Christmas with the family in Effingham, Illinois - at least part of the family. Here we are at lunch at the Hilton Garden Inn after church. Well, most of us went to church - not my youngest brother sitting next to me in his favorite deer shirt. This is only about half of us. Our kids were not present, and of course, niece, Megan just had the baby and didn't make the trip, and my brother, Brian and his family were not present. After lunch we went back to Maw-Maw's and opened gifts and played some games.












My nephew, Michael, protested that he would like some input into just what became a family tradition, as we, once again, performed The Twelve Days of Christmas, this time with some little signs. I told him that next year there would be costumes and interpretive dance.





Once again, we tried to do some caroling, but only Lori, Baleigh, and I ventured out. Last year, if you recall, it was raining, and this year , there was snow. Like last year, we went to my cousin Lisa's house and like last year, she had a bad cold, and like last year, we sang at their house, but we could not get anybody to come to the front door. Like last year, we went to the house of Baleigh's second grade teacher and sang, and like last year, she was not at home. However, there was a fat black and white cat on the landing of their stairs who truly seemed mesmerized by our performance. No really, the cat liked our singing.


Icy roads on Sunday evening kept us and my sister's family from traveling, so we did not get home until Monday afternoon.








I know I have not been posting recipes in recent weeks, but hope to remedy that in the future. I do have some ladies coming to the house tomorrow afternoon for a sugar cookie baking and decorating mini-class, so that should be fun. Here is the lovely Christmas bouquet that came from Verso Paper. I hope they last until Christmas Day.