A wonderful Day

Seems like I blinked....and suddenly we are here...December 8th!  LOL. wasn't it just summer a few months ago?  It has not been that long since we were swatting mosquitoes and now .... well now, I'm busy turning on the switches for all of my battery operated candles. 

My People!

But Oh, what a weekend we had.  My side of the family spent time yesterday celebrating Christmas together... I think there were 31 of us there.  We did set aside a time in memory of my youngest brother.  My oldest brother and I grabbed our usual siblings photo...one that I will always cherish.  

Let's talk food.  We had options to choose from. 🍔 Burger plates for all of our classic folks... 🔥 BBQ plates for those who are serious about their food. 🥗 A huge chicken salad bowl for the wholesome eaters...lol   And a 🍤 fish and shrimp platter for the seafood lovers.  If anyone left hungry, then I would say it was their own fault.

Now...lets talk dessert!!  How can you beat a delicious Cookie cake?  Cookie cake and bundt mini cakes were big hits.  Trista ordered the cookie cake last week.  She specifically ordered snow flakes, Christmas trees and for it to have MERRY CHRISTMAS written in the middle.  

What did we end up with??

No snow flakes....not the Christmas trees per say..... and HAPPY Christmas instead of "Merry."

It is easy to get Mildly offended when what you ordered is not what you get.  

Guess what?  By the time the kiddos (and maybe a few adults) finished with the cookie cake, we quickly realized that none of them probably even paid attention to what was written on it. 

Our three little ones....Claire, Lexie and Heidi

they were playing with their toys..

So here we are today...sliding into this holiday season (like it's a greased sled on fresh snow)....

There was a lot of swapping gifts during the white elephant game, and lots of laughs.  It was so good to be able to grab big hugs from all of these people I love.  What a GREAT day it was.  

Our "MERRY" Crew.  

There are a lot of Merry sweat shirts out there.  

As the calendar keeps flipping faster than we can catch it, yesterday reminded me of something simple and sweet...life isn't perfect, but it sure is precious. We can plan the menu, choose the cake, give clear instructions, and still things turn our a little sideways.  Yet, somehow, those unexpected twist are where the laughter lives. They become stories we retell with warm hearts and full plates. 

At the end of the day, it isn't perfection that makes a holiday...it's the people around it.  

Shug...