Happiness is ... time with the family!

On Christmas Eve, I packed the car to the gills with kids, presents, the dog, you name it! Well, everything except the camera. So, no Christmas photos from me. They'd be kinda crowded, anyway. There were 16 of us at my mom's house - the four of us, my twin sister and her crew of 3 more, my brother and his crew of 3 more, my younger sister and her crew of 2 more, and my mom. Oh, and 5 dogs. And one really freaked out cat. And only 1 bathroom. But this will be a Christmas to remember! It was the first time since there have been grandchildren that my siblings and I have all been with my mom at Christmas (yeah, and I FORGOT MY CAMERA!). Plus, Ericka and I had LOTS of well received homemade gifts under the tree. Check out the hat she made me:

(Hubby got a little carried away with the camera, wanted to take a photo from every angle!)

And it appears that posting a Christmas Wish List on your blog works 'cause I got EVERYTHING I asked for. Thank you, family of mine!

I also received this awesome fabric postcard in the mail from Janet. I picked it out of my mailbox on my way to my mom's, and everyone there was so impressed with it, as was I. None of them had ever seen a fabric postcard before!

See Anne of Green Gables on the tree - such a sweet touch, Janet, to have you remember that I loved that story as a child and just listened to it again this summer/fall while quilting.

After two nights at my mom's house, my twin sister came to my house for two days with her two kids and hubby. Day one we just lounged around eating and playing games because it was COLD outside, but today was warmer and absolutely beautiful, so we went outside for some fun. First, we walked about a mile and a half down the road to a cave that we noticed but had never explored.

(walking...)

(still walking...)

(We made it!)

Then, back home, after hot cocoa and a late lunch, we went back outside to build a fire in the firepit and roast marshmallows.

Now that they are gone and the house is settling down, I'd love to go do some sewing, but we leave early in the AM to ride with the basketball team on the bus to Atlanta for their game against Emory on Thursday, and I've not packed yet. (truth be known, I'm still UN-packing from my two nights at mom's house!) The boys and I are super excited. I have prepared some sewing to take with me on the bus - time to sew the center circles onto the dresden plates on my plaid dresden (how did I forget to do that earlier?). My sister also uncovered a small Tree of Life wallhanging that I made from my father's ties and shirts that I can quilt on. I'm so excited to be riding on the bus so I can sew, read and nap to my heart's content!

I'll catch up with you all again this weekend. Happy New Year!