Welcome to JOYFUL REFLECTIONS. Also welcome to APRIL!!!! Spring is AWESOME. Enjoy some beautiful TULIPS from Biltmore!!

Monday, January 6, 2020

Life is ALL about FAMILY

No White Christmas here this year,  but lots of LOVE
Dear Family and Friends,   Welcome to a new decade!!!!!!  Are you excited about 2020????  Do you have any big plans ahead????  We are gradually putting some trips on our calendar --so hopefully,  for George and me,  it will be another wonderful year together.

As hard as it is to find time these days to get people together,  George and I both managed to 'catch up'  with our families during the holidays.   We spent Thanksgiving in Florida with George's son and family --and his daughter visited us on Dec. 21-22.   I was able to get all three of my sons here at the same time (which is not easy to do)...  We all gathered here on December 22 (for a big meal at a local restaurant  plus time for fun and fellowship here at our home). As I've said many times,  having all 3 sons here at the same time is such JOY for this Mama.

Today --as I begin to catch up with some of the things which have happened in our lives the past month or so,  I will share with you some pictures of our FAMILY CHRISTMAS on December 22.



At the Dinner table at Legend's Restaurant here in Fairfield Glade:  Mark, Robin, Bert



Continuing around the Dinner Table:  Bert,  Kelly,  George



One more spin around the Dinner Table:  Me (taking pictures),  Dawn, Jeff,  Mark



After a delicious meal,  we all headed back to our home for some fun together... Here I am opening up a gift for us from son Bert...  You can't tell from this picture,  but this is "Notty"---He's a Tree Sculpture named The Spirit of Nottingham"  --and he will hang on one of the big trees in our yard.  Below is a better picture of Notty.



Notty ---my Tree Sculpture!!!!!  He will protect our yard --and also be a GREAT conversation grabber.  Thanks, Bert.



Here are some new BIRDS to hang on the outdoor Christmas Tree on our porch...  Thanks,  Jeff and Dawn!!!!



And from son, Mark and special gal, Robin:  a picture of the Autumn Snow we had.  Mark is becoming a great photographer,  and he KNEW I'd love this Snow Picture.  It proudly hangs in our office/computer room.  Thanks,  Mark and Robin. 



Kelly's gift to us:  A sculpture of The THREE KINGS.... Beautiful,  isn't it?  Thanks, Kelly.



A great picture of Mark and Robin



Another cute picture of Bert,  Robin and Mark



An Awesome picture of Dawn and Jeff


I LOVE these people!!!   (Kelly left early --so she missed the family pictures.)

A very HAPPY Mom with her sons!!!!!!  (I raised some cuties,  didn't I????)




AND --my favorite picture!!!!!!  MY THREE SONS:   Jeff (48),  Bert--called Tre by many (56),  and Mark (49--will be 50 on Jan. 15);  My Babies are all 'growed up'.... How can that be? ha
Sorry for the over-load of pic's... Just couldn't help myself....  Hope you all had as good a Christmas as we did!!!!!

Hugs,

24 comments:

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

Yes it is greeat to get family together Betsy HAPPY NEW YEAR to you and George

Ann said...

I'm so happy you were able to have all three of your sons together for Christmas. I enjoyed seeing all the photos and your happy face.

linda m said...

Thank you so much for sharing all these great pictures of you family. You really do have a lovely family and are so blessed that you could all be together for Christmas. I "Wise Men" sculpture is fantastic as are the bird ornaments.

Marcia said...

Looks like you had a grand holiday.

George said...

This is. a wonderful summary — with some great pictures — of our Christmas get-together with the kids.

Arkansas Patti said...

Such and handsome group and you got to enjoy them all at the same time. That made up for not having any snow.
I've had to moderate comments also. Wish they would leave us alone.

Barb said...

You're blessed with the love of family, Betsy. I love Notty. My tree nymph is named Waldo, and he watches us from just outside our great room window.

Betsy said...

I'm sure wonderful memories were made by all of you. The gifts were very nice, but like me, I'm sure the gift nearest and dearest to your Mama heart was having everyone together. That's how I felt at Thanksgiving when for the first time in seven years all of our children were here at home and in one place.
I'm praying that the new year will be a blessed one for you and George.
Blessings,
Betsy

David said...

Betsy, Glad you had a great family Christmas! With our families so far away, our Holiday visit was at Thanksgiving and Christmas itself was quiet...with phone calls. Love your tree sculpture! No more ornaments for us though...We have a small tree that's decorated with our favorites and we just roll it out of the closet for Christmas. We have boxes full of extra ornaments that aren't being used. We're planning a couple of trips this year already too! Looking forward to hitting the road... Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Ginny Hartzler said...

Great getting to see your Christmas! George's daughter looks so much like him! Your gifts are wonderful and so thoughtful and personalized. I hope the rest of the year is this happy for you!

Ruth Hiebert said...

Thanks for sharing your Christmas with us here on the blog. It's good to see family enjoying time together .

Ginny Hartzler said...

Forgot to tell you how much I love your header! We have some of those tree sculptures around here, they are cool!

Judy said...

Fun pictures. Happy New Year!

The Furry Gnome said...

Yes! Here's to a great 2020! My goal is simply to travel away from home at all, even for a weekend!

MJ said...

Always enjoy your pictures and comments. Thank you for taking the time to do all of these wonderful things that we get to share in..

Chatty Crone said...

Personally I loved all your family photos. Remember the show My Three Son's? Your sons are cute and so are their wives. Seems to me from the presents they sure do know what their mother likes - I think each one of them was perfect!
Awesome. sandie

Big Dude said...

I grew up in a close extended family centered around my grandparents and know the importance of family. I'm glad my kids maintain a good relationship irrespective of their parents.

Jeevan said...

Wow, this is indeed a special moment for you to spend some cheerful time with your sons and others. Really they all are cuter people to come up with sweet gifts and I’m glad the year ended happily and began beautifully noting down this all. Let the happiness and bonding stay with you all forever. Happy 2020

Happytrails said...

What a wonderful Christmas you enjoyed with family!!! Nothing better!!! Happy New Year to you and George!!!

Lowcarb team member said...

Hello Betsy
I so agree that family times are special times.
What a joy to see your photographs here.
Live, laugh and love.
God bless.

All the best Jan

Linda said...

This looks like fun! Getting together with family is such a special thing.

Tanza Erlambang said...

lovely photos....
thank you for sharing

Connie said...

Great pictures! It's so nice that you got to spend time with family for the holidays.

William Kendall said...

Lovely gifts!