Twas' the Day AFTER Christmas...And Savoring the Sweet Memories

 

Hello friends in Blogland...Merry Day AFTER Christmas to everyone! If you're like me, you've probably been recuperating, restoring, reclaiming your space and trying to put things back into some kind of order on the day after Christmas, especially if you hosted Christmas at your home.  And even if you went somewhere else for Christmas day, there's always a sense of trying to get things back in place and put away on the day after.   I don't mean things like taking down the tree or decorations...I hope no one is doing that already, although I know there are some who do...I can just barely move and breathe the day after Christmas, so to even THINK about taking things down and putting things away is like one of those "no way Jose'" kind of thoughts...I need to time to rest and savor the memories before I can start dismantling everything.  That, plus the fact that I am still recuperating from this bad cold or flu or whatever it was has left me with little energy to go on.  I am VERY thankful to the Lord for giving me the extra oomph I needed the day before to get through the wrapping and baking and preparations for our family celebration, but I did have to miss the Christmas Eve service at our church. I was still having too many coughing fits to be in close proximity to people, so it was another disappointment that I had to miss, but my body said "thankyou" for not being pushed to go. (And I'm sure the people appreciated the fact that I was not there spreading germs).

We were SO thankful our son Scott came home Wednesday afternoon and spent the night...and that he baked cookies for the family!! Hooray!

This is my mother's special Orange Cookie recipe that she always baked anytime she knew the family/grandkids were coming to visit.  Thankfully now Scott does this for our family gatherings as his gift to the family. Click HERE for a link to another story about this and the recipe)

Christmas morning was sunny and beautiful...A perfect day to celebrate the Birthday of our Savior and Lord!

And when I went out to put out the flag, look who came to greet me! Blackie was watching for me from the tree and came down out of the tree and ran up on the porch as soon as he saw me come out the door! I love that he went to the doormat that says: Believe!  A happy way to begin our Christmas morning...

And even though there are no pictures, I did scoop him up and took him inside to greet Daddy and wish him a Merry Christmas!  And then after he had a little tour of the living room all ready for our Christmas morning to begin, he was sent back outside to enjoy the day and keep out of harms' way.

Primarily because the two Grandpups, Sugar and Spice were coming to spend the day, and we don't think having them all in the same space at the same time would be a good idea!  Here they are opening their new toys...some squawking rubber chickens, which I tried to make the "parents" take home with them, but they said no, since I bought them for them, the toys should stay HERE! LOL!

They did have fun trying to figure out how to make them squawk!

They also had fun helping Grandpa open his gifts...

It was so wonderful to have our family gathered here together...here's Rose and Benton...

And Scott...

And your's truly sitting on hubby's lab...which involved a lot of hooting and hollering when I sat down on him and we laughed about the chair feeling like it was about to break...but I managed to stay there until the picture was taken...

And then there were some very special gifts.  I am so thankful for our talented family...

Here Scott is opening a wonderful gift created by his brother Benton for him...it's a collection cabinet for his Camaro car collection, and he put pictures from some of Scott's old Camaro calendars  in the background.  Scott loves Camaros and has had several over the years, so it's something that he will definitely treasure...

And hooray, I was given one of Benton's Nativity scenes that he builds and sells.  I was afraid I was going to have to buy one if I wanted! LOL.

And this is another special project.  I will tell you more about this in a future post, but it's something I've been waiting for for a while and he finally got around to doing it.  You may recognize those as old sewing machine cabinet drawers. Yes, that's what they are. But you will have to wait until he finishes the WHOLE project before I can show you the rest.  It's a work in progress.

And Scott shared more of his art talents with Benton and Rose.  These little paintings are some that he did  as "fingerpaints", using leftover screen printing ink when he used to work at a screen printing shop.  They are very uniquely created, and he wanted family members to have some of his original artwork for when he becomes a famous artist someday...You just never know what the Lord may have in store...

And it was fitting that Benton and Rose gave Scott some Bob Ross socks! LOL.

After gifts were opened it was time for dinner...ham, scalloped potatoes, butternut squash and green peas... Rose did most of the cooking. (I microwaved the frozen peas...does that count?)

Well, I did make both of these jello salads...hubby wanted the green one that has pineapple, cottage cheese, nuts, cherries, and other stuff in it to make it good, and the kids wanted a red jello with fruit (to which I also added some whole berry cranberry sauce).  They were both good. 

And Rose also made deviled eggs...

I took a picture of Scott's plate because he had it arranged so nicely...

And then there were the family photos at the table when they wanted to start eating...

Okay, pictures over. Now we can eat!

There were some other very special little gifts...I had ordered this tree ornament back in the fall, before our sweet Sunshine went over the Rainbow Bridge, and wrapped it up to give as a gift to hubby and myself...So when I opened the package and put it on the tree, it was one of those moments that kind of caught us all off guard and we remembered our sweet Sunshine while I shed a tear or two or three...

And then Rose gave me a gift that really got to me...she had ordered this special Tervis tumbler with photgraphs on it of Sunshine and Blackie and also the Grandpups Sugar and Spice...

So of course this picture really got me.  I love the gift truly, and I will remember all our sweet furry family members when I use it. (and I'll try not to cry!)

It really is a sweet gift, and it's interesting that she and I both had similar ideas. I also gave them an ornament similar to ours with Benton and Rose  and their pups. But I forgot to get a picture of it.

There were so many special moments and gifts, also from some dear friends...And Lily Grace was not forgotten:

She received a beautiful new Christmas dress and some special toys from her sweet "identical cousin" Tracie in South Carolina...

And Lily Grace and Baby Elva enjoyed watching all the Christmas festivities together...

At the close of the day the family gathered on the front porch for a group photo before the kids had to go home...

It was certainly a day to rejoice in the birth of our Savior, and there was much JOY in the place!

I set the new nativity up on the back porch as the sun was going down on Christmas day, and I just gave thanks to the Lord for His goodness and mercy and grace...

John 1:14 KJV

14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

And for God's most amazing GIFT of His Son, Who came to earth to seek and to save all who would BELIEVE.

John 3:16  KJV

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

I believe. Do you?

Before I close this post, I just want to say something. There was a comment left on my previous post by what I assume was a spammer. It was another "unknown" commenter, and whoever it was left a whole page of a statement written over and over again, probably 100 times or more, and it said "I want to die", over and over and over again. Well, my first thought was it's a spammer, and I deleted it. However, my other thought was, what if it's a real person, and that's how they really feel? And so I prayed for this person or whatever it may be, because it made me feel very sad that someone had written that actually on Christmas day. I don't know if anyone else has received this message from a spammer, but yes, it was a bit unnerving. I am still praying for that person, whoever it may be, that for whatever reason they found it necessary to write that statement over and over again on my comment page, I want you to know that I am continuing to pray for you, that you will find peace in your heart, and that you will come to know my Savior, Jesus Christ, as your Savior and Lord too. He will make your life worth living. He is Emmanuel, God With Us...the Child who was born to be our Savior and Lord written about in Isaiah 9:6~

"6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

Amen.

And if it is some kind of robot spammer, well, shame on whoever created it. I'll pray for you too!

Good night everyone, and may God bless you each and every one with HIS peace and love and everlasting joy!