The Purse

My sweet Fred recently surprised me with a purse.  He ordered it online.  I didn't know how to tell him that it just wasn't me.  So, I carried it to the mall one night.  My friends were tickled, because they also didn't think it was me.  So, I went home and told Fred how very sweet it was of him to give me the purse, but that it just wasn't my style.  I asked him if it would hurt his feelings if I didn't carry the purse.  He was really nice and assured me that we could give it as a Christmas gift.  We used it as a game prize at Christmas, so that is where the purse landed.  My brother is the one that "won" the purse.  I don't think it was his style, either!  In the end, it was given to my Grandma.  So, Fred's purse went to a good home.

Merry Christmas from Lavon

We spent Christmas Eve in Lavon with my parents, my brother's family and my Auntie Jan and Uncle Joe.  We had great food, fun games and had a wonderful time as a family.  We lost track of time and ended up getting home very late.  I still had a lot to do to get ready for my own family Christmas!  I think I ended up going to bed around 2:00 or 3:00 a.m.  It was well worth it.  

We played a game called Mad Gabs (I think). It was very fun.  The words are kind of phonetically spelled and you have to look at them and figure out what they are meant to say.  They guys had William Shakespeare.  The girls couldn't see what they had, but we could hear them sounding it out and could tell what they had.  However, they just new they had William Shatner!  They just kept yelling it over and over.  "I said, Shatner, Shatner, William Shatner."  We laughed so hard.  I thought we were going to cry!

One of Lainey's favorite gifts was a dress up trunk.  Hmmm.... my daughter got an entire armoire (which she still uses) when she was that age.  I guess MaMaw was afraid Jeff would kill her if she got Lainey an armoire.  He must be more intimidating than I am!

Jessie loved her Doctor Who shoes.  She is very careful with them and checks the weather each time she wears them. 

Jonathan received a shirt made of money!  He's like Grandma.  Green is his favorite color.  He loved it.

What a great Christmas and what a great night!  I love my family and I am so thankful for them.

My Favorite Pen Pal

I have the most awesome Grandma in the world!  She and I are pen pals.  She frequently sends me sweet little notes in the mail.  She has shaky handwriting, so I’m not sure how our US Postal Service manages to get them delivered to me!  Once she told me that she had saved all the letters that I had written her, because they were so special.  I realized that I need to write her more often.  This last note was a get well card.  It was my favorite.  She made a point to let me know that she didn’t know that I was having surgery, because my mother hadn’t told her anything about it.  That means that she learned about my surgery from my Auntie Jan.  That card made me smile… a lot!  My grandma is the best pen pal ever!

Memories

Yesterday, I was sitting at my desk and heard that familiar ding from my phone.  My friend, Angel, had sent me a text.  Only, I had never dreamed this little gem of a picture was what she was texting me.

This was taken in one of those little photo booths at Mountasia.  I'm guessing it was taken in 1992.  Fred and Dave were inseparable, so Dave went everywhere we went.  That meant that the three of us were inseparable.  It was a great thing when Dave and Angel finally started dating!  I joke that it was like dating two guys at once.

Those were such fun times!

Christmas Morning with the Fortenberry's

As always, I'm running behind and I am just now working on my Christmas post.

We had a very special Christmas.  We invited Auntie Jan and Uncle Joe over for breakfast.  

Fred is our resident cook, so he handled those duties while I made sure everything was in order for Christmas. He made sure we had a delicious breakfast of pancakes, bacon and eggs.

Jonathan serenaded us on the tuba.  You don't hear that everyday!  He had been working on a compilation of Christmas hymns in band.  Unfortunately, he didn't have the melody, so it was a little hard to discern what he was playing, but it was still really special.  I was especially touched that he wanted to play hymns for us on Christmas morning. 

After breakfast, we read the Christmas story from the Luke Chapter 2.  I cried when I read "For unto you is born this day in th city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."  My aunt cried with me.  We're big babies like that.

 Then we transitioned to the kids' favorite part... presents.  This year we had a very modest Christmas, but no one seemed to mind.  The kids really didn't have a wish list, so we didn't do it up big.  We just enjoyed the morning.

We had a great morning and were so thankful that Auntie Jan and Uncle Joe could be there to help us celebrate.  We were especially thankful that we were able slow down for a few minutes and remember the true meaning of Christmas. 

Gracie Photo Bombs

While sorting Christmas pictures, I found these sweet little photo bombs from our Gracie. 

We miss her so much!

Our cat, Princess is checking out the presents while Gracie is on her bed taking a much needed nap!

There is just a small glimpse of our sweet girl.  Probably headed for the doggy door.  She could care less about all the Christmas hoopla.

 This one is my favorite!  Her cute little booty heading out the doggy door.  It is a wonder she made it outside to do her business.  Usually, she was headed that way, but didn't quite make it.

We all miss our sweet girl, but know that we did the right thing.  We still have her ashes that we need to bury and that will be hard.  We were lucky to have such a wonderful dog for 16 years.

Happy Birthday, Jonathan

Our sweet Jonathan turned 14 on Saturday.  Jonathan is a creature of habit, so he celebrates the same way every year.  We had a family dinner at Fudruckers on Friday night.  Then on Saturday we went to Main Event and enjoyed games and the gravity ropes with the Garstka's, Miller's and DiSpigno's. We finished up the the evening with Pie Five where Jonathan ate everything in sight.  I think I am going to be in trouble very soon.

On Sunday, Jonathan was ordained a Teacher by his dad.  He also received his Duty to God certificate that he folded into tiny squares and put in his pocket, so that he could pass the sacrament. He knew Mom was going shake her head over that one, because the first thing he said when he handed to me was, "I HAD to fold it."

Jonathan brings so many blessings into our lives and we are so thankful for him.  Each day he puts a smile on our face.