It’s pretty unusual for me, but I got all the way through November and only had one favorite on my list for the month.  Rather than do a favorites post with only one item, I decided to wait and combine November with my December favorites.

FAVORITE #1

We started out the month of November in Europe!  We went to Lithuania to visit our son Danny and his wife Erin.  While we were there, the four of us also traveled to Poland.  If you missed that post, you can click here to read all about it.  It was a great trip!

 

FAVORITE #2

Early in December I received a FaceTime call from my granddaughter Helen!

She called to “show & tell” me that she had just gotten braces!  This is not a favorite because she got braces.  I never had them, so I can only imagine how hard they are to get used to.  But it’s a favorite because it makes me happy that she wanted to share it with me.  I love this girl so much, and I am always interested in what is going on in her life!

 

FAVORITE #3

The second week in December, Big Eagle and I headed to beautiful Antigua to spend a week celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary!

I posted about it here.  Such a beautiful island destination!

 

FAVORITE #4

We returned home from Antigua, and the next day Big Eagle went to the post office to pick up our mail.  We had placed a hold on it before we left.  In it was a package from my sister Susan.  I thought, “Oh, Susan sent us something for our anniversary.”  That in itself was a bit of a surprise, because I really didn’t expect anyone to remember our anniversary.

When I opened the package, there was a card inside, and when I slipped the card out of the envelope, I immediately saw the picture on the outside of the card.  I just instantly became emotional when I saw it!

OMG!  I have no words!

But then, when I opened the card and saw every one of my siblings names, I really lost it!  They ALL remembered!  I really cannot explain how much that means to me.  I love my brothers and sisters so much, and we don’t see each other often enough, being spread out around the country.

 

That was way more than enough to put me over the top!  However, this beautiful wooden trivet was also inside!

 

And this gift card for cooking classes at Sur la Table along with a super witty verse!

Needless to say, we’ve been online perusing the classes offered and will be signing up for one soon!  I’m sure it will be part of my January Favorites next month!  My heart is full!

 

Favorite #5

We spent the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays just the two of us for the second year in a row, and while that is NOT really a favorite, we made the best of it.

On most Thanksgivings, I’ve always been too busy to see the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  I’m used to just seeing snippets of it here and there while working in the kitchen.  This year I sat down and watched the whole thing start to finish.  Do you realize it lasts THREE HOURS?  I don’t think I ever knew that.  And afterwards, I watched the dog show.  We had a turkey breast, stuffing, and cranberry sauce for dinner, of course.

It was cold Christmas Eve, so instead of attending the service in person as we had intended, we streamed our church’s service online.  Big Eagle casted it onto our TV.  Christmas Day we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast, opened gifts from each other, and had what has become our traditional Christmas Day lunch of boiled shrimp and crusty bread.  It was so great to have calls from both Danny and Cara that morning.  And that evening, we enjoyed our traditional Christmas dinner.

FAVORITE #6

The day after Christmas, a long-time friend of Danny’s came to see us!  We hadn’t seen Adam since Danny and Erin’s wedding in 2019!  He lives in New Mexico, but has family in Fort Worth that he came to be with over the holidays.  We had lunch together at Grump’s in Old Town Burleson, and it was just really so nice to catch up with him!

 

Looking forward now to what 2023 has to bring!  Praying for health, love, and happiness for every one!