Christmas Vacation

Once upon a time in the land of real believe, there lived a King and a Queen. They had a wonderful life together and enjoyed the fun and laughter that their 3 children and 7 grandchildren had brought to them. As their beloved Princes and Princess grew and claimed kingdoms of their own, the King and Queen would visit them often. Joy and laughter would always accompany them on their journeys to distant lands where their beloved heirs lived. Christmas time was always such a joyous time of year and the King and Queen doted on the younger princes and princesses. The young ones were in awe of the wondrous presents that the King and Queen would present to them. Celebration was continuous, smiles were abundant and kisses and hugs were overflowing for the King and Queen. There lives were full! On such visits the Queen in charge of making memories would take lots and lots of pictures of her sweet little grandchildren, so that she could take the memories home with her and she wouldn’t be so sad when she was away from them. One of the long journeys took the King and Queen to a very far away land of their Princess daughter. The ride in the hull of the giant bird that flew was always a long and a fitful ride. Many others would accompany them and the giant bird was cramped! Although the Queen would sometimes bring treats to snack on for the King for the flight, the servants would be polite enough to give them a swallow of sweet drink to quench there mighty thirst. And even though the cost of the flight was LARGE the drink was not! The King wondered if there was enough of the liquid to go around and thought maybe he should give it back so that others could share in its sweetness! But the Queen insisted that he drink it and laughed at the King. I suppose that the servants on the flight of the bird didn’t know they were serving a King and Queen or they might have given them more than 3 swallows! They decided to not mention their status…..they didn’t want to bring attention to themselves! The Queen was amazed by the colors of the sky as they flew over the snowy clouds over the land of many sparkles and precious lights and coins. (Las Vegas). When they finally entered the inside of the second big bird in the land of many lakes and icy waters several squires had to de-ice the birds wings with special green liquid. It was all very interesting to the King and Queen as they patiently waited on the runway for over an hour in the land of Oprah thus having been delayed an additional hour because of the ice and snow. Once they landed in the land of many trees they were greeted by their oldest beloved Princess Madison and her father. Christmas was only a few days away and the King and Queen had shopping to do! While at the huge market place their oldest Princess granddaughter Madison decided it was time to show how grown up she had become by having a servant of a hair salon cut off her beautiful curly locks of hair. It was quite a shock to the King and Queen and dismay of her mother but no matter the length of her beautiful locks of hair she was still their sweet princess and she looked all of her 13 years of age. One of the special traditions that the Queen had was to make Christmas candy, so her beautiful daughter and her granddaughters set out to accomplish the task. While the Queen made, fudge, toffee, peanut brittle and white chocolate covered pretzel clusters, her princesses did there part of decorating gingerbread men and a gingerbread house. Of course the yummy frosting was always a treat and with giggles and smiles everything was accomplished with much love. The anticipation of Christmas morning was filled with a late eve. Santa was driven through the streets of the neighborhood by his special Fireman Elves on top of a Fire Engine which is a local tradition of the community and then rushed quickly to his awaiting sleigh to begin his rounds of dropping off the presents to all the children, good and bad. The morning of Christmas brought much excitement as the princesses opened their presents. Princess Brooklyn was thrilled with her make believe Rose Petal Cottage rooms. The King had a tea party and the Queen played make believe with her too. Princess Madison received gifts of a different nature, mostly grown up gifts, not make believe because she was 13 now! Christmas day will be remembered for a very long time. The Queen took many pictures of the days events to be looked upon as fond memories. The following day the King and Queen and Princesses and Prince Brad ventured off to another township where other family members and friends greeted them. Queen Glenda was delighted to have everyone come to visit and share in the festivities she had planned. Her castle was decorated beautifully and gifts were abundant once again. Queen Glenda is always a gracious hostess and would never hear of having servants do her cooking so she prepares meals for family and friends with much love. One of the planned events took the family to the countries great city capital of Washington DC. Everyone went to honor Queen Glenda’s fallen King who was laid to rest in Arlington Cemetery. Tears fell and only whispers were spoken in this sacred place. Christmas wreathes were placed upon thousands of graves of soldiers. The King and Queen were in awe of the beauty and humbled by the endless rows of white stones. They witnessed the changing of the guard at the graves of the “Unknown Soldiers” and stood at the foot of President Kennedy and his family graves where an eternal flame continued to glow. There is much to be seen in this distant land. It is full of history and much wonder. It was a trip to be remembered for a very long time and the King and Queen vowed to return again. Before departing from Queen Glenda’s castle the family celebrated in a birthday dinner for Prince Brad. The table was set for a King in the Princes honor. There was much laughter and joy as once again Queen Glenda prepared another feast. A day before their departure a small family gathering had lunch on Solomon’s Island. Princess Brooklyn was served a child’s platter of crab legs that everyone thought was a mistake! It was so large that everyone received a taste! The sea has a variety of delicious treats and the cooks prepared yet another tasty lunch for everyone in attendance. There is always sadness when goodbyes are at hand, but there is always the next visit to look forward to. Upon returning to the land of trees in North Carolina, the King and Queen had only a few days to prepare for their goodbyes so the Queen promised to help redecorate Princess Madison’s sleeping quarters. It was decorated in bright colors of purple and orange (something the Queen had done several years past) and then painted new colors of bright pink and black to match the new bed coverings the Princess received as a Christmas gift. Pictures and shelves were yet to be placed upon the walls and the Queen was promised that she would receive new photos once the decorating was completed. They were fortunate to spend the celebration of the New Year with their Princess daughter and granddaughters. Games were played and yummy food was consumed. The Queen also sang karaoke, played the drums and guitar on the magical TV screen. She wasn’t very good at it, but she didn’t care because everyone laughed and had a grand time none the less. Just before their departure on the 3rd day of the New Year many tears and hugs were shared. No other pictures were taken after their departure. The Queen decided that 393 were enough memories to have to sift through and she knew it would take her weeks to put some of them together on her blog. It was a wonderful trip and one to be remembered for a very long time. Another chapter has been written in the Queen’s book of memories and thus far everyone has lived happily ever after. THE END for now.

I do believe in Santa-eat your hearts out!

YOU ALL WISH YOU HAD YOU VERY OWN SANTA HUH!!???

CAN YOU SAY

SWEET?
This mama was tickeling Santa underneath his beard so snowy white.....

Then Santa gave me a present!......


And I gave him a big hug.......

And a big kiss..........

Eat your hearts out girls..............he's all mine!I hate snow.....that is why I moved to sunny St. George.....
Palm trees even hate the snowWe don't even own a snow shovel any more for cryin out loud!
My rose bushes were in total shock!



Thank goodness for car seat warmers! And believe me I used it!

Can you say ummmmmm warm....toosh.....!

Tis' and Twil' be The Season!

Dont' you just love Christmas lights! No....this isn't my house, but it could be!

I drove through a neighborhood close to my house and coveted their decor' !

Bob and I use to do the Griswald Christmas house each year, we even had over 7000 lights once,

but since we will not be home this year for Christmas...

I will enjoy "others" hard work and display of "the nativity"

Don't get me wrong! I was so nice to donate my "old" tree to the office this year! (thinking we would buy another tree for our house......)

I can enjoy a little tree deco at the work place...

Now although my house isn't Griswald trimmed this year I did manage to place a little tree on a table....I didn't want the grandkids to think I was a Scrooge or anything!

I have improvised with decorating my office instead, because that is where I spend most of my precious time

I do "BELIEVE" in "CHRISTMAS"

Don't be fooled by the BAH-HUMBUG,

WE traveled to Erda to see the grandkids and give them their presents.

Ryan opened a guitar which Owen enjoyed.....

They played with the new farm animals and Laruen dressed like a princess and ....Owen loved his new "Spider man" outfit.

Lauren is obsessed with "Tinkerbell" and got sheet and a new "Tink" pillow

This year Papa won't be able to get away with being the fully dressed Santa....

The kids would know for certain this year it was Papa!

Let me tell you know, take all those expensive gifts back....and buy stuff that is 5 bucks or less because they love that more than the expensive gifts! Or even better yet, find some toys they have completely forgotten about and wrap them up again! hehehehe NO...Nataile, Mike, and Brad....I HAVEN'T DONE THAT ARE YOU KIDDING! just sounds like it would work though!

The Texas Long Horn Bull and the Ranch Horse ($5bucks) were a huge hit!

This trip for me was a 24 hour turn around and I didn't get to spend as much time as I would have liked to, but the kids were OHHHH so cute....including my big kid, thanks Mikie for posing with your mama! I love ya!

And I love this big guy to my "sparkie" (oh too much information here hehe)

YES, it SNOWS in St. George.....not like you can catch a snow flake on your tongue

but you can on your hair!

Until next post......LIGHTS OUT! (this pic was taken during the last full moon when the moon was at it's closest radius to the earth since 1993. It was huge and beautiful)

Thanksgiving "Beast"

UHHHH did I say it was going to rain?

Well it did and it rained most of the

day on Thursday, so pretty much

the little ones, and big ones

had to stay in, which

in a 2400 sq. ft

house is.......cozy!

T'was the morning of Thanksgiving and all that was heard....

Let's get this day going, Oma I wanna stuff the bird!

the little ones were anxious... with aprons on and such

to get the"Beast" in the oven

a small task with a nice touch...

The Rhodes risen rolls were such a big hit...

that campfire marshmellows on yams, without a pit!

(ya know marshmellows roasting in a fire pit) well.......turn the broiler on

(you'll see what I mean)

got a laugh and had to scrape the yams clean! The fans they were spinning

round.....the doors all wide open, and fire alarm screeching

you would think that I had never cooked a

Thanksgiving turkey (or yams)!

(they were still good!)

Good family and friends shared the Thanksgiving "Beast"

with a little sparkling cider, mashed potatoes, fruit salad, of course jello and ham

I tried to make it easy..............

at least it wasn't "SPAM"!
The big kids played games.....

while other big kids took naps......

then the planning began......for "Black Friday's" big catch...........

Mike and Camille looked the ads over,

who's naughty....who's nice

it was done with much strategy.....not once....but twice

they got up pretty early, got me out of my bed,

I snuggled up with the little ones

and coverd my head.

Then Papa and I took the kids to the park

laughter, and spinning things

climbing ropes

and slides

CUTENESS BEYOND BELIEF!

AND OH WHAT A SRUPRISE! Owen can ride his bike

without training wheels you know he only turned 3 in October,

and with only one or two spills and so............

Then off to the Dairy Queen for a sweet little treat.....
You all can go shopping.....but my day

COULDN'T BE BEAT!

now Lauren is a Oma's girl she loves to do "make"

yeah, our sweet little princess

looks like she ate cake (hey it rhyms so what do ya expect!)

On Sunday before heading home a stop to see Santa (not shown)

at the Western store, each on top of a saddle

Lil' cowgirls and cowboys

their such a delight

Hurry take one more picture!

Before they drove out of sight!