The Christmas decorations have all been taken down and put away, so now I’m taking the time to look back at my favorite moments from the last month of 2023!

FAVORITE #1

I showed some pictures in my November Favorites post of our addition remodel as it was in progress.  This month I’m showing the finished project.  I say “finished”, but there are still many final touches to be done.

Here is the finished bathroom!  I wish I had some “before” pictures, but I don’t, so I’ll just have to tell you about it.  When we moved into this house in 2001, this bathroom had wall-to-wall carpet in it.  Ewwww!  However, we lived with it in there all those years!  FINALLY, we’ve replaced it with tile!  We also had a higher countertop installed, new cabinetry, and a higher toilet, as well.

 

Next is the master bedroom.  Just paint and new carpet in here, but we did get rid of the headboard, so now we are on the search for a new one.

 

And finally, the main living area!  We bought a new sectional and matching recliner for this room.  I would still like to get a small, round coffee table to replace the black ottoman.  We also need to get things put on the walls, including a mirror.  And we need to make a place for the plants.  The windowsill behind the sectional is too small to hold them.  Big Eagle has made a sofa table/desktop to put behind the one side of the sectional, but we’re still waiting on the legs he ordered for it to arrive.

 

This addition has served us well in all the years we’ve lived here.  It was a home for our son Danny one year.  My mother resided in it for 13 1/2 years.  And during COVID, it was a home for my daughter and her family for a few months.  It has certainly earned the right to an update!

 

FAVORITE #2

I had a custom ornament made to commemorate Leo’s first Christmas, and it just melted my heart when I saw this photo of him holding it!

 

 

FAVORITE #3

In December, I ordered 2 plants during Tanner the Planter’s live sales, and I love them both!  First, this Anthurium Baby Purple:

So gorgeous!  And then the next week, this medley Pothos/Philodendron was delivered!

 

If you haven’t checked out Tanner the Planter or Famous in Oregon yet, I highly recommend it!

 

FAVORITE #4

It seems that Orangetheory Fitness is part of my favorites every month!  In December they offered their 12 Days of Fitness.  It started on December 1st.  If you completed six of the twelve workouts, you were rewarded with a blanket.

The following picture was taken on the first day of the workouts (Dec. 1st).  It was a favorite for me, because Coach Lori participated in the workout.  She’s pictured front and center in the tank top.  She is no longer with Orangetheory, so it was great to be able to see her and work out with her again!

 

 

By December 8th, I had completed the required 6 workouts and received my blanket!

 

Later in the month, on December 15th, we did the 2,000-meter benchmark row.  I’ll be darned if I didn’t get a PR!

 

True that my name appeared quite a ways down the page, but hey…a PR is a PR, and I’m always happy to get one!  And not only that, but at the end of the workout, the coach told us to pick up a mini-bundt cake and a beanie at the front desk on our way out.  What!?  THAT was an unexpected surprise!

 

LOVE it!  I split the little bundt cake with Big Eagle, so we both got about two bites, but it was good!

 

FAVORITE #5

Our 51st wedding anniversary was December 9th, and we went to Bob’s in the Omni Hotel in downtown Ft. Worth for a celebratory dinner!

The lighting on this picture is not the best, but their food certainly is!  All of their meals are served with this giant carrot, and it is cooked to perfection!  We both had the filet, and I ordered a side of sauteed mushrooms.

 

I was only able to eat half of my meal, so the other half went home with me.  Aren’t their doggy bags cute?

We were so full from the meal that we told our waitress we would have to pass on dessert.  What a surprise when she delivered this delicious creme brulee  to our table!

 

FAVORITE #6

The next day, I flew to Illinois to spend a few days with my sister Judy and her husband George.  I hadn’t seen either of them in four years, and it was good to catch up with them!

 

 

FAVORITE #7

We spent Christmas 2021 and 2022 just the two of us, so it was a BIG favorite this December to have our daughter Cara and her family here for Christmas!  Get ready for picture overload!

Christmas Cookies:

The girls had school all the way up through the Friday before Christmas, so the family started their drive here on Saturday morning.  That meant they wouldn’t be here until close to dinnertime that evening.  Decorating cookies is a tradition the girls love, so to save time, I baked the cookies before they got here.

I did both sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies.

 

On Christmas Eve morning, the girls made the icing and started decorating!

 

I didn’t even get any pictures of them actually decorating the cookies OR of the finished works of art.  🤷‍♀️

Christmas Eve Evening

Late that afternoon, we all attended the Christmas Eve candlelight service at Pathway Church.  It was so great to walk into church with family, and to sing the traditional Christmas hymns and see all the candles lit throughout the congregation!  The only picture I took was this one as we were filing out afterward.

Back at home, while I prepared a dinner of quesadillas, Paul and Cara worked on the puzzle Paul had brought.

 

And Helen decorated a plate that Edith had helped me adorn with a ribbon.

 

With dinner almost ready, it was “Cheers!” with some margaritas!

 

After dinner, there was one Christmas Eve gift for each of us to open, even Big Eagle and me!  Paul and Cara had gifted everyone coordinating pajamas!  Sweet!

 

Christmas Day:

I didn’t take hardly any pictures on Christmas Day.  Guess I was enjoying myself too much!  I was up before 7, and I could hear the girls talking in their room, so I went in.  It was so funny…they were in the dark doing “blind make-up”. 😂  They knew they were to stay in their room and not wake Paul or Cara until 7, so they were keeping themselves entertained.

As soon as 7 hit, they went to the addition and woke up their parents.  Then they got their Santa gifts and opened stockings, we all had breakfast, and then opened the other gifts under the tree.

For lunch we had shrimp, French bread, and a charcuterie board.  Helen helped me assemble the charcuterie.

For dinner that night we had steak, mashed potatoes w/gravy, and asparagus.  After that we played some games and opened the Christmas crackers Cara had brought.

What a great Christmastime!

 

The next couple of days:

Cara and Paul wanted to get Helen a better flute, and Cara had been recommended to a flute store in Plano.  So on Tuesday, I drove her and Helen up to Plano.  She tried 14 different flutes, narrowed her choices down to about 5, and then settled on THE one.  They took a picture of her with her new flute.

This new flute will be for concert band, and she’ll continue to use her old flute for marching band.

That night after dinner, the puzzle was completed!  Everyone put in one of the final pieces.  For me, it was the ONLY piece I put in!  Ha!  It was nice of them to include this slacker.

 

On Wednesday, we all went to the Parks Mall in Arlington to make a return and also so the girls could go ice skating.  With the return complete, we saw that the ice skating rink was pretty packed, so change of plans…there’s also a bowling alley right there, and we all decided to go bowling instead!

 

One of Edith’s gifts was a new video game for her Switch.  That night I played it (or attempted to play it) with Edith, Helen, and Cara.  It was NOT easy for me.  I was in last place for both of the rounds I played.  And my hand was cramping up.  Sheesh!  Thank goodness, Paul came in and took over for my character.  There was immediate improvement!

 

They had to leave the next morning for home.  They were expecting company at their place for New Year’s Eve.  It was such a great visit!  I’m so glad they were able to come.  My favorite thing is to spend time with family!

 

FAVORITE #8

If you like to read, you might strongly relate to this graphic, like I did!  I like it so much, I saved it to include in my favorites.

 

Now it’s full speed ahead into 2024!  I hope this year brings good things your way and that God blesses us all to be able to face whatever challenges may come, as well.  Thanks for taking the time to read!