Preparing for the New Year!

 We had a wonderful Christmas!  Our best gift was our newest grandaughter, Olivia!  The joy that she  brings us!  What was also wonderful, is our granddaughter Sofia, and our son Chris were able to come from Florida for Olivia's baptism in November, and they stayed 10 days!  Also a great present for us!

 

We had our son Michael, his wife Kristin, baby Olivia, my brother in law and his wife, with our other son Sandy, and hubby and I for Christmas Day.  Christmas Eve we were at my sil for 7 fishes dinner.  Oh boy, so much eating at the holidays!!  Christmas Day, we made cappelletti soup (we made the cappelletti)  and a huge pot of Chicken broth.  Then I made a turkey breast, roasted, stuffing, mashed potatoes, two pumpkin pies, hubby made sausage stuffed mushrooms, we also had charcuterie board, Christmas cookies I made, my sister in law, prepared breaded veal cutlets, I also made a salad.  I think that's it.

New Years Eve, we will be watching our Olivia for a few hours for Michael and Kristin to go out to dinner.  We will celebrate, warm and cozy in our home, happy and grateful to enjoy all the Lord has blessed us with!

I have also begun purging again.  Our sons gave us a beautiful 14 pc, three ply stainless steel set of pots!!!  So we tossed all our old pots.  Which started a chain reaction in the kitchen.  Making space for new pots, purging old ones, then that led to the next cupboards... and on and on.  Yesterday I grabbed a garbage bag and tossed 56 items!!!  I am on a roll!

I would love to get all our rooms decluttered and neat for the New Year.  My friend mentioned to me that she had started going through her things and donating them to Goodwill or charities.  She has 4 boys,  all grown and married.  She asked them if they wanted dishes, pictures, just anything, and they said NO!   I think girls are more sentimental with things, I wanted some things that were my Mom's.  I had all boys as well, and they have everything they wanted, and don't want old sentimental things.  

This is how I plan on making it easier to keep our home clean and neat.  Less items, means more peace for us.  I tell my hubby the same, when the weather is warm, he loves working outside on our flower gardens and all.  I said we need to get all plants that come back every year.  Easier on us.  We are in our 70's, so I am all for easy!!

Sunday Stealing

 Hi I am joining in with Sunday Stealing!  Fun questions!

"Hi! I'm your host Bev Sykes of the blog "Funny the World". .    Welcome to Sunday Stealing.  Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions.
Cheers to all of us thieves."

1. You are walking down the road and you look down. There is a bug. Do you step on it?    No.   

2. What is one fantasy that you want to come true more than any other?   To have our finances blessed, so we don't have to worry.

3. Someone knocks on your door. Do you look out the window to see who it is before you open it? Do you open it regardless of who it is?  Well we have a nest doorbell, so if we don't recognize them, we don't open the door!

4. Have you ever eaten Play-Doh?     No and that would never be something I would think of doing.

5. What was your favorite Saturday morning cartoon as a child?      I liked Looney Tunes, and Underdog!

6. Are you a people watcher?   No, and I never was.  It's a dangerous thing to do in this day and age.

7. I have a bowl of fruit.  There are apples, oranges & pears. You help yourself to one. Which one do you choose?     I would choose an orange.

8. What is your biggest pet peeve in the blogging world?     People who are mean to others and feel it is ok.

9. What was the last really funny movie you watched?     Nothing coming to my mind.  

10. What word do you use far too often?      Whatever!   And I do dislike when I do that, I have been working on that word.

11. How long do you spend in the shower?    I only take a few minutes, I am pretty fast, especially if I don't have to wash my hair.

12. What is something that you've never done that you secretly are dying to do?   a trip to Italy.   

13. Your favorite flavor of soup is….?     Chicken soup, and baked potato soup.

14. You are sitting on a bench in the park and a bug walks in front of your feet….   Okay.. and?  I will watch it, to make sure it doesn't crawl on me!

We went for another ride to look at the gorgeous Fall colors on Friday afternoon!  We made coffee, and I had just made hazelnut biscotti that morning so we bought a few to dunk!!  It was just gorgeous and Prompton State Park, our favorite destination!

This picture is from across the lake!  The colors have really popped since last week!  The picture above is from near the bench we were sitting on, and the smell of the pine trees was bringing Christmas thoughts to me!!

I got permission to post a picture of our newest granddaughter, Olivia!  She is so precious, we are in love! She is 2 months!!  Already!!  Here she is, my hubby is holding her, and she started smiling at him!  Oh my goodness,  she just captured our hearts!

Yesterday, my hubby was starting the winterizing of our yard.  He and our son Sandy were putting away, cleaning up, etc.  Well, hubby came in with his hands behind his back, saying "Don't say I never give you surprises", and gave me these from our roses!

Yes, I am so blessed!

 

Weather Watching

 Our oldest son, his wife, and our oldest granddaughter in  southern Florida, 2 hours from Miami.  We are constantly watching the Weather Channel to keep track of Hurricane Ian.  He tells us they can't be sure of its path till maybe tomorrow night.  They are getting prepared for it, but time will tell.  I am in prayer, and of course I am trusting Jesus to watch over them.

Our oldest granddaughter, Sofia, is an equestrian!  She has so many trophies, and medals!  She wants to be in the Olympics, and is well on her way!  This was last winter, she took another first place 2 times and a grand champion!  

One of my favorite photos of my hubby and I!  This was taken in Florida, we were out riding that day, and decided to take a walk on a local trail.  Such a beautiful day!

I can't believe we are almost at the end of September!  I do love sweet, cozy Fall days, cool nights, having a coffee in our gazebo when it is chilly outside!  Crunchy leaves and all the glorious colors!  Fall is the perfect time of year for me!  Our Lord sure has blessed us, if we only slow down, trust in Him, and open our eyes!

This tree is in our youngest son's backyard.  He and his wife and our newest granddaughter live in the town next to us.  Our granddaughter is 7 weeks old!!!  so precious!  God has blessed us.  I am not posting a picture, unless they agree to it.

Have a wonderful evening!