Tablescape Tuesday

This is the last of the Christmas tablescapes.  I shopped the house and found these red mercury candlesticks (which will also come in handy for my valentines tablescape thanks to my sister-in-law Cindy!).  I red bowl in the middle was given to me as a Christmas gift from TieCare where I used to work years ago. I just filled in with ornaments.

Alyssa's friend Mary filled this beautifully wrapped box with muffins for us.  The decoration on the box is so pretty you want to just look at it.  She went the extra mile. She could be a Gore!  

Last Minute Trip to Wickenburg

Picture of Gore family: Grandmama Gore (Josephine, Jer's mom, Bob, Katie, Delaney, Papa (Jer), Alyssa, Grandma Katie and me.  Getting ready to head home after our whirlwind 19 hour visit + 9 hour drive (both ways).  
Heading out, we got this picturesque view of the mountains.  Drenched with snow. Beautiful. 355 miles each way.
Yes, we took both dogs.  This was Daisy's first ever trip beyond the park.  She was so good, she stayed in the back of the Range the whole time.  I thought she would try to jump back and forth, but she just enjoyed her space in the back!  That is a happy dog!

Bob and Jer visiting

Katie and Jer's new front porch.  They just added it on this year.  They can sit out here and watch the neighborhood go by and visit with their friends.

I love this big cactus in their yard.

The kids stayed in the motorhome.  They loved it! Jer brought it in from storage and set it all up.  It was so thoughtful for them to go through the extra trouble.

Katie's Christmas tree was beautiful.  She has a natural talent for decorating it.  I read magazines and look at websites, she just does it! It was beautiful! The tree showed off every ornament. I love the sparkly paperchain on it.  Reminds me of childhoods, both mine and my kids. Sharon has bought Katie numerous western ornaments.  Next year, Katie is going to make a small tree with only western ornaments on them.  I can't wait to see it. 

This is one of Katie's favorite ornaments.

Bob's Nana made this  ornament.  We have one that is made in blues.

Every inch of Katie's house is decorated for Christmas.  These book shelves contain her beloved music box collection.  She listens to them all (not at the same time) and really enjoys them.  She really did a wonderful job decorating her house and the best part of it, is that she just soaks up Christmas into her very being and relishes it.  We had a great time visiting with them. 

Christmas 2008

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse...Santa had arrived and he layed out all the presents.  The girls and Greg would be pleased in the morning.  Above is the before picture.  Below is the after!!!!  Yikes!

Next comes the throwing away of paper.  Being careful not to throw away presents along with it.  It usually takes me two days to clean up. This year the girls got coats, boots, and pajamas along with some other things. Only a few things had to be returned.
The dogs had only one little spot to lay in.  They received some toys from Alyssa.  They played with then all morning.  They were tuckered out!

Then we were off to Jack and Stacy's for Christmas dinner with the Gore family.  When I arrived, I found I was dressed the same as Jessica.  Of course, she looked way better than me!  Stacy and Emma were also dressed similar in their gray leopard tops and jeans.

We had no idea Bob's 94 year old Grandma was going to be there.  Yes, 94 years old and bowls in the senior olympics.  She has two silver metals and she is going to San Francisco this year to bowl for the gold.  She is really hard of hearing which made for some interesting conversations!
Jack and Stacy have a nice little bar area where everyone gathers.  Jack is behind the bar, Lance is in front of him, Andrea (Jack and Stacy's foreign exchange student from Italy) next, Bob, Alicia in the black jacket (Jake and Emmas friend), Cindy and Delaney. 

We were all leaving and Emma remembered that she needed a picture for Jake (who is in the Coast Guard and was not able to be with us).  So we quickly posed. Back row from left to right:

Bob, Tanner, Lance, Cindy, Katie, Jack, Alyssa and Greg.  Front row from left to right: Stacy, Andrea, Delaney, Emma, Alicia, and me.  Missing from this picture is Sam, Sharon, Jessica and Kyle, and Bob's parents, Katie and Jer. They had already left before we remembered to take the picture. We had a delicious dinner and fun hanging out visiting with everyone.  

Christmas Dinner with the Ricks

We went to the Savannah Chop House with the Ricks on Saturday night.  It is their tradition to go out for dinner on Christmas Eve, but this year their daughter (who is moving to Colorado in January) had other plans, so they made it on Saturday night and kindly invited us.  Unfortunately, I did not bring my camera!  Duh, what was I thinking.  We were also celebrating Greg's graduation from Loyola Marymount.  He will  walk in May, but he is done with school.

One of the highlights of the night was this little guy, Trenton.  He was adorable and sooooo well behaved.  We was dressed in a little suit with a tie.  He was happy, happy, happy! He dances when something excites him and it is so cute.  Here he is pictured with his "Lala" Barbara.

Christmas Party with the Garlands

We went to Shawn Garland's (of Garland Restoration, call them for any emergency you might have: fire, flood, leak etc  800-548-1186, 714-666-0190, 24 hours) company Christmas party.  We had a great time!  It was at the Cedar Creek Restaurant on the patio.  But it wasn't cold, they had a huge fireplace and heaters, it was just right.  The food was great.  The only bad thing was it took us an hour and a half to get to Brea from our house.  The traffic was really bad.

Shawn and Bob.  They are best friends. 

Tim and Kari.  Bob works with Tim and goes mountain bike riding every Saturday.  Tim was the friend of Bob and Shawn's that got airlifted out of the mountain biking wilderness area.  He had broken ribs and a collapsed lung.  Believe it or not, he stills goes mountain biking!

Marlene and me.  This is a horrible picture of me, but what the heck, I'm with my friend and that makes it a good picture.  Marlene and I walk together.  Marlene is Shawn's wife.

Me and Bob at the party.  We had a really good time.  Thanks Garlands!

Seeing double?

No, you are not seeing double. If you look closely at these ornaments you will see that two belong to Alyssa and two belong to Greg.  They were in first and second grade together and thus...made the same ornaments.  Greg's mom, Barbara, has also saved Greg's ornaments.  Alyssa helped decorate the their christmas tree last week and found these two.  Another Awww moment.  

Disneyland at Christmas

I know, I know, this should have been my Christmas card! I didn't plan it because originally it was only going to be me and Bob.  Alyssa didn't want to take time off work, Katie and Delaney were both going with their friends, so who knew we would all be together?...and get this perfect picture!  Just forget you saw it, because I just might use it next year!  The Castle was magical, so beautiful.   There were a bazillion people everywhere, but this nice man let us behind the ropes to take this picture.  Love him!!!
Here is a picture of Main Street.  It is really decorated so pretty!  Just ignore the bazillion people in the foreground. 

Greg and Alyssa in New Orleans Square.  It was sooooo cold.  We all bundled up, we ate clam chowder and gumbo, had some Churros and Hot Chocolate (okay, only me and Greg had hot chocolate) and it was fantastic!!!  I wish it could have lasted longer.  We definately got the Christmas Spirit!

The usual shenanigans.

The Haunted Mansion was decorated like "A Nightmare Before Christmas".  At first I didn't like it.  
It was ruining the Christmas atmosphere, but then...

Cheese!!! Oh excuse me, back to my story.

We went inside!!!  It was sooo great.  I tried to take pictures without using my flash, but it was impossible due to the moving "Buggy" we were in.  I absolutely LOVED it!!!  It was like a whole new ride.  I especially liked when you went into the room that stretches and instead of the guy hanging at the top, there were lots of skeleytons everywhere...COOL!  I also got a kick out of the room where the ghosts are dancing and blowing out birthday cake.  You have to see it, it was sooooo cool!

I only had to take ten of these to get this one!  It was sooo beautiful.

Bob took this picture outside It's a Small World.  I  wanted to ride it, but the line was way too LONG!  Next year we are definately going earlier.  Hopefully, we will beat the crowds.
Here is my attempt to take pictures of the castle and the fireworks as we were being hustled down the path by workers with flashlights.  They would move the flashlights really fast back and forth to keep you moving down the sidewalk.  Of course, it was totally working on me and then I heard a voice behind me.  Janie, slow down, your walking too fast, just shuffle!!! Okay.  We got to see a good portion of the fireworks while shuffling in front of the castle.  We watched the second half from Frontier Land.  People were staking out their spots at 7:30 and it was packed cheek to cheek.  Bob would never stand for sitting around for hours so we always take our chances.
And, of course, what trip to D-land at Christmas would be complete without the shot by the Christmas tree.  Sorry, kids you didn't make the cut!

The Meaning of a Snowflake

The Meaning of the Snowflake

Every new snowflake comes to the earth
is a picture of our Saviour’s birth,
because they are sent from up above
and remind us of God’s care and love.

Each one is so intricate and small
because Christ sees the details of us all,
and just as two are never the same
the Lord knows and calls us each by name.

Snowflakes gently cover the world in white
and hide what’s unlovely from our sight,
showing us how He covers our sin
and gives us His grace when we come to Him.

So may every snowflake bring Christ to mind
and in every bit of white may you find
a reason to celebrate anew
and a reminder of His love for you.

This was written by Holly Gerth, who is a writer for Dayspring.    Isn’t the poem just beautiful!

Newest Member of the Coast Guard

My nephew Jacob was sworn into the US Coast Guard last week.  He is currently stationed in New Jersey.  He will return home on Jan. 31, 2009 for awhile and then we will see where they will send him.  He is hoping for Hawaii, California or Washington. We are all so proud of him!!!

It's Official!

The happy and proud family:  Lance, Emma, Jacob and Cindy. 

The Christmas Card Thing

As the kids get older, it gets harder and harder to get everyone together for a Christmas card.  This year I knew exactly what I wanted.  I wanted everyone to hike into Aliso Woods for a picture at that corral, the one at the top of my Blog.  So I put the message out.  On Thanksgiving we would hike in and take some pictures.  Of course, on Thanksgiving there was rain.  Then Bob and I were on a bike ride and he measured how far it was from the parking lot to the corral.  3 miles.  NO WAY!!!  He definately was not going to hike in and the girls would be hot and tired and ... NO WAY!!!  Okay, plan B.  I looked and looked keeping my eyes open for the long grass I wanted in the card. I had visions of the kids in waist high grass, maybe done in sepia tone or black and white.  Where, where, where?  Hello! right at the entrance to the trail there were some hills and they were covered in the long dry grass.  PERFECT.  No hiking involved. Okay, on my birthday we are taking pictures.  It is going to be a beautiful weekend!  I can't wait.  Alyssa calls on Thursday, she is sick, wants to stay home over the weekend so she can get some rest.  What can I say?  Okay next weekend, Sunday, 11:00, wear white shirts and jeans.  Sunday morning arrives, Katie arrives, 9:30, white shirts?, I thought you said black (we did discussed black, but I don't remember saying black).  I didn't bring a white shirt.  WHAT???? White doesn't photograph well Katie says.  Delaney also mentions that she can't find her white shirt.  I call Alyssa and Greg, we didn't bring black shirts, we are wearing white.  OH NO, THINK FAST!!!!  okay, Alyssa can you stop by old navy and buy some black shirts? (Now that Katie has mentioned it, black would be better.) 11:30 Greg and Alyssa arrive.  12:00 Katie is finally ready.  We head out to the picture spot.  We arrive and are on the single road with no parking signs all up and down the street heading to the trail entrance.  Oh look, there's an ambulance.  It's right behind us, let it pass.  As we get closer, we see a fire truck, a ranger truck and the ambulance right where we were planning on taking the pictures.  Great...Bob remarks that this is not going to happen.  First of all, we are not allowed to park on the street and he is certainly not going to park there in front of the Ranger.  We pull over.  But the rule breaker in Bob pops out and sits on Bob's left shoulder and whispers in his ear, "The authorities are busy, some idiot fell off his bike and broke his collarbone.  We'll just hop out and take some quick pictures.  They've got more important things on their mind".  While we wait for the fire engine to leave, I snap 3 quick pictures of the kids in front of the trees just in case we get busted and asked to leave.  We walk into the grass and Bob takes 6 pictures.  He declares he has enough.  We usually take about 50 because it is so hard to get everyone looking good at the same time.  Okay, I say, not wanting to argue because the rule follower that I am is under extreme stress and I want to get out of there!!!  

                    We got 3 of these!  Alyssa with her eyes closed, that only leaves 3 others.Alyssa's eyes are closed again.  Why does she do that?  Katie asked.  I don't know, when she hears the word cheese, to her, it means close your eyes!

Katie doesn't like the way she is standing in these.  Absolutely not!

The day is saved!  We have a winner! Thank goodness I snapped these shots before our outright defiance of the law right in front of their faces.