,  we crammed in as much Christmas as we could.

They took day trips, decorated the tree, made cookies, watched traditional Christmas movies, played games... but there was not nearly enough time to do everything that we wanted.

The middle of December brought my birthday.

My 45th birthday.

45.

What is it about those 5's that make it sound so bad?

Michelle took me to her favorite place to celebrate.

A nightclub in downtown Baltimore. 

A gay nightclub.

I had the most fun ever.

Such a great birthday!!!!

Since michelle was leaving on the 19th,   we had our Christmas the day before.

I took a picture of sally taking a picture of our international Christmas dinner.

There was a little bit of everything on the table, Italian, polish, German... 

The family says that this was their favorite Christmas dinner ever.

and I have to agree.

It was the perfect day.

I love these kids so much. 

And these doggies too.

The day was here, and it was time to say goodbye.

As much as I tried to keep it together,

I couldn't stop crying for the next few days.

Thankfully,  Christmas eve we had a nice distraction.

it was the day that Paul got to pick out his Christmas present.

We had 7 adorable males to choose from.

And this little guy was the winner!

Paul's face just says everything ...

I think he loves his gift already!

(We don't bring the puppy home until mid January)

And here it was,   Christmas day.

We missed Michelle,  but we had a nice Christmas.

I was overwhelmed that Paul and Sally spoiled me so much.

Paul gave me the coolest power tools .. hahaha

and Sally, this laptop that I am blogging on right now.

We had a great Christmas morning breakfast and later a traditional buffet style Christmas dinner.

And of course there was football...

we watched our Baltimore Ravens loose to the stupid Steelers.

And now it's New Years eve...

We've got a busy year coming up and I am excited to get it started.

We don't have big plans for the night.. 

maybe I'll make a pot of chili or something.

Whatever we do,  it will be chill.

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas.

Happy New year friends!

May 2017 be filled with blessings for us all.