Looking forward to the New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all our friends and family. This holiday season has been one of sharing many good times with family - in fact we had two Christmases - each one so very special in its own way. Christmas day was spent quietly at home in the morning with just Tom , Mom and I. It was a very relaxed time. The afternoon was spent up at Kevin and Jenn's. We had a fantastic turkey dinner and then Ruth and Russ and the girls came over and we opened gifts and just had a great time. Mom was really enjoying herself watching Celeste open her gifts and seeing Ruth's girls getting all excited over 'retro' jewelry. Jewelry that Mom has had forever - yanno those big beads, bright colors - The girls loved them. It was neat seeing the G-guage trains up and even more fun sharing memories as Kevin and all of us looked over notes that Glenn had written down while doing the basement layout in Delaware.

Since the grandsons and Dawn and Elex were away for Christmas we all went over to their place yesterday (Saturday) to do it all over again. Again Mom really enjoyed watching the boys open their gifts - especially watching Brad play with Jacobs ladder - sometimes the simplest gifts are the most fun. Again Ruth and Russ ca me down as did Kevin, Jenn and Celeste. A good time was had by all - fun and laughter filled the air.

Looking back over the past year I can say it was a really GOOD year. Mom has gotten increasingly stronger and had no major setbacks. She managed to stay out of the hospital for an entire year - Thank you God for watching over her. She does remain on oxygen and will probably be on it for the rest of time that God gives her but it was so good to see her take part in all the Christmas activities and not get so tired. Tom and I continue to enjoy building a life together and find so much fun in gardening, remoldeling the house, cooking and just doing everything together. I echo again the words from Keeper of the Stars "God sure knew what he was doing when he joined these two hearts" - life is good.

As we enter 2007 I wish you nothing but joy, love and happiness. Thank you for spending the past year with us and we look forward to sharing more of life in the 'heartland' with you in the coming year. Spend time with your family - spend time with nature - the rewards are boundless

Peace and love - Lynne ~~he who plants a seed - believes in tomorrow~~

Quiet was the Night,,,

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Merry Christmas Eve and Day, Family and Friends. We'd like to take this time to thank you for stopping by and visiting our little place here in the Heartland of NC.

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The kitchen remodeling is done, and we've actually taken some 'time off' from painting and trimming to decorate for the holidays. Since the house is sort of 'under construction', Lynne thought it best to limit the decorating to the rooms we use most often (besides, most the other rooms are storing the 'stuff' moved out to allow the renovations). Still, the house looks plenty warm and inviting, both outside and in. So... pardon the mess, while we share our Christmas with you.

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Skittles, the new kitten, has adapted to her new surroundings quite well. Sometimes TOO well :) She had to test out the Christmas tree when we first set it up, and as Lynne decorated it more, the kitten got more adventurous. For a little while, it was cute, as the pictures show. Then she became content to nestle among the decorations we weren't using.







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Of course, the old guy, Simba, had to get into the act before Lynne could get her villages finished...


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Scenes around the outside...











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This year's trees and villages...
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Last week, our youngest grandson took part in his 1st grade's performance of "The Grinch". John is on the far right ;-)



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We had Celeste and her other grandparents over to visit last week as well. (Sorry Mary, you were out taking pictures at the same time I was) We had a week of really pleasant weather, and Celeste had a blast exploring the yard and woods.








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Of course, there's the obligatory Christmas cookies. School and travel schedules for the grandsons meant that Lynne and I had to undertake this task all alone, but we managed ;)



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Even though we've had one really hard freeze (a few nights in the teens), this butterfly showed up last week, and the bitter cold didn't seem to phase the Clematis on the front porch. Sometimes, things out of the ordinary are ordinary here in the Heartland.




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It's early Christmas morning now. We've baked, cooked, and wrapped, chatted and smelled the scent of burning pine logs in the firepit, shared some quality time with Mom this evening, and all is well and WONDERFUL this early Christmas morning.

We'd like wish all who stop by here all the joys and blessings of this Special season.

Peace and Love, and wishing you God's Blessings,

from the Heartland,
~Tom and Lynne~