A Fond Farewell to 2013

Many of us will be singing Auld Lang Syne tonight, a New Year's Eve tradition (click on the link to read more, the history of this Scottish ballad is fascinating) and spending time with family and friends and reminiscing about the past year.  I feel especially blessed that this year has been filled with so many good memories, good friends (new and not so new), an incredible family and the good fortune to be surrounded by this beauty...

...here's a quick taste of the sound of the creek and the gentle chimes...

...for me, it's mesmerizing.

May 2014 bring all of you good health, much love and prosperity.  I am filled with gratitude for you all!

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

There's No Place Like Home

Ahhh, back at the cabin!  Johny says it's rained a lot and the creek is welcoming me home with a lovely rushing sound...

...I've had a great trip, but there's no place like home! 

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

Time Flies

I'm back at the river house, getting ready to head back to the cabin. I'm feeling a little melancholy now that my time with the girls and Liam has come to a close and the hoopla of Christmas has passed...it's amazing how quickly time flies by!  I have a few more pics to share of my trip...so many great memories!

Liam with Marty...

...Spiderman at the playground...

 ...on a spinning seat...made me dizzy watching him...

...love Liam's laughter in this video...it doesn't take long before he's telling me to stop him (if you receive my posts by email you may need to click on the post title to watch)...

 ...getting a hair cut...

 

 

...providing me some entertainment...

...love this boy so much!

It was a great trip and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the girls and Liam, grateful to have the opportunity to spend Christmas with them.  I'm looking forward to getting back to the cabin...let it snow!

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

Meet Marty

Merry day after Christmas!  So much anticipation...so much preparation...so much excitement...and then suddenly Christmas day is done.  I've been enjoying my time sharing it all with Liam...here are a few things I hadn't shared yet...

Meet "Greenie", Liam's Elf on the Shelf...Greenie magically moves from one spot to another to help Santa keep an eye on Liam...

...he's been in a few interesting spots...

Liam with his green slime...couldn't resist sharing this pic...

Christmas morning, we found a note from Santa next to the empty plate of Christmas cookies we left for him...Liam read it out loud and was thrilled with his personalized note...

...Spiderman...Liam's favorite action hero...

 ...and Master Magician Liam...

 ...fun with Tawny, Trevor's niece...

 ...Christmas dinner at Tracy & George's (Trevor's sister)...it was a fantastic meal with Toni's (Trevor's mom) traditional home made manicotti.  

Now I'd like to introduce you to Marty, Liam's new pet red footed tortoise...

 

  ...a cute little guy and Liam loves him!  Welcome to the family Marty!

I hope your holiday (whatever you may celebrate) was amazing, and you've had some time to relax after all the festivities.  I am not too proud to say I am just a little teeny weeny bit tired, LOL!

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

Cookies For Santa

One very important Christmas Eve activity is making cookies for Santa.  We used a simple recipe that called for prepared chocolate chip cookie dough and frosting made from a little milk and powdered sugar...make three balls of dough descending in size and place them on a baking sheet with the balls just touching which will create snowmen (OK, some of our snowmen looked like snow blobs so we decided those were Christmas trees)...

...once cooled, drizzle with the frosting and use candies to decorate...

 ...lots of fun...

 ...and a few of these with a nice glass of milk and Santa will be able to drive his sleigh all night with all the sugar these delicacies will provide!

 

Merry Christmas Eve!

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

An Email Message From Santa

This morning Liam received a personalized email from Santa...it was the treat of the day...

 

...he was so excited to get confirmation directly from Santa that he was on the "good" list!  Ah, the joys of youth and Christmas:)

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

The Tooth Fairy's Coming Tonight!

Besides counting the number of "sleepover" nights I am having here with Liam, and the number of days until Santa arrives, there will be no more days to count until the Tooth Fairy arrives, for she will be here tonight!

When I arrived a couple days ago, Liam was proud to show me his loose tooth...

 ...and has been wiggling away at it to try to get it out.  This morning we all decided it was loose enough to pull it, and a string was the choice method...mommy tied the string (dental floss)...

 ...a little knot at the base of the tooth...

 ...and Liam excitedly anticipated the string being tugged and the tooth coming out...

...Trevor gave the fateful tug...

 ...and out the tooth came!

Liam rinsed his mouth with a warm salt water mixture...

...and proudly displayed his now missing tooth.

 He couldn't wait to put it under his pillow...

 ...and there it sits...

 ...waiting for dark and him to sleep so the Tooth Fairy can slip $1 under his pillow to replace the tooth (ha ha, used to be a quarter when my daughters were young)...

 Here's our boy, proud of his new smile!

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

Another Lovely Moonlit Night

The river looked beautiful yet again last night...

 

 ...but it doesn't compare to how brightly I'll be shining in a few hours because I'm on my way to see Liam for Christmas.  This is him walking to school the other morning (photo taken by his mom)...I can't wait to see him! 

I'll be posting as I can, but as you now know, when I'm visiting I want to spend as much time with him as possible...making every minute count.

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

The Sky Was Glowing

It was a beautiful sunrise on the river this morning...

...serene...

 ...chill in the air...

 ...glowing clouds...

...ahhhhhh!

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

By The Light Of The Silvery Moon

When I left the cabin early this morning, they air was cold and crisp, and the sky was clear with a full moon and stars glittering all about.  My photo doesn't do the view justice, but all those little specks you see are stars (or planets) and the full moon...it was stunning...

...an awesome night sky to drive by, on my road trip to spend Christmas with Liam.  There will be much love to share and stories to tell and I can't wait...come back to hear all about it!

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

Is This Really Winter?...updated

Bah humbug, this is one of those posts that published before anything was ready...

What I wanted to share is this is one of those days that makes me wonder if it's really winter...mild (48 right now), breezy, not a cloud in the sky.

The sound of the creek from the deck compelled me to take a walk down below, take a look-see and listen up close...

...I love the sound of the fresh running water, and the look of the glistening sun...

...it was so beautiful I decided to video the splendor so you might enjoy it too (you may need to click on the link at the top of the email to see the video)...

Tomorrow I head out early on my road trip to spend Christmas with Liam...excitement doesn't begin to describe how I feel...

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise