Give Thanks!

From our house to yours...

So Thankful...

I know, where is Jan?

I wish I could catch you up right here, right now...

But I'm busy!

How was your Thanksgiving?

Mine had me taking a moment to be thankful for all the blessings in my life...

Here are a few...

Of course, you all know Locklan but here's your first look at Teagan Rae, his baby sister.

She was born April 21, 2018!

And here is our newest blessing, Henry Oliver! 

 Tony and Mindy are the proud parents of this little guy,

 born November 9, 2019,

 5 weeks early and weighing a whopping 4 pounds, 8 ounces.

He's home, growing quickly and is precious (as are all my grand kids).

I love being a grandma!

Right now, I'm working on a few 'catch up' posts.  

Look for updates soon!

Happy Thanksgiving!

From my house to yours...

 

Prayers for a peaceful day...

 

Spent with good things, be it food, people, good thoughts or all of these.

 

See you on the other side of  the holiday!

 

Love,

Jan and the Redsockmama gang!

Thanksgiving! We did it!

Ahhhh, I now have an even greater respect for my mom, who at 80-something still manages to pull off family holiday functions...she even claimed Christmas Eve again this year.  I am happy to report that I did manage to pull Thanksgiving '14 off without too much stress (hah!)...

 

I started by sitting down and  planning...

 

 

Made lists, checked them twice thrice, seventy two times...set the table

 and ordered Ron not to go near the dining room...

 

 

 

I agonized over the menu, worried about roasting a turkey for the first time and made Linda a nervous wreck!

 

 

 

 

The turkey was delicious...

 

 

The company superb...

 

 

 

I sat down my camera, gave the blessing and meant EVERY WORD of it.

 

We ate, laughed, sat back down for dessert and games...

 

I am truly blessed!

 

Thanks for stopping by,

God bless you,

Jan

 

More thanks?

Ever since my kids became adults and were adopted by the families of their significant others...or in plain words, ever since they had somewhere else to go on holidays, we celebrate most holidays on alternative dates.  We do Easter either the week before or the week after, we do Thanksgiving the Sunday after...the only one I claim is Christmas Eve...

 

So, on Thanksgiving this year, Ron and I were invited to eat with Noelle, Tony, Noelle's mom, Becky and her grandmother, Dolores while everyone else had dinner elsewhere.  Noelle and Tony have only been dating a short time, but Noelle fit into our family like she had been there for years.  Her mom and grandmother felt like old friends in no time!  We not only sat at the table long after we had devoured the delicious food, but we ended back at the table later for a delayed dessert.  What fun!

 

I wish I could say I took tons of photos...but this is all I have of the food...

 

Noelle and her mother, carving the turkey...

 

 

And it was as good as it looks!

 

 

Afterwards, Becky told us that it was a family tradition to give Noelle a gift on Thanksgiving...

 

 

She gave them a Gingerbread House kit!

 

 

All too soon, it was time to go.  As we were leaving, we got a text from Andy saying the roads were getting bad.  It was snowwwwwingggggggg!

 

I LOVE snow!  The ride home was uneventful and soon after we got home, Ron declared the turkey was really working...he headed to bed.  Linda and I sat up to watch Christmas movies and watch the snow.  Before bed, I looked out the living room window...

 

 

Of course, the fact that it was also garbage night detracted from the scene...

 

So I looked out the back doors...

 

 

Did I mention that I LOVE snow?

 

Did I ever tell you that I love waking in my bedroom and looking out the bedroom window.  It always makes me feel like I'm sleeping in a tree house...today was no exception.  I woke to this...

 

 

Oh goodness, isn't it beautiful?

 

Linda and I came down to make coffee...

 

 

It's like a Winter Wonder Land out there!

 

Since my family dinner is Sunday, and everyone is coming here...I may 'disappear' again, I have much to do,  but fear not, Tony has promised that he will keep me on task.  I'll be back!

 

Until then, remember that God loves you and so do I!

 

Peace and love,

Jan

Thanks, thanks and more thanks!

 

 

I have so many reasons to be giving thanks this year; perhaps if I share my partial list, I can also get you current on all the wonderful things going on in my life...

 

So, in no particular order, Let me share with you:

 

The hubster and his newly forged friendship with Linda Lou:

 

 

 

I'm thankful I can still, at the ripe old age of 63, run AND compete:

 

 

 

And occasionally win:

 

 

And be the proud mother of a winner as well:

 

 

This was the year I got a wonderful Father's Day gift from Andy and Ashley:

 

 

 

 

 

Yes!  it's a

 

BOY!!!

He'll be here mid-February!!!!!

 

There is the new home with enough bedrooms for grandchildren to visit:

 

 

A wonderful patio in the back:

 

 

AND a dressing room for all my shoes!

 

.

 

I'm thankful for that darn birthday fairy

 

and the opportunity to celebrate my mom's 83rd birthday!

 

 

We celebrated Ashley's graduation from nursing school...

 

 

Of course, it's a no-brainer to remember and be thankful for time on the river...

 

 

 

And bicycle rides!

 

 

Ron and I got to go all kinds of neat places, like Thousand Islands,

Atlantic City, Texas and Florida...

And Boston!

 

 

 

As always and forever, I'm thankful for:

 

 Andy, Vicky, Michael and Tony

 

 

 Michael and Catherine

 

 

Jamie and Vicky

 

 

Andy and Ashley

 

 

Tony and Noelle

Whew!  And to think, that's just a partial list...

I could go on and on and on!

 

Also, I'm so thankful for friends and family who take time to visit my blog!

 

Have a safe and blessed Thanksgiving...

I'll be back soon!

Promise!

 

Love,

Jan

 

Hey there!

I've missed all y'all, dreadfully, and hope you missed me too. It's been a very long year with ups and downs, but you know me, I try to celebrate the ups, learn from the downs and in all circumstances, give thanks...

And I am, so very VERY thankful, for everything!

I'm really hoping to get back into blogging again in the new year, but if you have known me for any length of time, you know that December is the month in which I set the most ambitious of goals for myself, and this year is no exception...I'm terribly busy, but that's a good thing, really!

But there have been so many things that have happened in the past 6 months that I have wanted to share with YOU...how about if I just share a couple highlights? Will that make you feel loved?

How about this: In June, I ran the Butler Road Race. Remember the last time it was mentioned here? My family dominated it...Tony first, Andy had a second, Catherine came in third in her class...

This year, I was the only family member running...

and came in ...

drummroll, please...

 

Second in my class!!!!

I was so excited I grabbed the guy handing out medals and hugged him and started jumping up and down...

 

 He really didn't seem to mind, though...

~sigh~
 

We also got to spend lots of time at the river...and one day I got this wonderful idea, I would ride on the front of the kayak while Tyler drove.  I know you're wondering how that worked for me, right?

 

 

Well, it didn't...

 

My friend and walking partner, Deb, and I, went dress shopping one day.  I found a dress that was so 'not me' that I'm still in shock.  I bought it, couldn't wait to wear it, and finally did, at the wedding of Caitlin and Will. It was my magical dress.  It was my dancing dress.  It made me do crazy things like..



 

Like trying to steal a bouquet-bearing groom!

(click on the picture above to biggerize it so you can see the expression on Will's face:  priceless!  Also, check out the bride, behind us.  It was the most amazing wedding!)

 

Last month, Andy, his friend Ashley and her friend, Corinna, and I went bike riding.  I managed to do ten miles without mishap.  Heck, I wasn't even tired but when I went to get off the bike at the end of the ride...

 

 

I fell over, like a sack of bricks (and I'm sure I looked about as smart as one too).  I'm still wondering what that guy who was waiting for me to remove myself from the middle of the street while Ashley took pictures, was thinking.

 

Then, as if I have not been abused enough, during our annual family Thanksgiving dinner, my oldest son, Michael, announced it was too warm and proceeded to take off his sweater...

 

 

Don't you just love his t-shirt?

 

Oh, and note the shirt I am wearing:  Marshall Mangler, 8K trail race.  Yes, I did it, along with my beautiful daughter-in-law, Catherine.  I came in FIRST in my class!!!!

 

Oh, I guess I should tell you, I was the only one in my class, the oldest woman in the race by 6 years...Guess most women my age's family love them so much they don't let them run 5 miles through the woods on hilly trails!

 

Well, friends, that's about all the scandalous news I have time for right now.  The dogs want breakfast, my coffee cup is empty and my tree is waiting decoration. 

 

I seriously missed this.  I love yuns...now go out and be a blessing to someone...

 

God bless you,

Love,

Jan

 

 

 

 

 Giving thanks!

To be honest, I was dreading Thanksgiving this year.  Without Mark, holidays are hard even though I have enough good memories to last several lifetimes.  One of Mark's duties was to get to Mom's house early so he could help preparing the meal as well as his favorite duty:  carving the turkey.

We always celebrate Thanksgiving the Saturday after the holiday so everyone can spend the holidays with their 'other' families. 

This year...

Dinner was scheduled for 5:00.  I drove myself so I could have time to collect my thoughts and to pray. 

Yes, I am a one of those old women you see on your way to SOMEWHERE:   short, very short, so short that if she didn't have a little WV she wouldn't be able to see over the dash, grey hair, obviously alone in the car, but her mouth is moving, she's waving her free hand and nodding her head. 

I prayed that our family would enjoy being together, that we would count each other as blessings in our lives.  I prayed that all the members of my family would travel safely to Mom's and back home again. 

I did not pray for the turkey.

At 4:45 I walked into my mom's house and saw this:

Michael praying?

I stood there for a minute and saw this:

And this:

Hmmmmm....I was thinking this was the day we were having our Thanksgiving dinner.  I checked the dining room...

LOOKS like Thanksgiving...


Either by owner operator error, or equipment failure, the turkey was not done!


Andy and Tony amused themsves by playing coffee table ping pong:

As it got later and later, the desserts on the buffet started looking verrrrry good...

But before too many hours, no more than three and a half, Leslie anounced dinner was ready!

We no sooner swallowed the last morsel of food and the boys started clearing the table.  How wonderful!  They were being so helpful!  Then the truth came out...

It was time for dining room table ping pong!

First Andy played Tony:

And then Catherine played against Michael:

~sigh~

So many blessings, so many reasons to give thanks...so many prayers answered, so few ping pong balls!

I am blessed, now you (and you and you) go out there and be a blessing in someone's life!

Love ya,

Jan