Happy New Year~2013!

Happy New Year to all my blogger friends and my family. I am wishing the best for you all in 2013. I am asking God to bless you all and to grant you happiness and good health. I don't consider the Christmas season to be over until January 6th, so will enjoy the tree and the decorations a few more days!

Jim and I are planning to have a lazy day on New Years! It's been a fun but busy holiday season, so we need a down day to just relax. How do you celebrate the New Year?

Teacup Thursday # 85

I missed Miss Spenser's Teacup Thursday last week and I have been so busy I haven't had time to follow my tea friend's blogs the last few weeks! I really like the week between Christmas and New Years. Usually it is quite and I can catch up on things, but this year, we just continue to be busy!

So, my teacup is one of my Spode Christmas Tree cup and saucers. I love my Christmas china and it just is my favorite. Jimmy started my collection of Spode years ago, so I have a nice amount of it and will be able to give both of my daughters complete sets someday. It is one thing they both have told me they would like to have from mom.

Jim and I have been enjoying a cup of tea around 4 PM this Christmas season and have decided with like a tea break in the afternoons better than a coffee break. This Harney and Sons Holiday blend has become our favorite! I really like this blend.

I didn't get a chance to share many of my favorite little Christmas things this season so I wanted to sneak in a few little treasures today. I like to collect children's Christmas china. I wish I had a complete set, but enjoy bits and pieces.

Can you believe that 2012 is almost over? This has been a good year for the Colantino Family and I am  sad to see it slip away. I have been thinking about the New Year and my "word" for the 2012. My heart theme was perfect for this past year....a very sweet year with many blessings. I am very thankful.

Merry Christmas In Seattle

The Newlyweds of Seattle did not come down our way for Christmas, so Jimmy and I took a little road trip up to see Eric and Gina yesterday! We just drove up for the day to spend some time with them and to have our gift exchange. It was an easy drive with OK traffic and OK rain! We had a great visit time and it was fun to sit and catch up and just be together.
Their apartment is so cute and Gina had it all decorated for Christmas. She had a little meat and cheese platter with bread and crackers plus her secret recipe cookies....yummy! Thank you Eric and Gina for such a nice afternoon. It was hard to say good bye. Hope to see you guys soon........

Their first little Christmas tree...Gina likes deer and there's a little display of deer under the tree. I'm surprised that their 2 kitties left it alone all season!

Eric is interested in old watches and watch repair. Jim found several books for him on Amazon. Here he is getting into one of the books!

They are going to Japan in March, so our gift to them was Japanese currency. Here's Gina with cash!

Jim enjoying the kids.

Happy Birthday Natalie

Happy Birthday Natalie! It was lovely to celebrate your special day at your home.

Merry Christmas!

A sweet and dear Christmas to your home and your family from our home and our family. Wishing you many Christmas blessings this year.  May you find PEACE, JOY and LOVE today.

The Paz House

Every year we wait for Richard and Linda Paz to decorate their charming house for Christmas! Here it is for 2012! It's not far from our home in Troutdale.

Chris and Angie's Fondue Party

Last Thursday evening, Chris, Angie and Ava invited us over for a fondue dinner party and gift exchange. We had so much fun! Chris is an awesome cook and Angie and him put on a wonderful dinner. YUMMY! Grandma Kathy was there too!
I  brought some English Christmas Crackers so we all had paper crowns!

Dessert! A delicious yule log cake. It was soooo good! Sarah Bernhardt Bakery is the best!

Grandma Kathy opening her gifts with a little help from Miss Ava. Kathy is a great grandmother. Thanks for sharing your beautiful granddaughter with us.

Ava and her daddy wrote a letter to Santa asking if he could come early this year. She wanted to have Christmas at her daddy's home first before she went over to her mom's house for the rest of her school break. That Santa was a good guy and was able to visit early!

Jim is getting a bit of help from Miss Ava too with our gift! Thanks so much to Angie and Chris for a great evening. Merry Christmas!

2nd Annual Cookie Party~Dec 15th!

I'm a bit behind on my blogging, but am trying to catch up a bit tonight. On Saturday, Dec 15th, my nieces hosted the 2nd annual cookie party at their family home in Vancouver. We were delighted to have all the cousins attend! Papa was so happy to have them all under one roof!

I had the BEST job of the day! Here I am with Ava and my great niece Isabelle! It was also Isabelle's 9th birthday, so she got a double treat! These two girls did an awesome job of rolling and cutting MANY pans of cookies! The three of us had so much fun. You can see Jenny in the background....she was in charge of the oven. Boy, did she have a lot of work to do!

Cute picture of my niece Anna and her husband Matt.

My beautiful daughters Gina and Angie. Gina drove down from Seattle for the event. The girls stayed overnight at our house after the party. A special time for us.

Three very special girls in my life~Angie, Gina and Miss Ava.

Chris and Angie. Chris was a good sport to come to a family function this large...he is still getting used to our large family.

Cookie decorators hard at work taking the job seriously!

Jimmy and Linda sure had a fun day. Thanks to the Cesnik family for hosting the cookie party again!
This year has been a very fun season for us with more
time spent with family and friends. I think we look pretty happy! I think after the school tragedy, we were just so glad to be together and feel safe. Lots of hugs were going around.

Cookie Baking at Home!

One of the things I really like to do at Christmas is bake cookies! When I was growing up, my mom always had a cookie making day. I continued that traditional with my own children when the were little. Now I do it alone but still enjoy it.The house always smells so good! I made a lot of fun cookies this year as am going to give cookie plates to our friends.

Jim helped me pack them up and it was nice to have a helper. We like to store the cookies in tins and like to collect them.

On Saturday, we will be taking them and gifts to friends. I imagine we will be doing some visiting too.

Winter Solstice

Happy Winter Solstice!

Teacup Thursday #84 and the Birthday Tea

Jim and I were out finishing our Christmas shopping today and we stopped at the Albertina Kerr thrift shoppe. They were having a 1/2 price sale and I just couldn't leave this Christmas teacup there...it cost me $3! It's Japanese, made by Inarco and it looks pretty mid century. I thought it would be perfect for Miss Spenser's Teacup Thursday.

Last Sunday, my dear friends Ann, Natalie and Nancy took me to Myrtles's Tea House for my birthday tea. The tea shoppe just celebrated her first anniversary at her new location. Congrats to you Elizabeth. She was so gracious and treated us all to tea...thank you Elizabeth. We all chatted the afternoon away. Don't you think it's amazing how time just seems to stand still or disappear when you go to tea? I think that's one of the best things about taking tea.

Thank you my friends for the gift of time and the birthday treats. I so enjoyed myself and the afternoon with you.