Jenni's Seasons

  Here we are!  I did not get the memo that everyone else was going to wear green. . .oh well. The morning was slow. . .we had breakfast casserole and got the doggie out. . .then I spent most of the rest of the morning in the kitchen preparing items for our celebration with the Maxwells after church.  Tom stayed up on the dishes with all the meals - so thankful!! We went to the 2:30 p.m. Christmas Eve service then headed down the street for appetizers and desserts afterwards.   Barbara's island was FULL of food and drink. . .but the counter held what everyone ended up loving the most - riblets and small stuffed potatoes. I wish I could have eaten more!! Stephen made guacamole, I made spanakopita, the deviled eggs, a cheeseball (not shown here), and the buffalo chicken dip.   I had to pass on dessert - which killed  me - but that plate was NOT my only helping from the buffet.   After we ate we exchanged gifts with the Maxwells. Not a great picture but the only one I have. . .we were

There we are - the Foster Family!!  I really don't know the last time we all five were together like this or had our picture taken together.  In the last 30 years most  family Christmases have involved my parents and sister, usually together, but never my brother.  He lives out of state and generally is with his other nieces in Colorado.  This year, though, OHIO won and here we are :). What a great weekend to celebrate.   Usually the VJ's have a real tree but no luck this year - they were out of town for Thanksgiving and by the time they got back and got to the nursery most of the trees were gone - but this was beautiful and no mess so they may never go back. . .  When Tom's parents moved to East Tennessee we started doing our Ohio Christmas the weekend before the big day.  This year, of course, it was a little over a week before and that worked out really well.  Tom, unfortunately, came down with something on Wednesday (he was tested for everything and came back negative)