The CHRISTmas Collection

So the CHRISTmas festivities really begin when Bry gets home. Kevin and I picked him up at BDL from SLC on December 20th ... one day before Kevin's 29th birthday! Bry just completed his final internship with Real Salt Lake (his mother is pretty excited about that ... CONGRATS Bry and Happy Birthday Kevin!)

Welcome to our home!

Bella is very excited to see Bry!

so Christmas is about Santa and giving ...

and being good and doing good

it's about PEACE, AND HOPE,
AND GRATITUDE, AND HEALING

and did I say PEACE?!?!

and we all know that JESUS

is the real reason for the season!

gifts sent from afar!

(thank you brother and family)

Christmas is about FAMILY ...

(here is where I could put pics of Carol and Kathy and Ellen and Michele and Bruce and Chris and Tim and Luke ... but they would never forgive me. Let me just say it was awesome to share Christmas with my family)

and BROTHERS

and lots of dogs

and dogs with socks

did I say ... lots of dogs?

and PEACE ... and thank YOU

for our many BLESSINGS!

and Christmas Brownies

and kids and dogs

and kids!

Out with the OLD

(not going to tell you where this fur ball was lurking)

and in with the NEW

in 2012, and found a lucky penny too!

xoxo,

Thanksgiving 2011 - GRATITUDE!

... my reindeer impersonation with new hips!

thankful for our health!

"Gratitude is one of the sweet shortcuts to finding peace of mind and happiness inside. No matter what's going on outside of us, there is always something we could be grateful for."

~ Barry Neil Kaufman

thankful for our kids and our fur babies!(Stefi and Jack and Kaileigh)
thankful for the clothes on our backs ...
and the shoes on our feet?????

thankful for the roof over our heads and
the National Dog Show on TV ... all the comforts of our home!
thankful for my little sister, Shell!
(pictured above in the red dress as perceived by the artist/me)

thankful for more kids and Thanksgiving day Hostesses
(miss you Bryan)
thankful for food in our cupboards (and holiday juice)
thankful for our gracious Thanksgiving day hosts,
and their crazy cat sharing the holiday feast!thankful for family!
(Kevin and Keisha!)

too much tryptophan!

Thankful for pie!

"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it."

William Arthur Ward

"God bless us, every one!"

~ Tiny Tim

a WHITE Halloween?????

On August 16th I had my right hip replaced. 12 days later, on Sunday, August 28th, tropical storm Irene hit CT. Out comes the generator for 22 hours! On October 18th I had my left hip replaced. 11 days later, on Saturday, October 29th a rare nor'easter slams CT wreaking havoc that continues even as I post. Out comes the generator again for 121 hours (5 plus days)! This freak October snow storm will definitely be recorded as a historic event. The snow starts falling on Saturday, 10/29 ...

Bella hunkering down for whatever comes our way ... little do we know ...

Bella with friends ....

an hour before we lose power on Saturday I boil pasta and shrimp and power down my computer ...

October snow??? Bristol cancels Halloween!

Sunday morning 10/30 begins the 2nd day without CL&P juice

CRAZY snow!

when the snow begins to melt ...

in the still of the night 1 day after CL&P was restored to us, CL&P works to connect wires from a neighbors home pulled down by a tree in his yard.

LOVE this generator (which has been relocated to a friends home in Farmington who STILL does not have CL&P power ... 7 days after power was lost). So ALL is not well until EVERYBODY is back to normal!

p.s. if the hips have anything to do with it ... we're all set .... I'm done having parts replaced.

let's do this thing one more time ...

Arthritis and hip dysplasia seem to run in my family. At 54 years of age severe hip pain was hindering what I wanted and needed to accomplish. Searched the family medicine chest and nothing there seemed to do the trick. Took my salmon oil pills and even consumed golden raisins soaked in juniper juice.
... but by January 2011 I sought the expertise of an orthopedic surgeon.

... "how will I know when it's time," I asked the Doc. "You'll know when it's time", he said. He did prescribe a sweet little pink pill (an anti-inflammatory) that was a miracle drug for me ... for a while ... and it bought me a little more time. It's all about quality of life and when you can't do what you love, it becomes an issue. Had my right hip surgically replaced on August 16th and it is time to do the left hip.
It's very hard to depend on folks to do your job and take care of the things you used to be able to do while you recuperate, but it's all a part of the process of being better, of getting fixed and getting back to business!
I am blessed to have family and friends and co-workers to help me get better and I am very, very thankful.

sprinkled blessings studios: will never, ever, ever forget ... 09.11.01

sprinkled blessings studios: will never, ever, ever forget ... 09.11.01: flights 11, 175, 77, and 93 and all those who lost their lives that day ... honor the innocent victims of this tragic day... d...

Friday morning 9:00 a.m.

xoxo

home is where the heart is ...

even if it is a strategically placed

piece of sea glass in an abandoned nest

... gets the message across

happy US of A birthday weekend!

enjoy family and friends

xoxo

poppies

the squirrels and the rain and the lack of sun have been messing with my poppies. the squirrels romp around the flowers and leap up and lop off a flower from the stem leaving it to rot in the rain. I rescued a few today and was able to watch the poppy open in my hand in a matter of seconds ...

poppy on bunny

poppies in the garden

... and that is the sun!

please don't forget prayers for Joplin, MO!

xoxo