Christmas 2015

 Hard to believe that Christmas is just 5 days away. We had our Burrows family Christmas on the weekend before Christmas this year. Martin's mother Penny came from Sheridan to spend several days with us and celebrate the season with the family. It has been quite the year for Martin and I. As you can see from this year's picture, we have lost our big gray wolfhound Sailor in September and now only have Cina. Cina was diagnosed with bone cancer at the end of November and is just beginning her chemo therapy with hopes to prolong her life as she is only 3. It really brings into focus the importance of living in the now and enjoying your blessings on a daily basis. I feel extremely fortunate to be retired this Christmas and to able to  spend time with the people closest to Martin and I.

 Martin and I went to the tree farm in Washougal the first week of December and cut down our tree. We have really been enjoying our mornings in front of our fireplace with Cina on her bed enjoying a cup of coffee and the Christmas decorations.

 Cina and I in front of our living room tree, I know I will treasure this picture of our "good girl"!

 Above is Molly with her boyfriend Dan, clearly they seem to be enjoying the festivities. Perhaps it is Brandon, seen below getting into the spirit of things by disguising himself as a package.

 Nice bow, Brandon, hard to believe that you are 12 years old!  Below is Kate, Martin's oldest daughter. I love to see her smiling face on Christmas or anytime!

 Kate is working Christmas Eve and Christmas day, so I am happy she was able to take Saturday night off to come to the party.

 Anna, with her great grandmother Penny. I love her fancy holiday dress, though she claims she doesn't like her holiday shoes which were edited out of this picture.

 Brandon with his great grandmother Penny. He is really becoming quite the handsome young man.

 Martin's mother, daughters, grandchildren and significant other. Looking good people!

I'm finishing up this blog with a picture of Martin thrown into the crowd for good measure. Happy Holidays to everyone!

Family Christmas 2014

 Family got together tonight to celebrate our Christmas. It was wonderful that Martin's mother was able to make the trip to join us it made the party even more special.

 Molly and Anna waiting for us to open presents.

 Josh and Bhri waiting for the festivities to begin.

 Great opportunity to spend time together and catch up on what has been happening.

 Everyone seems to be enjoying the holiday dinner Martin and I prepared.

 Eat more, we have a huge turkey!

 Martin's mom and Ray with the wolfhounds and together below.

Great family gathering, Merry Christmas everyone!

Yet More Holiday

We got together tonight to celebrate Christmas with the rest of the clan who weren't able to make it over on Christmas Eve. Martin's sister Sally came up from Roseberg (that is her with the Santa cookie jar); his nephew Casey who is going to graduate school in South Carolina; his niece April who is staying with her Dad here in Vancouver ( April is the pastry chef, who baked the cookies pictured.) Both the girls were here with their spouses and the grand kids. Needless to say, no get together would be complete without a small tantrum - guess who didn't get her nap today...

Bountiful Christmas

What a great day, after an early morning outside run the dogs actually let us sleep to 8am! I was shocked when I opened my eyes and looked at the clock radio. They were exhausted from all the hubbub surrounding Christmas Eve, so now they are sacked out enjoying the leisurely Christmas. They did wake up enough to play with their Christmas toys and I have enclosed a movie of Heartman playing with his. My husband loves his watch and I was gobsmacked by the framed picture of Heartman and Sailor and the water color and ink drawing we purchased in St John, New Brunswick. Now we face getting our new wireless Blu Ray set up so we can stream some movies from Netflicks and be lazy. More fabulous Christmas goodies will surely follow on this bountiful Christmas day...

Poinsettia

I don't know if I mentioned it, but I kept the Poinsettias that I bought last year and put them on my plant table in our spare room. Then to my amazement I noticed that shortly after Thanksgiving, they were blooming. They must flourish with neglect, because basically all I have done for the last year is show up with some water once a week and question why I was keeping them. We also have a family Christmas Cactus that sat in my grandmother's kitchen for all of my memories as a child. My sister has physical custody of it, but has given me a couple clippings over the years and it is blooming, too. The cactus has to be over 100 years old, and continues to enjoy life on a table in my sister's living room. I noticed this morning that the finches were feeding heavily at my feeders, doing their best to survive this cold weather snap, no doubt.

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas

We were able to get our Christmas trees this weekend, our dog tree on the left is an artificial tree that we put up in our great room. The ornaments are all unbreakable and the tree comes with lights already on it. Three pieces to put together and you are ready to go. We also have a real tree in our living room. We went to Farrell's Tree Farm in Washougal on Sunday and cut down an 8' Noble Fir. We also got a wreath for our front door. It took us most of Sunday afternoon to get the lights and ornaments on, and I finished up with some old glass ornaments that were my parents. We also like to buy ornaments from the places we go when we vacation, so we had fun adding the ornaments from the east coast to the tree. Still no lights on the house yet, so we will see if there is any time this coming weekend.

I also bought a new orthopedic dog bed size XL this weekend, both Guido and Heartman love it, but Sailor is still afraid of it. I saw him getting on it tonight, but he saw me watching and got up and came over for a head scratch instead. We are in the midst of a cold snap here, down to 14 degrees tonight. This sends all of the Pacific North westerners into a tail spin, they can't wear their shorts and flip flops, though some of still do. My sister Maxine fell on her covered deck trying to thaw out her humming bird feeder. She managed do her grocery shopping and run errands before she went to the MD and found out she cracked a rib. Not much they can do for it, so she keeps moving and reaches for the Ibuprofen. We are hardy Midwestern stock.

Christmas Spirit

Yes we got it..or are getting it. Lights are up, Tree is up...lots of shopping done, some not. Wrestled with the dogs to try to get a christmas picture..finally gave up getting it perfect, and took what we could get.