Another Trip part 2

I won't bore you with all the photos I took while we were together but we did get a couple nice family ones.  

The Old Folks

 

Four Generations

 

The Entertainment

A little more than a month before leaving I decided it would be a good idea to have a Christmas apron, better yet...one for everyone; because everyone was going to doing kitchen duty at some point, so I went through my stash and started matching up fabrics (sort of) and grabbed the rotary cutter and started cutting. No pattern but I managed to get 12 of them together in every range of sizes from the smallest to the biggest, before leaving.

 

 

Count'em! TWELVE reversible holiday aprons. No excuses not to help in the kitchen.

I made 12 holiday (Christmas on one side and Thanksgiving on the other) placemats for the table as well and everybody got to take their placemats home with them.

I made 22 zippered bags and we filled them with gifts. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is only a few of them but I can't say enough about the cosmetic/travel bag pattern. Very clear instructions, easily made. Probably doable in 3 hours from start to finish. It is called the Emmaline Retreat bag and comes in 2 sizes. The large one did not have handles but it was easy to add them.

The have a wire frame that inserts in a casing at the top of the bag that enables the bag to open and stay open, making it easy to use and find things. Best of all, it is a free pattern!

The hardware can be ordered at the same site as the Just go to patterns and add the free pattern to your cart like you are buying it, and follow the prompts. You will receive the pdf. pattern in your mail and it's that easy. I can't say enough about this company. Very easy to do business with and the prices are great! She carries an extensive line of purse/bag hardware in many finishes. (I am not affiliated with this company in any way and was not paid to say this.) This is the link...Free Bag Pattern

I thought it might be fun to buy everyone a pair of fun socks and get a group photo. I had no idea just how much it would be. All the socks were in a bag and we just reached in for them. One pair however look like normal socks but when the recipient put them on this is what it looked like when he showed them off...I laughed until my sides hurt. I mean seriously! How did these get by the quality control person?

 

 

 

 The last time we had a family Christmas Mr O and I made a Family Tree from a Scrabble board and tiles  and that was won by a family member and we thought it might be nice to do another scrabble

Thing this year. Here is what we did...

 

 

 

Everybody got a Christmas ornament with their name on it.

 

Our daughter brought the Christmas tree with all the trimmings so we all got to hang our ornament after she did her magic.

 

The kids got together and bought Pa and I a beautiful Thank You/Christmas gift. It is absolutely beautiful and I can hardly wait to get home a find the "perfect" place to hang it.

 

It is Large and so beautiful and all the gears move as the clock is running. I love it! Thanks kids!

 

 

 

 

 

There was time for making gingerbread houses, games, making puzzles, sight seeing, skating, snow shoeing, swimming, eating, gift giving and lots of laughs, but the best thing of all was just being together. When it was all over we continued on to Saskatchewan to spend New Years at my sister and brother in law's home.

P.S. for those of you who are wondering about the knitting picture...one of the tell tale signs that a quilter has to rip something out and resew, there are usually tiny bits of thread left from the ripping out process; with ripped out knitting, you end up with kinky,curly yarn to have to re-knit with. I had to rip back about 2" of my sock because of dropped stitches. That's what I get for knitting in the car in poor light and trying to sight-see at the same time. 

P.P.S 

We travelled home through the U.S. Yes I stopped at quilt shops. What a surprise eh!

 

Another Trip Around The Sun

Christmas and New Years have come and gone and Here we are in 2017 and I have to tell you it has been a busy month since my last post! I did get to spend a week with my sister and brother. We (my sister and I) had fun baking and cooking and filled her freezer before I left. I don't use that term loosely when I say "filled".  Her freezer was unplugged and empty when I arrived and we used up pretty much all the available space by the time I said goodbye.

 

 

 

Tortieres, chicken pot pies, butter tarts, home made beans, cabbage rolls, meatballs, chinese fried rice...See what I mean! Those few spaces that are not filled in this these pics were filled the next day with sweet cakes and shortbread cookies. With all the shopping, tending on things for my brother to make sure he stays warm this winter, getting him a haircut and last minute gift shopping and wrapping. It was a busy week!

It was so worth it though because Gary is so happy when I visit...he doesn't care if we do anything but sit in the living room he is just happy to have me there. 

 

Being with family is the most important thing to Gary. Living in a nursing home is not his preference but he cannot live on his own and when he gets to spend time with family that is the highlight of his life. I live almost 2000 km away and another sister lives over 2000 km away in the other direction but Fortunately we have a sister who lives in the same city and Gary gets to visit her 3 times a week so that keeps things on an even keel for him. 

 

 

As busy as things were and as hard as we worked, the hardest thing was saying goodbye. There may be a smile on his face but I saw the sadness in his eyes when we brought him back to his room that night. Love you Little Brother!

 

 

From there we crossed over to into Michigan and headed West. If you have driven the Northern penninsula in winter, the most interesting thing to see is the snow and the wildlife 

 

But I chose to work on a knitting project to keep my hands busy and help pass the time. Take a look at these next 2 pics and tell me what you notice...if you are an observant knitter it should be a piece of cake!

 

After 2 days we crossed back into Canada and at Winnipeg airport we met the first of the family members arriving for our Family Christmas. This would be the first time all 12 of us would be together. 

 

We had done a bit of shopping, picking up supplies to feed 12 hungry people for a week. When you are starting with empty cupboards at the resort units you need to get lots!

Needless to say we were pretty loaded and we had not picked up any of the fresh fruits and perishables yet!

We had a travel weary grand daughter aboard and there was not much room to stretch out and nap, but hey! Napping over rated anyway.

 

Life is such an adventure! Within a couple hours we met up with 2 more, then 4 more arrived a few hours after that and slowly by slowly the rooms were filling up. By noon the next day the gang was all there and I was a happy camper! All the chicks were safe in the nest. 

It was really special to have our children and spouses and all our grandchildren with us.

 

Nanny and Pa with all the grandchildren. It was a Merry Christmas indeed!