Christmas Week - Monday to Friday

This past year has gone quickly.  I can't believe that another Christmas is past.  I hope that you had a truly memorable holiday, and that you were able to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ - the Savior of the World - and make some great memories with those you love!  Here are some of the things that made this busy past week and Christmas a good one for me and my family.   

Monday of this week, we went to our daughter's home in Utah County to deliver the Christmas gifts we had for them.  A flu bug in their family meant that we just exchanged gifts on the driveway of their home, so I didn't get any pictures.  Hopefully, they are all feeling better soon! Later, we stopped and had lunch at our favorite Utah County lunch spot - the BYU Creamery.   It's always fun to get a burger and fries or onion rings at The Creamery. The food there is so good that burgers from other places just do not compare at all.  The rest of Monday, we were busy making last-minute Christmas preparations. 

On Tuesday, we met our grandson for lunch because, although he lives in Utah County, he was working near our home for a few days.  After lunch, we told him to come and have dinner with us before he went back home in the evening, so he did.  We enjoyed having him here and told him to come by whenever he wants.  Here is our oldest grandson, almost 20, with his grandpa.  I have no idea where the years ago, and how I can possibly have a grandson this old! 

Here I am with Miles, our oldest grandson.  He is really a nice young man, and we are very proud of him. 

By Wednesday, Christmas Eve, our door was full of Christmas cards from friends and family.  I love sending and receiving Christmas cards, and appreciate all those who stay in touch. 

I took some small Christmas gifts and left at the doors of some friends and members of our church congregation Tuesday afternoon.  

On Wednesday, the morning of Christmas Eve, Charly and I walked at the mall.  It was early - before stores normally open, but many were open to accommodate last-minutes shoppers. After the walk, we stopped at the grocery store for a few things.  There was a Salvation Army bell ringer there.  This is the first bell-ringer I have seen around here this year.   When our children were little, we would give them money to put in the kettle, so I was happy to make a little donation to The Salvation Army in honor of good memories of our little ones. 

We had no snow on Christmas Eve, and it wasn't cold, but it was cloudy and windy.   I went for a walk around the neighborhood in the afternoon, and I listened to the Christmas Eve service of the church that my blogging friend Faith, over at Gold in the Clouds, attends. She, her husband, and her oldest daughter were all singing in the Christmas Eve service choir. 

Our  Christmas Eve dinner was slow-cooker Mississippi Pot Roast, with mashed potatoes and gravy, roasted carrots, and green salad.   It was very good. 

After dinner, Charly, Josh, and I played this new game, Runs in the Family, which I recently purchased, especially for Christmas Eve.  It was a fun game, and we laughed a lot, as we tried to read each other's minds. 

This is our living room with our Christmas gifts ready around the tree on Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning was more low-key and relaxed than when we had little ones. We slept in a bit, I made a special Christmas breakfast, we talked to our daughter and grandchildren on the phone, and then we opened gifts. 

We all got some nice things that we wanted.  One gift I gave myself was early bird tickets to BYU Women's Conference. The conference doesn't take place until April 30- May 1, but there was a special Christmas discount if tickets were purchased by Christmas, so I got online and bought my tickets and put this fun event on my calendar. 

In the afternoon, I took some cookie plates to friends and members of our church congregation. 

Christmas evening, we decided to go see some Christmas lights.  We went to Utah County to a place called Riverwoods that our daughter had told us about.  The Christmas lights there were beautiful.  Here are some pictures. 

We enjoyed walking around Riverwoods and looking at the lights.  Riverwoods is an outdoor shopping area, and while the stores were not open on Christmas night, we plan to return when they are open.

On our way home, we passed this city park that was beautifully lit up. Almost every tree in the park was covered with lights.  We got out and walked around, and I took pictures. Here is what this beautiful park looked like Christmas night. 

I am so grateful that we were able to get out and see these beautiful lights on Christmas nights.   It was a nice way to end a memorable Christmas Day!

Friday morning we walked at the mall again.  None of the stores were open early, and there weren't many people there.  I noticed some workmen taking down the Christmas decorations.  

I wasn't really planning to take our Christmas decorations down on the day after Christmas, but since we are planning a little getaway in the coming days, I decided that it was best just to get everything taken down and put away. This is what the living room looked like this afternoon with all of the Christmas decorations gone. 

While we were taking the Christmas stuff down, I finished listening to this audiobook, Lions & Scavengers by Ben Shapiro.  The author is a conservative political commentator, and this book was about politics, history, and current events.  Parts of it were interesting, and I agreed with most of what the author said, but overall it was just average, so I gave it 3/5 stars on Goodreads.   This was the sixty-fourth book I have completed this year.  I hope to finish two or three more books in the next week, but my reading dropped off this year, and I will probably finish ten fewer books than 2024. 

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I worshipped at our nearby temple Friday afternoon, which seemed the right thing to do on the day after Christmas - when we celebrate Christ's birth. 

Thanks for stopping by to share my Christmas week.  I am going to be absent from blogland for the next week or so.  I hope to see you again on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. 

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

"What the new year brings to you

will depend a great deal on what you 

bring to the new year."

~Vern McClellan

The End of October

 Here is a little bit about the last week of October in my world. 

We had a cold rain early in the week.  The mountains got a little snow, and we were left with colder temperatures.  

The rain moved out leaving blue skies and only a few clouds.  This is the view from the parking lot of the school where I am currently a long-term sub. 

Halloween was a perfect fall day, with crisp, cool temperatures, and blue skies and sunshine.  I took this picture during a lovely early evening walk.

We were all ready for Halloween at our house, but we only got two groups of trick-or-treaters.  We were happy for that because last year, not one trick-or-treater came by. 

I've been reading this book, Every Other Weekend by Zulema Renee Summerfield.  It's about a dysfunctional blended family in the 1980s.  

I finished this mystery, Falling Darkness by Zara Evans,  on my Kindle last week.  It was a pretty decent suspense book, until the very end.  I didn't care much for the conclusion, so I gave it only 3/5 stars on Goodreads. 

I've been listening to a lot of different podcasts this week - mostly political and religious/Christian.   I listen to podcasts while I eat my lunch and at school, and commute back and forth.  I love listening and learning from many different podcasters. 

Charly made a delicious batch of crockpot lasagna. In addition to the original meal, it gave us leftovers for a couple of days of easy dinners.  I had cooked carrots and green salad with it on Halloween. 

I had my biannual teaching observation last week, done by the district sub supervisor.  Despite being with a challenging student population and not teaching from my own lesson plans, I felt it went quite well.  I found out that my current assignment in a junior high English class will end on November 21, and then I will spend the entire month of December, up to Christmas break, at the high school shown in the picture, which is only about five miles from my home, in an upscale neighborhood.  I will be a history/social studies classroom.  Believe me, I am looking forward to a break from the junior high crowd. 

While I was at school on Friday, Charly and Josh went to lunch at this all-you-can-eat place, Golden Corral.  Charly and Josh have been going out to lunch together every week for a while, and I think it's a wonderful father-son thing to do.  Charly and Josh both liked the food, which is good because we are considering having our Thanksgiving dinner here.  We are cancelling our plans to go to St. George because Josh can't get enjoy days off of work.  Charly doesn't want to do a lot of cooking on Thanksgiving and neither do I.  We have friends that go to Golden Corral every year for Thanksgiving and they have said that it is good, so we may give it a try. 

Tomorrow, Saturday, November 1, will be a busy day. We plan to get up about 6 a.m., walk at the mall, then go to Utah County (30 miles to the south of us) to look at the two houses in the picture, which are both having open houses.  After that, we are going to meet up with friends who live in Davis County, (which is about 20 miles north of our home), for lunch.  We will be on the road a bit, but it is supposed to be a nice day with a temperature of about 65.  

That's all for now.  Hope you had a nice week and a very Happy Halloween.  May November be a good month for all of us, and may we find much to be grateful for!

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

Thankful Thursday and Friday Favorites

As another week ends, these are a few of the good things I remember and am most grateful for.  I am joining with Susanne and friends over at Living to Tell the Story for Fridays Fave Five and Stacy at A Mile in My Shoes for Thankful Thursday. 

😊 Josh started his classes for fall semester and said he really likes them. He is taking a class on Chinese history and culture and another history class called "The History of Peace."  Isn't that a great name for a history class?!  He said that they are reading a lot of the works of Gandhi in that class.  He is also taking a dance class and a religion class.  Josh also started his new job as a campus night security person for the campus safety office.  He said he likes the job, probably because he can be out walking around, and he likes jobs where he can be active.  I am grateful that the new semester is going well for him. 

😊 Our downstairs bathroom is almost completely finished!  It took a while, but this is what it looks like now. All of the tile work is finished and the toilet and fixtures have been installed by the plumber.  The only thing left is the new light fixtures and the electrician is coming on Monday to take care of installing those.  I am so grateful that this project is just about done. We are very pleased with the outcome. 

😊 I am excited and grateful that we were able to make some reservations for a couple of vacations next summer.  This is where we will be staying in Estes Park, Colorado for a few days next summer.  We love Rocky Mountain National Park and are excited to go back for a visit next year.  I also got reservations for a week in Alexandria, Virginia again next year.  We plan to rent a car (again) and visit some more Civil War battlefields that are only an hour or two away.  We are super excited about these trips.  

😊 Our temperatures have cooled down and become pleasant and fall-like.  Charly and I have been enjoying nightly walks, which I am grateful for.  I am also grateful for these beautiful roses growing in yards along our walking route.  I love roses!

😊 I don't have any rose bushes, but I am grateful for these little flowers which have perked up and multiplied in my own backyard now that the temperatures are cooler.  

😊 Because we were moving all summer, I didn't do much gardening.  I did, however, plant a few tomato plants, not expecting them to do much.  I am surprised and grateful that they have done quite well. As the picture shows, I have lots of little grape tomatoes ripening on the vine.  I have already picked and eaten some and they are oh so good!

😊 A colleague from work gave us some fresh peaches which we had as desert for our dinner the other night. They were delicious!  Another friend from church, gave us some of her big tomatoes, which will be perfect for BLT sandwiches.  I am so grateful for people who are willing to share the goodness from their gardens.  

😊 Finally, I am grateful once again this school year for amazingly beautiful sunrises over the mountains that I can see from my classroom window.  Seeing this kind of beauty makes my day!

Thanks for stopping by to share the good things from my week!  Have a great weekend! 

Until next time, 

😊Deb💖

"You don't have to wait for a special day 

to be thankful"

~anon.