Getting into the Christmas Spirit

Citrus ripens in December in my backyard.

The navel oranges a almost ready to pick, they are the juiciest.

Lili had a guest visit her little tent condo... Dean.

Dean with Shannon, we went to see the Christmas Train arrive at the Claremont Station.

Dean, Brandon and Lacey in front of the train.

Shannon decorated the tree, it's a mini-tree.

I baked some pumpkin bread, brownies and lacey oatmeal cookies.

Dining room decorated for a dinner party.

Going to Amanda and Keith's Christmas Party.

The cousins and Melissa. Lacey, Melissa, Shannon, Kristen and Amanda.

Trouble times two.

Our party table.

Carl and I, our 21st Wedding Anniversary.

Rondi, Betty, Sandi, Gloria and Louise.

The men-folk and Ruth. Our once-a-year get-together with retired co-workers from NHRA.

This covers the first half of the month and today is only the 12th. I love the holidays, especially since Shannon and Grant moved back. Looking forward to more festivities.

Kathy



Grant's First Thanksgiving

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

That your family and friends all gathered together to create a delicious meal.

That you shared the day together, laughing and relaxing and enjoying each other's company.

I got up early and took the turkey out of the fridge, cleaned it and started boiling up the giblets for the gravy. I was in the kitchen all day preparing the Thanksgiving meal. Waaa Waaa Waaa.....

Carl was up in his office catching up on work after returning from an 11 day fishing trip.

Grant drove down to Huntington Beach to go surfing.

Shannon was in my office, scanning her latest art and putting it up on her Etsy shop.

I had planned to have all the meal timed to eat at 4 pm. Everything was on schedule. After cooking for 4 hours, I took out the turkey and let it sit on a tray while I started the gravy. Then, I noticed the pink juices gathering around the turkey on the white tray. The flippin' turkey wasn't done. Damn! I put it back in the oven. With the stuffing already cooking in a dish and the yams cooking. I waited 1/2 hour and checked it. Still not done, but now the stuffing is burned on the bottom and the yams are self-mashed by being overcooked. We ended up eating around 5:30, burned stuffing, I forgot to make the asparagus.

Everyone loved the meal anyway. I have decided that next year I'm going out to dinner.

Grant's first official Thanksgiving meal here in America.

 Our little family of four, plus one dog.

Grant had two servings, wait until the turkey hits him, triptofanes.

Diving in to the meal!

What's Thanksgiving without putting olives on your fingers?

And on your teeth?

Shannon looking lovely.


Next comes Christmas. And Christmas shopping. =)

Kathy

What I Wore Wednesday

Fashion's finest from La Verne.
This is what I wore today, "Around the House". Brown on Brown, and they don't even match. The pants are stretch comfy with a wide elastic stretch waist from LL Bean. The top, brown, with quarter sleeves, slightly too short to be wearing over stretchy pants, comes from Macy's 3 years ago. But, who cares, I'm in the house and nobody sees me.

PS. I have brown slippers that match, also from LL Bean.

Kathy

The Big Day

Shannon and Grant were married on Saturday, October 1, 2011. The wedding took place in Santa Ana, at my dad's shop. It was held in a 50 x 30 ft. tent with tables and chairs, a full bar, a live band, lots of hot rods and we even fired up a front engine dragster during dinner.

The guests waiting for the Bride to arrive.

Shannon and Carl (dad) drove up in a 1954 Chevy.

Carl walking Shannon down the aisle. Her dress was vintage '50's style. Her bouquet was made of pink roses. This is where the tears started for most, but amazingly I did not cry a tear. I was so happy with the wedding.

They took the wedding vows on a black and white checkered dance floor. The ceremony was sweet and somewhat entertaining, as you can imagine with Grant and Shannon. When asked what she loved about Grant, she had told the minister that he was tall and funny.

The Wedding Kiss!

Carl, Me, Shannon and Grant, after the ceremony.

The Father Daughter dance was to Louis Armstrong's "Wonderful World". So sweet.

What more could a couple ask for in a wedding?

Now we have a son-in-law. Yay.

Shannon will do a full blog when they return from their mini-honeymoon. This is just a teaser blog for those who are anxious to see what it all looked like.

Thank you all for being so supportive through all this.

Love to All, Kathy

Famous Artist

Something new and exciting to blog about!!!
Hot Rod New Zealand Magazine did a 3 page article on Shannon and her art.


She's getting her name out there, so if you want a portrait, give her a jingle.
Click on the picture one time, it will open then click again to be able to read the text.


Right now she's working on the California Hot Rod Reunion portraits, while planning a wedding. 27 days to go.


Kathy