Logan's Graduation

Great-nephew Logan's path to a degree in finance included:  full-time instruction, a gap, part-time instruction, a pandemic and online learning.

The "road less traveled" continued when Logan opted to mask up and explore Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas, rather than donning a cap and gown for a socially distanced commencement ceremony.

Logan's non-traditional approach to his college degree, reminds me of these words by Robert Frost:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference 

Congratulations!

Baby It's Covid Outside

 

 Our holiday will be a party of two this year due to the ongoing pandemic, but we are grateful that friends and family who have suffered from the virus are on the road to recovery and we look forward to a vaccine in the future.

Although I have hundreds of cookies cutters, I can never resist adding new designs to the collection.  Cookie deliveries to family and friends will include a gnome for the first time as well as a new Santa, Ms., and a cute little elf.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas . . .

 

 

and a New Year filled with real hugs, fewer masks and less social distancing.

 

 

 

 

It's Been a Turkey of a Year!

 

The Covid pandemic has forced us to cancel another holiday celebration, but my tradition of sharing cookies with my family will continue.  I will wear my mask and deliver them to individual homes, rather than sharing them at our large, family gathering.

In addition to traditional fall designs. . .

.  .  .humor was definitely needed this year!

Since 2020 has been such a crazy year, I decided to take inspiration from a popular emoji and create "pooturkey"!  

Love, NO hugs and social distancing are the reality this year, but we look forward to gathering with our extended family as soon as it is safe.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Easter During Social Distancing

We continue to be in the grips of the world wide corona virus pandemic, so "social distancing" forced us to cancel our usual large family Easter gathering. 

Although we could not all be together, I decided to play "Easter Bunny." No contact,  I rang doorbells and left a package on the porches of family members.

My sister, Rita has been working non-stop to create masks for health care workers, first responders, friends and family members.  Given a crisis, she is always there to help out, so I chose to include masked bunnies in her honor.

Great nieces Leann and Mary Grace said Easter just wouldn't be the same without an egg hunt and lamb cake, so, when I dropped off cookies for them, I left Great-Grandma O's vintage 1950s cake pan for them to use.  I love their cake!  Perhaps, it's time for the next generation to take on this annual family tradition.

Happy, healthy Easter to all.

Santa's Back

Santa's back this year sporting a stylish buffalo plaid hat!

I opted for cookie platters for the family this year, but I wasn't very happy with the outcome.  No matter how many times I arranged the tree, it just didn't look very appealing to me.  In addition, the holly berries look like Mickey Mouse. 

Although I made truck cookies in 2016 and 2015, red trucks seem to be everywhere this year, so here is my updated version.

A few snowman and snowflakes will guarantee a white Christmas!

Our Christmas celebration included a new addition to the family, great-niece, Avery.  Her "First Christmas" cookie was designed to mirror her signature style, a headband with a bow.

In past years, this cookie would have ended up in the reject pile once I smashed the bottom of the cookie.  However, I am now trying to remind myself that "it's just a cookie" and make the best of it.

The smashed foot gave me an opportunity to create a tag to add to her bagged cookie that included Lincoln, the family dog.

As Avery joined us this year, we lost her Great Grandpa just a few days earlier.  Dad, Grandpa, Great-Grandpa S.  .  .  forever in our hearts and in the stars. 

Merry Christmas one and all.

Give Thanks

Thanksgiving is here and we are blessed to be celebrating with a large gathering of family and special friends.

Colorful pumpkins.  .  .

and lots of bright minis will be on the platter this year.

Last year, Clough'd 9 Cookies published a tutorial for a Pilgrim Turkey using an ice cream cone cutter, that I knew I wanted to recreate in the future.  I thought the male turkey needed a female counterpart because we all know who did all the cooking and cleaning at that first Thanksgiving dinner!  I cut off the top of another ice cream cone cutter, to complete the set.

Since I am grateful for the new addition to our family, I made a special cookie for great-niece, Avery.  At 7 months, she's a little young to eat the cookie, but a picture will be a fun reminder of her first Thanksgiving.

Cornucopias were another new design this year.  I wouldn't want to eat them, but they were easy to make and will please the kids who ask for cookies "with sprinkles."  This was another creative use of cookie cutters because it is actually a Santa cutter.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!

It wouldn't be Easter without bunnies . . .

 

.  .  .  or eggs.

I attempted using the air brush and stencils on some of the eggs.  Some day I will master that tool, but for now, it still intimidates me.

The Easter basket design just looked a little dull to me, so I added an additional little egg to try to make it look a bit more festive.

 This year, I added a silly lamb cookie to the collection because our family continues the lamb cake tradition that Mom started in the 1950s.

This year the cakes are wearing party hats in honor of our nephew Mike, who will be forty this month!

Since we have had such a long winter, I thought I would include some flowers  with the traditional Easter designs.

The family cookie  tray always has to have an assortment of "itsy, bitsy, bite sized cookies."

Finally, our large gathering of multiple generations will be celebrating our nephew, Mike's 40th birthday and the addition of a new great-niece, Avery.  

Happy Easter, happy birthday, welcome baby. . .we are so blessed.

Marty Is Taking Off

After 15 years of service with the Transportation Security Administration at Mitchell Airport,  my brother-in-law, Marty is retiring.

I am not sure what Marty has planned as he leaves the world of work behind.

Perhaps he will be snowmobiling at his home in the north woods of Wisconsin  .  .  .

or riding the waves at his condo in North Carolina while his wife, Carol, looks for shells on the beach. . .

or maybe he will pull the Harley out of the garage.

Whatever he decides, I hope he makes a bucket list soon, because Carol definitely has a "honey do" list waiting for him.

Congratulations, to Marty as he journeys into retirement. I hope he always remembers that "it's not the destination, it's the ride."

References: 

Airplane with contrails-Bake at 350. 

Nose view of the airplane-SemiSweetDesigns and Whatta Smart Cookie

Motorycycle-Haniela