Welcome 2012!

Happy happy New Year to each and every one of you!!

My six month break from blogging was the start of a six month break from "me" stuff.  I stopped blogging, writing, working in the sketchbook, spinning, knitting, scrapbooking, and crocheting.  I didn't stop reading books, but every other thing went by the wayside except the very much needed focus on other priorities. We even stopped our Sunday grandson / grandmother trips to the game store for role-playing games.

Sounds like things were pretty quiet, yes?  Well, during that time we:

• had our annual family vacation at the beach which was wonderful as always. We took the puppies, and they both loved the ocean. After three days, though, Jack Junior got very very ill. He cried out in pain, was unable to walk, had urinary problems, and slept rolled up in a tiny ball. Mr. Bryant took him home the very next morning to get pain medication from the vet, while I stayed and took pictures and loved the time with the fam.

  

• said goodbye to Ama as she went off to Portland. Mr. Bryant laid out her driving trip across the country, and we even found a cabin in Yellowstone for one of the nights of the trip. The drive took her to the Arch in St. Louis, Colorado to see friends, Yellowstone, Coeur d'Alene, and the Columbia River Gorge. 
• said Goodbye to Shannon and John and family as they went off to new adventures in Virginia.
• put all the puppies on a new diet. 
• watched the puppies grow like weeds!

• took Jack Junior to six vets and finally to NC State Veterinary School, where they diagnosed the infection that was crippling and killing him.  We got him started on a three to six month course of antibiotics and noticed immediate improvement in his condition.
• continued to take the puppies to Obedience Training. 

 

• flew the cats across the country to greet Ama in Portland.
• learned the incredible blessings of being members of the Leonberger Community. 

 

• had a fabulous family Thanksgiving in the mountains hosted by Mr. and Mrs. McFadden.

 

• had another wonderful Christmas hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Hanson.
• went to an amazing New Years dinner with our very dear friends.

In addition to all this, I interviewed for a new job or two, adjusted to a restructure at work, and did my best to support Mr. Bryant while HE adjusted to a restructure at work.

During all this time off from "me," I thought I was doing the right things, doing the things that needed to be done, paying primary attention to the other people in my life in the best way. But as I look back at the last half of the year, I can see that I was less centered, less thoughtful, and frankly, less confident.

I am grateful to have learned this lesson, which I think I really knew but allowed myself to conveniently forget.  Taking care of "me" is important, and changes how I interact with the world at every level.

I can't say that I am sorry to see 2011 go.  Although it wasn't the worst year it also wasn't the best.  And sometimes, that's exactly the inspiration needed to go forth and know this New Year better, man! (with a nod here to our friends, the Muppets!)

Here is to the most wonderful year yet.  Welcome 2012!

Thanksgiving and a Holiday Giveaway

So I was reading out on Cathy Zielski's blog, because I am making her Gratitude album. It is a little tiny book that will capture the things we are thankful for - and I think that remembering what we are thankful for this year will be helpful for our family. 2009 and 2010 have been quite the challenging years - but there have been wonderful moments as well, moments that we need to remember and that we are truly thankful for. Over the course of the last several days I have created the book and pages that we will use to document our thanks. We plan to set out these pages when we get together on Thanksgiving day and express our thanks for many things great and small. Fun, right?Anyway, today when I went to Cathy's Blog I found information about a giveaway she is doing in association with Game Stop. And not only did I decide to enter - I thought you might be interested as well. You can go here to see more information about how to enter directly from "Today's Mama," and I recommend it. The grand prize over there is an XBOX 360/Kinect combo pack, the Special Edition DSi combo pack, the Special Edition Wii combo pack and a $1000 gift card to Gamestop. Check out these "Grand Prizes:"

One XBox 360 250 GB with Kinect

One Nintendo Red Wii Bundle

Three Nintendo Red DSi XL Bundles

Plus, a ONE THOUSAND DOLLAR GameStop gift certificate so you can fill those stockings with games and accessories.

This is a Nice Giveaway for the Holidays!

It is also a bit of fun to enter, because you get to share your holiday wish list with them, and link it back to your own blog. You simply copy their list and answer, which is what I'm going to do now, because my kids and grandkids have some of these very items on their Christmas Lists!

1. What is your holiday wish for your family? I wish that every single member of my family find health and happiness and success in their every endeavor. I wish that my family have contentment and delight in every day, and that they hold kindness in their hearts. I wish that my family have peace and enjoyment all the holiday season, and that they feel refreshed as we begin 2011 together.

2. What is your Christmas morning tradition? Christmas morning is a quiet time at our house, as the kids are all grown. Mr. Bryant and I get up and have coffee and enjoy music and the time together, putting the finishing touches on any food or gift work before the whole family arrives. When everyone arrives we do stockings first, and then Asa and Jaya deliver the gifts around and we have an opening free for all!

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be? Well, I thought about this one. Winning the lottery would be great, but in lieu of that, a Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III and associated photography lessons for a year.

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money? Spending time together playing games. :) We are talking about Christmas Jeopardy already. We do have such a blast playing games.

5. What games did you play with your family growing up? Scrabble, Big Boggle (the one with 16 cubes, none of this 9 cube business!), Monopoly, Charades.

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood? Stockings First. :)

7. Where would you go for a Christmas-away-from-home trip? We went on a cruise a few years ago, but missed those who didn't come with. I don't think we would go again. Our family traditions are grounding and help us prepare for the new year.

8. Check out GameStop and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year?

Xbox 360/Kinect looks pretty darn cool, and like I said - I know a few people in the family that have this on their list already! Zumba Fitness for Wii would be perfect for another family member that is ready for a fun fitness workout. And then, Disney Epic Mickey! I mean, doesn't that sound like fun already!?!?!?

Good luck everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you all take a moment to remember what you are thankful for.

“The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness.” The Dalai Lama

Milestone?

Mr. Bryant and his lovely twin Mrs. Reitzel celebrated their birthday in September. They are finally getting closer to me in age! :):) Though we didn't get to see Mrs. Reitzel, we did get to enjoy the evening with Mr. Bryant and the family. Many neighbors dropped by to visit as well, although I didn't get the cake set out before they all had to head home!

A few photos to share.....




Love you baby.

FantasyQuest

Picture from here. Fabulous face, Mr. Li.

We went to Mr. & Mrs. Rentschler's on Friday to play FANTASYQUEST. This game was designed by Asa, and with all the skills and imagination of an 11 year old. We had a BLAST!

We ate a light dinner and got ready to play. Asa described the rules - which are a little bit like Dungeons and Dragons - and we got started. He had us close our eyes and he described the scene with his prepared speech, complete with sound effects, echos, and fade outs. Nice! Our first task was to create our characters. Asa described the races he had created and the skills that we could choose, and as we were thinking he handed out paper and pencil so we could draw our characters. As we got started, several of us fussed that we weren't such super artists. And so, as Asa went around the table he started saying things like, "choose your character and think about what they might look like, then pass your paper down to dad so he can draw it for you!" Dad, of course, was really into his own character, very very cool, but was willing to stop and draw based on a few descriptions. His greatest piece of work was FireWings, for Jaya Pearl. What a fantastic glittery creature!

Not Mr. Rentschler's work here, instead this is from LayoutSparks. (Who Knew there were all these fantasy images on the net? Obviously I have missed a whole subculture!!!)

Mr. Bryant didn't waste any time with who was going to draw what. He decided to be a GNOME, and called his race the G-NOMIANS. While we were all thinking of heroic names, he chose his name and began drawing. By the time I looked over his shoulder, he had a picture of his character (Barry, the G-Nome) flying a bubble saucer (yes, a little flying saucer that shot bubbles out the back through two mufflers), shooting a thought cannon (almost bigger than Barry, causing all who are caught within its dreadful rays to immediately Sit and Think About What They Have Done), winning the Tour de France, and climbing Mt. Everest! Before we were all done with this part of the exercise, Barry had even acquired a PPPistol - and each time someone had to leave to head to the rest room, Barry shot them.

As you might imagine, this entire activity was filled with lots of laughing and Asa was filled with absolute joy. Once our characters were drawn and our skills were determined, we became a company of companions - Barry, Ajax, Priscilla, Pongo, Firewings, and the Dungeon Master, who came with us to help out if needed. We started through the town, purchased some goodies (like a cloak or two, some daggers, you get the idea), and as we walked out of the store we all fell into the first dungeon. Asa laughed and laughed, and then soberly brought out the dreadful dungeon map.

Play went on for another hour or so, and we had lots of fun braving the dungeon pathways and getting to the final battle. Amazingly, Barry completed an around the world tour and built an ice palace during the trip.

Barry the G-Gnome wearing his Rocket Pack, doing a fly-by over LA.

Thanks Asa, for the FUN game and thanks ADR & SRR for hosting a great family fun night!

Wordless Wednesday - 6/23/2010

Wordless Wednesday - January 27, 2010

Visitng

Holidays are such a wonderful time to reconnect with family. Even though we try to stay engaged with our dear ones throughout the year, it somehow seems that the best times we can find are around the holidays.

This photo represents one of those dearly wonderful deeply meaningful completely delightful family holiday moments. :) Here is Mr. Bryant, my "second son" Bruce, his beautiful wife Lisa, and their adorable sons Chase and Channing. They were at the house to surprise me on Christmas Eve, and had a little bit of a visit and gave me a wonderful Christmas Card. Bruce has only been to the house twice in 2009, and I am so unbelievably thrilled to have him visiting with the family. This kind of visiting - when we actually take a little time to chat, have a drink and a cookie, and laugh and love each other - this kind of visiting seems to happen too rarely in these busy busy days, where every moment is scheduled and planned for work and home work and chores and crafts and pet care work and daily work. And yet, this kind of visit is the very stuff of life, the true richness that grows relationships and connections and gives us happiness and meaning.

There are many of you that I would visit with personally if I could, but I will try to make sure to take time to visit with you virtually when personally is not possible And for all of us, I hope that we all can find a way to share more, visit more, laugh more, and love more in 2010.

A family picnic in the mountains

On Sunday, May 24th, we all planned to head up to the North Carolina mountains for a day with the family. We wanted a chance to walk in the cool of the trees, enjoy the new deck, maybe take a swim in the pool, and possibly play at the spring festival.


Before we made it to the cars, though, it started to rain. We called the McFaddens and they said - Dang the Rain! Come Anyway! And so, off we went, every car filled with people, music, conversation, and laughter. We all got to the McFadden compound early, and after hugs and a snack and drink or two, we piled back into the cars to head to the McFadden Hilltop House. This house is where Jame's mother and father lived for years. It is situated atop an apple orchard hill and has incredible views of the countryside. It is a huge house, and we all wish that we had enough juice to make it our own!!

Many of the crew at the fabulous home atop the orchard

After our tours and relaxing on the floors we drove on down to Hendersonville for a very very quick walk through the garden festival. Mrs. Hanson bought an orchard and I bought some lavendar, and we all agreed to come back again next year for a long browse. Then it was back to the house to cook and share a fabulous dinner with contributions from everyone. Some candid shots from the day - - -

Some of my favorites!

The McFaddens fab new deck

While the meat was grilling, the dogs were enjoying themselves too

Look at the dirt and worms that got all over those cupcakes! YUK!

But H- doesn't seem to mind a bit!

Karla's blooming and beautiful fence climbing rose

Enjoying the old photo albums

An exhilirating swing!

Tuning up and playing the drums

Coming soon - the pool adventure and more family photos!

Wordless Wednesday 4-8-2009

After Family Dinner

After Family Dinner and after walking the dog.

We have been trying to have a great family dinner once a week, when various family comes over and we have everything made from scratch. I have really been enjoying this new endeavor, but I am always so busy that I find I don't take any pictures - if I take any at all - until AFTER dinner is over!

After an auction day, and After Dinner

As you can imagine, I love having the family over and around, and love being with the kids and grandkids and parents and all. So these family dinners are right up my alley. I do want to capture our food and fun occasionally, though! We are only beginning these gatherings, and so far we have had hot sandwiches at several of our dinners, yummy ones for sure, with veggies and salads on the side. We have also had some danged good desserts, starting with Aunt Sophie's Texas Sheet Cake and going on to include Chocolate Cupcakes (perfect for after school snacks) and Chocolate Chip Cookies (perfect for lunches too!).

Last dinner we managed to have something different (as in, NOT sandwiches) - Chicken and Dumplings - and I got a few pictures just as the last bites were being eaten. I found the recipe on the internet here, and it was super duper good.

This week the menu is Roasted Chicken, Green Beans, and Mashed Potatoes. Dessert? Banana Pudding Squares. Sound yummy? I think so.

Texas Sheet Cake and the Verdict On Dinner and Dessert, taken After Dinner!

This week I will try to do better and get some before and during pictures to share!!!

Snow Village

My wonderful daddy, Mr. Hanson, has been collecting the Original Snow Village items for many years. After all these Christmases and birthdays, he has more Original Snow Village than he can display under the Christmas tree. So last year for Christmas, Mr. Bryant made him a multi-layered table top, completely wired for electricity and a train tunnel, just for Snow Village. Hooray!

This table top is a bit of an ordeal to put up and take down, but it isn’t too bad when everyone pitches in – so we did. And then there were days and days for daddy to set up Snow Village to be just perfect. And it is just perfect. My pictures are not perfect, as I was still learning about my camera, but I think they will give you an idea of this lovely little winter place - take a look, and be sure to make the pictures bigger for the detail. Daddy's Snow Village is a wonder!

You can look down the railroad tracks to Downtown Snow Village. It is the night of the winter gala, with songs and dancing.

Around the other side of the railroad tracks is the fisherman's lodge and cabins, where they are chopping wood and getting ready for a cold night. On the iced over pond children are skating, as the horse carriage rides by.





Up on the hill top, everyone is enjoying the snow - building snowmen, skiing, and some are even sledding down the hill by the train tunnel!



At the end of the long tracks is the train station - and the snow bound streets on the cozy winter night!



Here is the whole of the wonderfully lovely wintery Snow Village.

And here are Mr. Bryant and Mr. Hanson, enjoying the moment and the fun of miniature trains and Snow Village! Love you two, all the day long!