~The Boardmans, seeing my Brother, celebrating K & N, organizing, etc.

IF YOU SAW THIS POST LAST NIGHT....I JUST ADDED A TON MORE PICS THAT I HAD FORGOTTEN TO ADD!!!  :-)  
 ~We got to go see our Dear Friends the Boardmans for a few days.  It was JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED!

~Having a Blast being together!!~

 ~Good Ole Mr. Steve!~

 ~Kara and Kimberly enjoying some yummy TEA from Leo and Caro.~

~Bethany and Mary in the snow.~

 ~Elijah and Noah!~

 ~Kate's car got stuck so Phillip and Steve towed her car with the tractor.~

 We were SOOOO HAPPY that it snowed while we were there, and so we got to stay another day!!!  Our kids enjoyed getting pulled on sleds behind their 4 wheeler!~

 ~Phillip pulled the kids on the sled behind the 4 wheeler. ~

 ~We girls always wear skirts over snow suits, but it was neat for K and S to borrow the Boardman's "SNOW- SKIRTS"...MADE OUT OF SNOW SUIT MATERIAL!!~

 ~The poor GIRLS!!!  They slipped off their sled and got "MUDDED!!"~

 ~Look at those tiny pink leather boots.~

 ~We were so HAPPY that it snowed.  It gave us another day with our beloved friends. ~

 ~Leaving the Boardmans...this is their pond.~

 ~We enjoyed some Coca Cola with egg nog at their house.

 ~Coffee...and time with my Sweet Friend Luann, heals anything that ails me!  :-) ~

 ~And my Sweetheart...is my EVERYTHING!  (Besides God, of course. :-) ~

 ~An us-ie around the table with Steve and Luann and 3 of their sweet kids, Matt, Kara, and Bethany.
(Kara and Bethany are the ones that came to study Spanish in Argentina and stayed with us for a month.  We have a pile of FUN MEMORIES from those days together!! )~

 ~Kara took our picture on Sunday.

 ~Silly Girls!~

 ~Bethany "hacked my phone!"  :-) ~

 ~Some girls looking at fun old pictures in Luann's scrapbooks, while Kara played beautiful music on her harp. :-) ~

 ~Then on the way home from Steve and Luann's house, we got to stop by my parents sweet home and see them and my Dear brother Lincoln and his lovely wife Lyn.
Here we are singing "We Wish you a Merry Christmas outside Daddy and Moma's door.~

 ~Abigail meets Uncle Lincoln.  She went RIGHT TO HIM!!~

 ~I was so GLAD that Moma put up her Christmas tree again.  This was the first year since her stroke that she put it up.~

 ~Moma, Lyn, and I.  (Mary just asked me WHY I WAS THE OLDEST?  I was a little shocked that she thought I WAS THE OLDEST. 
Then she expressed that I was the TALLEST! :-)  (I'm sure that Moma and Lyn will LOVE MARY!!)~

 ~Moma's beautiful apple cake.~

 ~ Gramp and Gram gave us such nice Christmas gifts.~

~U. Lincoln (being silly, cause he DETESTS pictures), A. Lyn and Abigail.~

~Moma made the yummy Cappuccino punch that we have loved since we found the recipe in Taste of Home YEARS AGO! ~

 ~And here's a pic of my Christmas Decor on the dash of our vehicle. :-) ~

 

 ~We took a trip to Tennessee to see my Grandmother who is 93.  I'll post pics of that soon.~

 ~My Dear B-in-law Daryl and my Sweet Sister Laura and their family invited us 

over for New Year's.  

What a fun time we had in their cozy home.

My sweet niece Brittany and I.~

 ~Bryan had purchased a gingerbread house kit and let our kids do it with him.~

 ~Kimberly and little Abigail sporting her little hot pink leather boots.~

 ~I made the yummy choc., pistachio, and cranberry candy that we love...to take to Laura's.~

 ~And I made ham sliders.~

 ~Between all that Laura made and what we brought, there was quite the FEAST!!! ~

 ~It was such a FUN evening with Daryl, Laura, and their family!!~

 ~Kimberly wanted to go to Panera Bread to celebrate her turning 18.  So she invited a bunch of friends, and we all paid for our own breakfast.~

 

 ~It was a very fun morning being together.~

 ~We're trying to get organized around here.
This is THE BEFORE PIC OF Abigail's nursery...It had become a STASH-ALL room.

 ~Looking MUCH better!~

 ~My Sweetheart bought me a metal shelf for my pantry downstairs! WHAT A BLESSING TO HAVE SOMEWHERE TO PUT MY BIG COOKER, STOCK POT, CROCKPOT, GRIDDLE, ICE CHESTS, ETC.! 

(The Meijer bucket has flour in it. :-) ~

 ~A fun pic of my BEST FRIEND (Phillip) and Me.
(While still in Argentina, Phillip let me order this sweet Christmasy apron as a gift to me from him.  ~

~Elijah my Fireman!~

 ~Our kids have been THRILLED with the little snow that we have received. (Shhhh! Don't tell anyone that they are praying for more! :-)
Elijah and his snowman. ~

 ~Mary and hers.~

 ~Noah built one beside the street and put a sign on it that said, "SNOW PARKING!"  :-) ~

 ~Abigail and her new friend Ella...Praising the Lord at our Dear Christian Nation church.~

 ~Still exhausted from the BUSY last few weeks, one morning I couldn't get out of bed, so my Dear family brought my breakfast to me in bed. :-) ~

 ~Some pics of our room.~

 ~Some tulle, lace, burlap, and white lights decorate the head of our bed.~

 ~It's our Cozy little Haven.~

 ~And with small closets in these old houses, I prayed that Jesus would help me think of how to organize my knit tops, sweaters, and some of my skirts.
Here's what popped into my head... These 2 shelves.
I'm feeling pretty happy with this outcome!~

 ~Not sure I'm done decorating the tops of the shelves, but this is what it is for now.~

 ~L to R: Phillip's baby pic (1 year) and My baby Pic (1 year!)~

 ~In the small closet which is in our room, I had my long dresses and skirts hanging.  But, they hung down so long, that it was HARD to use the bottom of the closet.
One day my sweet heart surprised me and bought me a nice metal clothes rack to hang my dresses and skirts on.
So my niece Darla helped me move the dresses and long skirts out of the closet in our room and hang them on my new rack, and then we put the shorter blouses/blazers in the closet, which lets me utilize the space in the bottom of my closet as well. :-)
Sure, a beautiful armoire closet would be lovely, but since I don't have that kind of dough, I'm happy with my metal clothes rack.  ~

 ~Little Abigail had a cold, but when we woke up to snow one morning, we knew we wanted to bundle her up and take her out for 5 mins. so she could see the snow.
SHE CALLED IT...." 'no!" ~

 ~Noah pulled the girls on the sled for a few minutes.

 ~We were invited to an evening with some friends, so Phillip and I put together an Argentine "Picada." (meat and cheese tray) ....with an American twist.  We added Jalepenos and Pepper Jack cheese. ~

 ~It was a wonderful evening being with these dear ladies.  Lots of laughs and fun times!~

 ~Last Saturday we FINALLY GOT to see Phillip's brother Michael and his family.
We hadn't seen them in over a year! (When we first got back our kids had one virus and their's another, so we kept our distance until all were well. :-)
Abigail and Joshua MEET!~

 ~Mary and Sophia...little princesses.~

 ~An Us-ie!~

 ~Abigail re-meets U. Michael!~

 ~We got them a Spot-It game and enjoyed playing it with them.~

 ~I had told Beth that we hadn't had a birthday cake for Noah and Kimberly yet, and that when we got together we would get a DQ ice cream cake.
So, Michael and Beth got this fun cake for K and N ...and wouldn't let us pay them back!!!~

~THANK YOU, MICHAEL AND BETH, FOR THIS FUN YUMMY CAKE!!!~

 ~A VERY EXHAUSTED Abigail ...in her jammies...ready for bed, LATE THAT NIGHT!
It appears like SHE COULDN'T GO ON A.N.Y.M.O.R.E.!!! :-) ~

 ~Living on the same street with my dear b-i-l Daryl and my sister Laura and family has LOTS OF GREAT ADVANTAGES!!!
One of them is when we can throw some quick snacks or food together and just hang out at their house or ours.
Another one...is getting suckers delivered to your Door by your cousin Bryan.  (Elijah was THRILLED!) ~

 ~ANOTHER ADVANTAGE IS THAT SOMETIMES...THE COUSINS GET TO TAKE "BREAK TIME" TOGETHER ON OUR HILL BEHIND OUR HOUSE!!~

 ~One day this week, Noah and Elijah helped me ORGANIZE THEIR ROOM!!!!
I'd love to have somewhere to hide these bins, (one of my friends has some old school lockers in which to hide her boys toys) but hey, for now, at least it's organized!! :-) ~

 ~And I'll leave you with THIS SWEET PIC OF SWEET Abigail (who IS WALKING EVERYWHERE NOW!!) drinking out of one of Mary's little Metal tea cups.
She LOVED it and would giggle with glee while waiting for me to fill it up for her.
Yep, I do believe she must be her Mother's daughter.  :-)

 See ya soon, with more pics, Lord willing.

 ~Heather~