Back to life as we know it......

The holidays are over.....so sad.  I love our family get togethers and the build up before the big days.  We had a really nice Thanksgiving here at our house as we gathered around the table.  The main theme this year seemed to be that we were all thankful for our health, having jobs and the fact that we have family to share our love with.  The events that had just occurred in Mount Vernon where the Tilmant's live was fresh in all of our minds.  The gruesome death of a mother, her son and her friend was almost too much to bear and was too close to home to believe.  I just heard on the news yesterday that the man who committed this crime will spend the rest of his life in prison.  Sometimes these things happen to remind us how we should appreciate what we have....and I sure do.  I love my family and appreciate them every day.

So....on to the next holiday.....Christmas!

Patrick came to spend the three days of the weekend with us.  I really enjoyed his help with last minute gifts to purchase on Christmas Eve and the making of our traditional lasagna.  The Tilmant's came on Christmas Day with Luke.  He always brings a smile to our faces.  They all stayed overnight too....the house was beginning to fill.  The 26th was the day of our big meal and gift exchange.  The Hicks family rolled in first, then Matt arrived and rounding up the tail end was the Swaggard Family with Taryn and Morgan in tow all the way from Texas.  All of the little girls got dressed up in pretty Christmas dresses....so cute.  The last three of our adult kids that rolled in on the 26th also stayed overnight with their families while Patrick and the Tilmant's did not.  It was so fun to have our Christmas holiday last for three full days this year!

Luke and Stef

Ivy and Lily with their Christmas outfits on.

Matt, Jenny and Mark having some fun.

On to some of the gifts I made and received.....

Joel was happy with the quilt I made him.  He's such a patriotic soul and loves to read about war history, so I chose these fabrics (the center block is the Declaration of Independence written out on fabric) some of which are Civil War reproductions, which is his favorite time in history to read about. 

This was the gift I made for Matt's girlfriend, Kathleen.  It's basically a moebius scarf that gets wrapped around the neck twice with a cable pattern knitted in.  Here's the link for the pattern if any of you knitters would like it:

http://ilikecake.org/?p=141

Look at this lovely gift I received from Mark!  He picked it out from Knitters' Mercantile.  It has 1,450 yds., is hand-painted with beautiful colors and is enough to do a sweater which I will chose from this book he picked out for me.  Please notice that just because someone has white hair doesn't mean they are old.

You can see how huge the skein is after having it wound, compared to the skein of Ritratto he also bought me.  Mark did a great job choosing my gifts this year.  I did not give him a list or ideas like I usually do.  Nothing makes a knitter happier than receiving yarn and books.

He bought me these 2 skeins of Ritratto, which are mohair and rayon, to make a pretty ruffle scarf with....

.....and Matt trucked all the way to a yarn shop in Chicago to buy me this luxurious skein of cashmere and silk yarn!  It's color is lavendar, but my camera thinks it's blue.  This one skein will be enough to make myself a wonderfully soft cowl to keep my neck warm.  This was a special treat because I wouldn't buy myself cashmere.  I was thinking about that book.... "I Feel Bad About My Neck" by Nora Ephron....I may wear this cowl as much to hide my neck as I will to keep it warm! 

I wish you all good health this year of the rabbit....enjoy your family and be thankful.