Bump-dah-Bump-Bump

Sometimes you can be cruising along, sun shining, radio playing your favorite tunes, THEN  all of a sudden there are some bumps in the road that jar you a bit. Unexpected bumps.  That's what happened to us this past weekend.  Great Christmas.  Great family.  Looking forward to a new year, THEN. . .the unexpected bumps.  Before I continue let me assure you the bumps aren't looking quite so bumpy right now and we're thinking the ride may move forward smoothly.

Maybe.

Sunday morning Mister got out of bed and began getting ready for church, but somewhere in the process his head began to ache and he went back to bed and slept much of the day.  This was his way of dealing with the bump.  I've done this before and if you can find sleep it sometimes does work to ease the tension.

I got ready for church and Mom and I went to church as planned.  We were late.  Very late.  But at least we were there.  After church we went to Mom's favorite place to eat then on to see a funny movie.  We called it our "Girl's Day Out" and didn't get home til 4:00 o'clock.  It was fun and kept my mind (most of the time) off of the bump.  Upon returning home I soon had a splitting headache and sat mindlessly in the recliner the rest of the evening.  Morning dawned as usual today.  We are totally back on schedule and the road doesn't seem nearly so bumpy today.

God is our friend.

Time is our friend.
Speaking of God and time,
here is my prayer for each of us as we begin a new year.

"May we all be blessed with a wonderful 2014

with smooth roads and only enough minor bumps

to keep life interesting."

What do you do when your road 

gets surprisingly bumpy?

What works for you?

Polar Express

Our "Polar Express" trip, aka "our trip to Oklahoma" last weekend.

See what I mean?

Truth is the roads remained clear while everything else iced up.  It was absolutely beautiful, but very cold.  The only problems were power outages as tree limbs broke from the weight of the ice.  

This is one of our family parties.  

The lights went out in the middle of our celebration,  yet we managed to still eat way too much, and to exchange gifts and even play our annual "Sneaky Santa" game.  The kids thought doing all this by candle light was lots of fun.  I admit there was something extra "cozy" about it all.  It certainly made for a memory that we'll all remember.

Here are some photos we took "before" we were plunged into darkness.  (just had to say that for dramatic flair)  

"Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!"

Merry Christmas dear Bloggy friends.
I pray all is well with you and all those you love.
~ Deb

Today on the Bayou

Anyone feeling a bit like this?

Thanksgiving and Christmas is a lot of fun

AND

(forgive me for stating the obvious), it's also a LOT of work!

I've done most of my shopping online this year and that's simplified things dramatically.  I've also reduced my baking to just one type of Christmas Cookie.  (OK, make that two types of cookies.)  We've also put up a smaller tree and haven't decorated the outside of our house at all.  To read this makes us sound a bit like the ol' green Grinch, but that's actually not the case at all.  We're still having fun anticipating Christmas and being around our family.  Things are very good here, but time for all the "extras" is almost non-existent, so we cut back where we can so we CAN enjoy the most important things. 

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Haylee Kate

Me with our Granddolls and Lil' Mama.

Fun times during Thanksgiving holiday!

All these lovely girls are at the top of my Christmas List.  We absolutely could never "cut back" here!

Have you done anything to "cut back" during this year's Christmas season?  I'd love to hear what you've done. 

Retrospect

OK, it's not our family photo, 

but I'm sure you get the idea.

Some family gatherings go better than others.
This year's Thanksgiving was "Norman Rockwell perfect". My daughter, Amy, (Land of Fluff) threw-down a wonderful meal.  She has 3 children, a husband, an overnight guest, and worked the day before and after Thanksgiving, so this was no easy feat.  She is AMAZING!

We had some extra time to enjoy our 3 Granddolls while we were there.  We all went to a movie and also did some shopping and enjoyed some dinners "out".  Those girls give me such a rush!!  It seems like the whole world is a little "rosier" when I get to spend time with them!

I've been looking forward to sharing some photos of our fun, but, alas (how often does one get to use that word?!) I left my camera in Tulsa.  So I'll be delayed in sharing my photos.

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Yesterday was Mister and Lil' Mama's b-day.  It was a travel day so we have put off their birthday celebration til today.  Lots to do, so I'm outta here.

POUF!