apparently, it never snows in Seattle. It started last week & did not stop until today.

We made a small snow man

Dwayne had a snowball fight with the kids

Dylan went exploring the 'hood

Georgia proved to make pretty decent snowballs

Dwayne proved he has no shame & will snowball the kids in the face just to have a laugh.

It is ok, they got him back.

Then we had hot chocolate

We did this for several days. I did not go to work for a solid week
Things got a little silly.
 

Mostly we huddled under blankets & napped.
It was a nice way to bring in Christmas.
It snowed Christmas morning.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

We baked a million cookies!

This is my children & their cousins baking cookies. This is the first time Emilee & Lizzy have participated in our family tradition.  It was Dylan's first time too in a way.
 

We saved the iced sugar cookies for last, as they make the biggest mess.

I iced them and the kids sprinkled them.

Dylan was a bit confused.

Amazingly, my patience held for the whole day. Grace of God I tell ya!!
I really had a great time.

The next day, Darlene cam over to help me make some candy canes.
Damn Martha Stewart, she makes it look sooooo easy.
I think we mostly failed. There are sticks of flavored sugar, but nothing remotely pretty or even resembling a candy cane. And we tried it twice!!  Go figure.

I don't have any final pictures of the cookies, though every person on my team at work (11) got a goodie bag and I sent cookies the cousins baked home with them, then took another tray to them on Christmas eve. Darlene & I made up some refrigerator cookies that she baked the day before going home to DE. It was truly a cookie holiday to remember.

In the midst of it all, I really missed my mom, my nan-nan, my sisters, my aunt viki & my aunt ginny
A lot of memories came back to me throughout the last two weeks. I am glad I get to pass this tradition on to the next generation.

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Random pictures.

I do have pics from Georgia's B-day, but they are still on the camera.
Dude, I have been SOOO SWAMPED.

Bell Kids eating popcorn watching a movie.

My little man

On thanksgiving day..

And the pretty Georgia, mouth agape
 

Few shots of the inside of the house:

Picture wall, I put the mirror in the middle so I could look into it and see myself surrounded by family.  See the lovely green chairs. My great grandmother gave them to me. I think they are one of my most prized gifts. They are hand painted. There is a brown set too, though a bit older and rickety.

 Tin art was painstakingly performed by me & my old roommate once my arm got tired of hitting the nail with the hammer. Nan-nan's flower arrangement - it has seen better days.  I made painted a few of the pieces while working at Eldreth Pottery in York PA. The pitcher & cup were made by a dear friend Maggie Creshkoff, who owns Backlog pottery. My dear friend Jo Pinder painted the taller lidded piece on the right. How I miss those ladies.

Forever tiny knickknacks from my worldly travels & the farm we inherited from Dwayne's Granddad is set on the shelf. The shadowbox is also made by Jo Pinder, when she was making papermache dolls.

Tea set was brought back from China, the full service china we inherited from Dwayne's granddad along with the antique cupboard.
The jade plant came from a small sprig of my dear old friend Nikki's mother's plant that was about three feet tall last I saw it in 1994-ish. Her name is Althea. I made the pot it is in when I was in high school in Florida.

Wish lists have been updated.

Bell Children:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/2YVDC55YDGB7V/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go

Me:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/42JVQWLMI7IF/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go

family kitchen:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/1ZBNWGCM252CG/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go

I lost a work friend over the holiday.
He was 27 with a young wife & 2 year old.
We shared coffee breaks for over two years, lots of good times were had. Funny stories shared and wise crack made. I can hear his voice in my head and see his common expression, I called the "hairy eyeball".
I just can't believe it.

He was riding a motor cycle home from work on Thanksgiving day, when an unfortunate 19 yr old girl failed to yeild right of way at a stop sign. He slammed into the truck, sliding underneath. He died on the way to the hospital.

His name was Mike Shopp, he was my friend.

I am really glad that his pretty little girl has his bright eyes.

This was a group photo taken at our "going away" party before we left KY.