Friday Favorites - Ohio Christmas this weekend!

 

Right now we hope to recreate this exact picture (hopefully with my dad in it this time) tomorrow!!  This was our Ohio Family Christmas last year - all the Foster grandkids and Grandma.  Grandpa was super late getting there, but we do have photo evidence later in the day of his presence:We do this Christmas together at my sister's house the weekend before Christmas - it is such a great way to kick off our Christmas week!!  

We do Foster Family Favorites - Anyone who wants to participate purchases 2 gifts (the same gift is best, but some prefer to do two different ones) with a value of $50-60 then the oldest two grandchildren, Robert and Anna, make the rules from there.  It's usually a dirty-Santa-type thing.  

Looks like these two received (or stole) the Carhart hats that were someone's "favorite" last year.  It's a lot of fun and the only gifting "pressure" any of us have!!  My mom still does individual gifts for all the kids and sometimes my dad's wife will bring some items too but mostly this is it.  And we all love it.  I purchased this for my dad and Virginia (don't mind posting it here - they picked out the color!) and I'm super-excited about my Mom's gift - pics to come :)

Always LOTS of games. . .

And enough food that NO ONE is ever hungry :). Last year my sister ordered this charcuterie tray because our Foster Family Christmas was the same day as the OSU/UT college football playoffs.

But we won't talk about that game here.

Anyway. . .a favorite memory from last year and a favorite we are looking forward to.

Linking up today for Friday Favorites with Erika and Andrea!

My Rosemary Nut Mix.

This is a frequently asked-for item and is super-simple to make.  I blogged the recipe on Wednesday so I have a place to refer others moving forward :)

Adding an additional stocking to our line-up this year!!

Funny-not-funny story about this. . .I looked for a stocking for Ellie online that would compliment what we already had - Google came up with one at WalMart and Target but neither had one in stock so I went ahead and ordered it online.  When I got the shipping notification it said it was going to Hudson, FL!  Ugh.  How did I not notice that it wasn't being shipped here?? So I asked my brother to be on the look-out and would he please mail it up to us when he got it?  Sure, no problem.  Then I got a notice that it was delivered, asked him about it and he said, "nope, don't have it".  So I went back - it was delivered to an address he hasn't lived at for 10 years!! What in the world??? How did that happen???  Turns out, the only addresses in my account were ALL that old - our old house, my mom's old house, his. . .anyway, thought I was just "out" the $$ but went ahead and got online with Walmart anyway just to see if they might be sympathetic to me and give me a refund.  Guess what. . .they did!!  I was really surprised and very happy.

In the meantime Tom found the one you see in this picture for a fraction of the price at a local store.  A really good ending to it all.  

We had our last Birthday Friends dinner of the year on Tuesday - this time there was only one - Cindi.  She chose Mexican and ordered herself this cocktail to start :). 

This was such a fun year of birthdays - I would highly recommend organizing this for a group of your friends too!!  I didn't know these ladies very well at all this time last year - some I hadn't even met - but now have a connection with them outside of tennis (that was the common theme - all ladies from various tennis teams that Lisa captains).  This was my "haul" in February:

Just fun little "somethings" from the ladies - I had said my "little indulgences" were notecards, nice pens, and mint chocolate candy.  I got all that and MORE!!  Such a fun way to celebrate one another throughout the year :)

Christmas Cards!!  I'm so happy to have these - started working on them Wednesday but the day was pretty busy - left the house at 7:18 Thursday morning and didn't get back home until 7:50 p.m. so nothing got done yesterday - I'm determined to get most in the mail today before we leave!!!  I only ordered 40 this year - I just "can't" give it up although I know most people have at this point. . .I've probably received 10 or so and they make me soooo happy!!!

I worked from home on Monday morning - the doggies are always a favorite - this one discovered the "real" bed so now his bed on the floor mainly remains empty :/

Although the weather this time of year is NOT a favorite, the lights, sounds, activities, and wonder in the birth of a child, born of a virgin, a promise fulfilled. . .are all favorites of the month.  I've discovered Substack and have a lot of thoughts about it (written but not published).  Anyway, one good thing was stumbling upon some "old" bloggers whose blogs have gone dormant as they have focused on growing their various businesses - some of these bloggers are now resurfacing here.  Anyhow, Jenny Marrs has an account and wrote about A Gentle Christmas.  I've never quite heard it put this way and appreciated the perspective.

That's it, that's a wrap (get it?!?  and where are you in your wrapping???) for this week!

Heading up to Cincinnati later today and will be back to work on Monday.  I'm thankful for a family that makes it a priority to celebrate this holiday together!!

Love,

Jenni