Life in January 2020

Greetings, readers!

 

We are now 31 days into this new year, 2020.  Time slipped by so fast that it is already February!
I'm delighted to say that we had a very nice new year with family down in Pennsylvania.  It's a tradition to have a gift exchange each year.  This year's theme was "Something Edible", which I very much enjoyed, since food is one of my favorite things. 
Each child age 1 and up gets a stocking which we all contribute to filling up.  Gwendolyn got one for the first time.

 

 

 She loved the "candle canes" and bouncy ball and book especially! 
After those things, she spent time playing with her cousins. 

We headed home the day after New Years so that we could be home for church that evening. 
Unfortunately, Gwen came down with the flu, bronchitis, and RSV, which she then passed to Lucie.  After two weeks with it, not knowing what it was, I finally took Lucie to a clinic to be diagnosed.  They said that because it was viral, they couldn't give us an antibiotic.  So it finally went away on its own. 

Last week, Dan went with three men from our church down to Virginia.  The girls and I kept ourselves busy and out of trouble by planning something fun to do each day.  Dan very much enjoyed his time.  On Friday we went to the Nursing home and sang and talked with the residents.  Then we drove to New Hampshire to spend a little time with some friends.  Dan came home Saturday evening late.

I mentioned in a post awhile back that we had been having some troubles with Dan's truck.  The troubles were caused by a mechanic we'd taken it to, so they said that they would fix the problem at no cost to us.  Because it was at no cost though, they didn't make it a priority to finish.  They had it in their shop for over two months.  In that time frame, Dan needed a plow truck and to have a truck to haul his trailer with work tools for a job.  So when we flew down to Georgia in November on a very quick trip, we bought a truck from Dan's brother.  It's a Ford, and bigger than the Dodge.  Anyway, the mechanic finally finished the truck here in January and we just sold it this week. 

It's been a good January!  I'm looking forward to what February has in store!  Stay tuned for my exciting update in the next post! 

A Very Happy New Year 2019

I hope you all enjoyed ringing in this New Year, 2019!  I know I did. 

I was so happy for us to be able to make a quick trip down to Pennsylvania for to spend New Years Day with my family.  See, New Years Day was always the day when my family would celebrate "Christmas", so it is still very special to me. 

 

We drove down on Sunday night late.  I was glad to be able to visit with my grandparents on Monday.  We went to their house, where Grandma prepared an absolute feast for us.  It was nice to be able to spend some time with them.  We made sure to get some photos of them holding Gwendolyn as well.

 

 

 

 

The next day, New Years Day, we all went over to Katie and Ryan's house for a delicious meal and terrific time spent with family. 

 

I took so many random photos, so please forgive the very long post. 

 

Martha with Felicity.

 

Gwen with her cousin Lillian

 

We were able to snap this photo of four cousins together!

 

Lydia and Charlotte

 

Katie always prepares stockings for each of the nieces and nephews over the age of One.  This year there were 12!  SO hard to believe. 

 

Anyway, it's fun to watch them take all the little stocking stuffers out and look at it all. 

 

And then the adults did our gift exchange.  This year the guidelines were to bring either a book or a movie.  It made it nice, because you knew in advance you'd get one or the other. 

 

This is Sarah opening hers.

 

And Billy

 

This present was a jackpot for sure.  Someone gave a whole box full of complete seasons of Little House On The Prairie Dvd's. 

 

Daddy, showing me his dvd.

 

My parents

 

Dan and Mark, conversing.

 

My mother opened 'The Scarlet Pimpernel'

 

Gwennie and I

 

After we finished our exchange, my mother opened the present that was from all of us.  Lydia did all the work to put together a photo book with photos from all of us throughout this past year.  It was a really nice gift and I know my parents really liked it. 

 

Tammy and I, the two pregnant family members.  😊

 

This is our annual New Years family photo using the self-timer on the camera.  It'll be only a few years before it'll be hard to fit everyone in the photo!

 

The next morning, we ate breakfast with my parents and then were just getting up to get ready to head back to NY when a mouse scurried across the floor.  My dad then trapped it behind a wood box and was determined to get it when it eventually came out.  I couldn't stop laughing, and made sure to snap this photo of my dad, armed and ready to tackle the mouse when it showed itself (which it never did). 

 

We said our goodbyes and then headed home to New York state. 

 

I treasure every moment I'm able to spend with my family.  It probably won't be for awhile that I'll see them again, so we try to make a few trips each year. 

 

I hope you all had a safe and happy New Year!  As you can probably tell, I'm a little bit behind on my posting these days.  It seems every time I sit down to write a post, Gwendolyn has some catastrophe.  Keep your eyes peeled for a post soon though about our Shedd baby #2!