Avery is Three!

  

Special treats for a special girl!  Avery love, love, loves Doc McStuffins and Peppa Pig, so they both had to make an appearance for her party.

What a fun year it has been watching Avery grow!  She is so much fun and has developed so many new interests.  Every time I visit her, I can't wait to see what the day will bring.  Will it be a Doc or Peppa day?  Playing in her kitchen or with her doll house?  Coloring books or reading books?  It warms my heart that her Little Feminist book collection is one that she often selects from the many books that line her shelves.  After reading these books one day, she told her Daddy,  "Girls can do ANYTHING!" and he had a look of great pride on his face.  Of course he knows that because she helps him with projects around the house and can name about every tool in the toolbox.

 

She continues to enjoy cooking and baking with Mom.  This year, they even got Dad to help prepare some Christmas treats.

 

Avery has become a bit of a "fashionista" and has developed her own unique style.  She looks quite beautiful in the clothes Grandma Rita sews for her, but she also enjoys mismatched clothing that she picks out all by herself. She also brought a tear to our eyes when she wore Great-Grandma O's clip on earrings and didn't want to take them off!

 

 

Thanks to Peppa Pig, Avery is teaching us "British" English.  No vacations for this girl, she goes on "holiday."

Avery also showed us what a great hostess she can be and loved all the guests that came to visit her this year, including Aunt Cathy's cat, Porter.

Every day is an adventure for this girl!

Love, hugs and cookies for Great-niece, Avery!

God Bless Leann

 

Great niece, Leann, will celebrate her Confirmation today and special events in our family mean cookies to honor the occasion.

Leann Rose will receive roses, the edible kind.  .  .

 . . .and quotations attributed to her chosen patron, St. Joan of Arc.

Love, hugs and prayers for a special girl on her very important day! 

Leann with Mom & Dad, Godparents Aunt Heather & Great-uncle Matt, and Confirmation Sponsor, Aunt Linda

 

 

 

 

Christmas is Here

 

It's the most wonderful time of the year, and after social distancing in 2020, our extended family was looking forward to our celebration. Since some of the "kids" in the family now live out of state, the crowd was not expected to be as large as usual.  However, due to the Omicron variant of the Corona virus, by Christmas day the crowd had dwindled from 27 to 6!

Matt and I were grateful to be able to attend and the food was packed and delivered to other family members.  I guess "meals on wheels" was a step in the right direction from last year and we are grateful that the vaccine has kept symptoms mild for those who were afflicted with the virus.  Hopefully, next year we can return to a full family gathering.

Cookie designs this year,  included:

Plain  .  .  .

Fancy .  .  .

Traditional  .  .  .

One cutter, four looks. . . 

a new Santa .  .  .

and angels in remembrance of family members, Kathy and Diana,  who left us this year.

         Merry Christmas one and all.

Happy Thanksgiving

 This year I am grateful for the Covid vaccine, good health, good friends and the opportunity to spend the holiday with my family. 

 

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Happy Birthday Chris!

A friend called and asked me to make cookies for a family member's 50th birthday. I said, "sure" thinking birthday---EASY! She then said, "Can you add a few that look like their dogs?"  Uh-oh, not so easy!  Katie sent this picture for inspiration. . .

I did the best I could, but I wasn't very happy with them.   Sheldon, the brown puppy looks like an alien! Fortunately, my friends aren't demanding, they said they were amazing.

                       

 

Happy Anniversary!

Congratulations to my nephew and his wife as they celebrate their 25th anniversary! 
 

Since my family is big on "traditions"--Lamb Cakes at Easter, Cheesy Potatoes (with onions and without),  Grandma O's Cheesecake. . . the vintage car cookie has become my anniversary cookie tradition.

The couple surprised their wedding guests when they arrived at the reception in an unusual way.  .  .

.  .  . so their cookie collection had golf carts, too.

                 Love, hugs and cookies to a special couple!

 

References:

Tutorial for the vintage car cookie can be found at https://www.lilaloa.com/2013/06/just-married-wedding-cookies.html

 

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!