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{March is well under way}

February days are now gone and March has officially kicked in.   I finally purchased a new monthly focus board.  We ventured out for a day date which included a movie. I love our day dates. I will give my honest review about the movie for those interested. I wanted to see this movie as it was based on a true story. I did enjoy the movie but oh my, it was a tear jerker from the get go! It ended good but mercy! Let's just say that I am thankful that no one was sitting close enough to see my tear stained face. I am glad that I saw it but I am good for a while on sad movies, even if they do end good!   My oldest daughter, her husband and their son participated in the Spartan race which is a series of obstacle courses that challenge. They done so well. As you can see from the pictures it gets pretty muddy!  My three daughters participate each year in the Gate River Run. I love it that they do this together. They have so much support & encouragement from all the onlookers. I am just

{Thankful and Blessed}

 


Merry After Christmas Everyone!
I hope that you all had a most wonderful Christmas. It is truly my favorite holiday season. I love the lights, the music, the gift of giving and mostly the acts of "goodwill" towards others that I have witnessed this Christmas season. The Lord has surely blessed my family and we have enjoyed our Christmas season together. I have tried so hard this holiday season to not take these sweet moments in life for granite. 

I have done LOTS of baking this Christmas! Oh my! I've often said that baking and cooking was good therapy for me and I do enjoy it so much. Well, I am not showing all the pictures of baked goods this season but let me just say, my freezer has baked goods for many Sunday dinners to come! LOL! 


I so enjoyed giving baked goodies to others this season as gifts. I think "baked goodies" speak love to me and mainly because it's time consuming and you know, it would be much easier to run out and buy a small gift. But, baking for others says LOVE. Especially when LOVE is the special ingredient. 



This girl got a workout this season. Thankful my girls gifted her to me a few years ago. I have used her well. 




My girls and I went out to eat one night over the holidays and went through a drive through Christmas light show. It was a wonderful outing for us. The sweetest thing that night was seeing a young daddy with his young daughter out on a date together. They were purchasing gifts for mom. Yeah, that sorta stuff gets to me every time!




For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord....

We had the opportunity to go with my daughter Melissa and her family to a wedding for a young woman that I admire very much. She has overcome family tragedy, raised by her loving grandfather and received her master degree in education and is a very successful young woman. We witnessed her marrying the man that God picked out just for her. 


We also had the blessing of being part of the grand opening of our county's first "Rock Gym", owned by my oldest daughter Kristy and her husband Jered. It was a very exciting time. 


Our county needs something that is targeted for family fun, affordable and promotes a healthy lifestyle. Please pray with us that the gym will bring blessings that are bountiful. 


My daughter Kristy, her husband Jered and their family would sure appreciate your prayers on this new journey in their life. 



I had the opportunity to share the grand opening with some family and friends and I felt truly blessed to have the support. 


Christmas Eve with the Conner family is always hosted at my Fatherinlove's home as we can all get outside since we have a large crowd. This year the weather forecast showed high winds and rain. We thought we would have to cancel our annual Christmas Eve family party but, the newly opened Rock Gym came to rescue. We were able to have our private party there with lots of room for everyone and the kids and some adults....had a grand time climbing. 




The kids and adults decorated Christmas cookies. Of course the idea was to save them for Santa but I have a feeling that some cookies didn't make it home. LOL!


We had tons of finger foods, desserts, drinks and even Santa showed up with the children a gift. 


We surely had a most wonderful time together as family.


I have to show you my two newest Christmas ornaments that was gifted to me for Christmas. Don't you just love them?


Every year I give each of our grandchildren a pair of pajama's as one of their gifts for Christmas. They open up this gift as soon as they get to nana's and it's great for the little one's parents as the children already have their baths and ready for bed by the time they leave Nana and Papa's house. I try to have something different put on their shirts each year and this year it was TEAM SANTA. Of course I was Santa! 




My family...My Heart....


After dinner we enjoyed a hot chocolate bar with all sorts of toppings. I caught a glimpse of the two year old granddaughter sneaking some chocolate chips off the bar. Wish I had snapped a picture. 

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As I have reflected over the past few days two different quotes came to mind. There is nothing any sweeter than having family gathered together for any occasion but at Christmas time it surely is a magical time. 

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The most wonderful part of Christmas is celebrating the birth of God's Only Son, Jesus. I could do without all the presents in the world as long as I have His PRESENCE


    Christmas is surely the most wonderful time of the year.....


See you next year and may the Lord bless you beyond your beyond


Hugs and blessings, Cindy





Comments

  1. I had a nice visit here Cindy. Love all the goodies you made in love. I am not a baker but I do appreciate those who bake. Praying the Rock climbing venture is successful! Not use to seeing so many people without mask. Things are really strict here in California. Love the big family picture, you are a family full of love. I like your new ornaments and hot chocolate bar! I posted that on my Sunday Stealing. Enjoy your week!

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    1. Thanks so much Susan for popping by to visit. Yesterday afternoon it seemed I had a little time to hop around. Popping over to see you.

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  2. Congrats to your daughter...Anything like that is shut down here in Pa. along with all indoor dining as Co Vid cases reach an all time high and hospitals are on the verge of being over run....More and more people I know are testing positive and getting sick with symptoms or losing family members especially older ones....
    Thanks so much for your condolences...Joe's Mom is no longer suffering...Thanks so much for stopping by!! I hope you had a lovely Christmas! Stay safe, healthy and happy!!
    Hugs,
    Debbie

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  3. I loved seeing all your pictures and reading about all the fun family times you had over Christmas. You have such an amazing family.
    Love the matching pajamas too.

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    1. Thank you GM. My bunch loves the Pj's too. So easy for us to do on Christmas night.

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  4. Thank you Laurie. Hope you have a wonderful day.

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  5. I always love visiting to see the fun that your family is having! I’m with you, and finding that baking has always been my therapy. I love giving gifts of homemade love. My youngest son takes six year old Harper boy a rock climbing gym, so they’d be big fans of your daughter and SIL’s gym. My son even built a mini rock climbing wall in Harper’s bedroom!! I’ll have to send you a picture. Happy New Year to you and your family. 😘

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    1. Those kids love that rock climbing for sure. Happy New Year to you dear Kitty.

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  6. Cindy you are so very blessed with your beautiful family. What a fun way to spend the holidays this year. It was so different for so many of us and took some outside the box thinking on how to celebrate together. Glad you could find fun and joy. I love the cake with the chocolate tree. How fun is that and I bet so yummy. Now we can slide on down into a new year that hopefully will be better than 2020. Enjoy these last few days of the year. I am excited to ring in the new year and pray for more love and winning the war on this virus. Happy New Year. xoxo Kris

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    1. Thanks Kris for your sweet words. Yes I am thankful and blessed that we could enjoy the holidays together as family. My prayers are with so many though and our hearts has been broken by so much sadness. Trying to stay uplifted during this season of life has surely been a hard thing for people like me that want to "FIX it all" for everyone. God knows our hearts doesn't He? Happy New Year to you dear lady.

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  7. Congrats to your daughter and husband ... they are courageous and brave!

    And yes, what could be a better gift than a home baked treat, one friend to another? Shortbread was my signature bake this year. 4 ingredients? Yep, I think I can do that!

    Happy New Year, Cindy. You are a joy-spreader for sure and I'm grateful that you're in my life!

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    1. Thank you dear Linda. I so enjoy your blog as well. Lord, in this old world we live in we must be joy spreaders. We may be the only joy some see. Hugs to you.

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  8. I'm glad you had a lovely Christmas, Cindy.

    Your baked goodies made me hungry. LOL. I'm also loving the hot chocolate station and super cute "Team Santa" PJs.

    I've never tried rock climbing (I don't think I have the upper body strength), but it looks like a great workout!

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    1. I hope that you had a lovely Christmas Margie. The kids loved their pj's. Their moms like them better! LOL! Girl...I don't have any strength! LOL! Kiddie area more my style.

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  9. Oh such a wonderful Christmas time you had with your wonderful family! And how great that your kids are the new owners of that wonderful gym/rock climbing place! That looks like so much fun! That was so neat that your whole family could meet there for the special Christmas Eve family gathering. What a blessing! Love those pj's for you and the kiddos. You do have so much fun. What a blessing!! Thank you for sharing your beautiful life and family with us....we know Jesus makes all the difference in the world!! Happy New Year!!

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    1. Thank you Pam. We are truly blessed. Giving God all the praise.

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  10. What a happy-filled blog post you have here, Cindy! You sure know how to put the country bling in a Christmas celebration!

    And congrats to your daughter and her hubby on the new business venture!

    Thank you for all of your comments and prayer on my behalf. You provide such cheer with all you do!

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  11. What a wonderful Christmas you had, I just love seeing all the pictures of your precious family enjoying being together! Love the PJs idea, so much fun! And congratulations to your daughter and her husband on the new gym, how awesome it is to have something the whole family can come together and have a good time at! That hot chocolate bar and all those goodies looked so good! It always feels good to give away home cooked goodies at Christmas! I kept things simple this year, but still made and gave some things away. Many blessings to you, praying for this new year that is upon us!

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    1. Thank you Marilyn. Wishing you and yours a most happy New Year.

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  12. Cindy, your Christmas was truly blessed! Wishing much success for your daughter and SIL’s new business venture. Looks like a great place for families to enjoy. I know your family and friends appreciated your baking, it all looks delicious. Wishing you and yours a Healthy and Happy New Year!

    Hugs, Pam

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  13. Such happy photos, Cindy. Happy New Year!
    Amalia
    xo

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  14. Merry Christmas Cindy, what wonderful celebrations you had! Love those Team Santa pjs! Happy 2021!
    Jenna

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  15. What lovely photos! I always come away from her smiling. Love all the Christmas goodies! Due to our White Christmas here in Tennessee, I was only able to visit one of my son's. It just means we're prolonging Christmas! Happy New Years, my friend!

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  16. Truly a beautiful family. So many sweet memories. Happy New Year Cindy and your dear family. many blessing for a bright new year. xoxo

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  17. Looks like you all had a great Christmas. And tonight is New Years Eve so I am hoping that we all have an amazing yr coming up. Happy New Year.

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  18. "Cast me not away from Thy Presence and renew a right spirit in me." What is the sweetest thing in life? Knowing Him. The second sweetest thing? Having a family. I figured that out early in the covid debacle. I feel sorry for all those who sacrificed their families on the altar of that travesty. Such a waste of valuable time. Happy New Year! Oh I admire anyone who opens a new business in this day and time. I believe that they had to have heard from The Lord.

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  19. Cindy,
    Just stopping by to wish you a very Happy New Year to you and your family!! Thanks so much for all your visits and kind words over the past year!! Let's hope that this year is a better one for everyone!! Stay safe, healthy and happy, my friend!!
    Hugs,
    Debbie

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    1. Praying for you to stay healthy this New Year as well and Happy New Year to you.

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  20. What a blessed Christmas! Your family fun just keeps going and going.
    I love the idea of Christmas Eve at the Rock Gym!! I think there might be a new "tradition"!
    Blessings to you and your sweet family. Thank you for sharing your love with them, with us.

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  21. Love does make a home :)

    I enjoyed seeing all of your photographs. It was so nice to see happy smiling faces as so many were not able to spend time with loved ones due to Covid regulations.

    The Rock Gym looks great, I certainly hope that goes well.

    Sending my good wishes and wishing you and your family a happy and healthy 2021.

    All the best Jan

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    1. Thanks so much for stopping by Jan. Hope your New Year is wonderful.

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  22. It was so wonderful seeing your amazing Christmas photos! Congratulations to your daughter and son-in-law on their business adventure!! May the Lord richly bless all of you in 2021, sweet friend!

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So glad you stopped by to visit.
Hugs and blessings, Cindy

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