LETS END THE YEAR RANDOMLY

Let's end the year with a random post and a RANDOM DOZEN....I think they are fun and love reading others answers.
1. Do you find it gross to share drinks with family? Friends? Not at all


2. What have you learned this year? (You didn't see a question of that weight coming, did you? At least not for #2.) That letting go of unhealthy relationships is the best thing for my family that I ever did. If a person sucks the energy out of you, it is not healthy...PERIOD

3. When do you dismantle the Christmas decorations? I have so much up that it takes a month...and one tree at a time..But it does not bother me for it to still be up..I love Christmas lights.

4. Something you wish to accomplish before the end of 2009 is: Being more disciplined in exercise and eating better. AND to get all my tree decorating paper work done

5. How do you feel about winter (after Christmas)? I always fight depression and the blah's in January..This year we are taking a great vacation, so I am hoping that helps.


6. Have you participated in after-Christmas sales? I was a fanatic for years, but now have so much stuff that its almost a SIN....no it is a SIN...I have enough Christmas. I do go to some of the 75 and 90% off sales


7. Do you have plans for New Year's Eve? I think it will be keeping the little loves of my life...where there parents can party. And that is totally fine with us.

8. Is there anything special awaiting you in January? a week long trip with my husband, kids and grandkids to Vail. That makes me excited to even type.

9. If your life this year was a movie, what category or genre would it be? (Romance, Comedy, Drama, Thriller, Suspense, Farcical, etc.)
All of the above mixed into one.

10. How much time per day do you spend blogging? Please do not lie. I will know. As much as I can and want to learn so much more in 2010.

11. Who runs your household? I hope it is a joint effort...My husband has always said he solves the worlds problems, I take care of the everyday things, like where we go, what we wear, what we eat, how we spend our money, who are friends are, and its worked for 37 years. I think we will keep it that way.

12. Share one hope/dream for 2010! Good health for our entire family and making many family memories..and to become a MUCH better BLOGGER and learn some simple techniques that all of YOU probably already know....and I would love for the VIKINGS to win the SUPERBOWL. Opps, thats more than one.
Happy New Year to some of the greatest people I have ever met....Now I need to get over to my main blog and give away some prizes....

SOME NIGHTS ARE BETTER THAN OTHERS and THESE RANKED AS SOME OF THE BEST

I know you are probably getting tired of this song,tired of tree talk and tired of hearing how tired I am. I am going to keep this blog open,as from time to time I may have some decorating tips. But primarily I will be posting from my MAIN BLOG beginning in January...maybe with a NEW LOOK soon. There are so many great blog designers that I am doing lots of blog hopping trying to find my FAVORITE. PLUS,I splurged last week and bought a new computer to use just for blogging. I am DETERMINED to post better pictures in the new year.
This has been fun and I HOPE a help to you. AND YES,
I leave my trees up for another month or so. My trees literally stay up from September through the end of January. It is just not a big deal to me. We are taking a family vacation and heading to Vail in mid January for a week of family time,snow,fun,football and making memories. It will be the boys first real COLD vacation and the last week that Jack can fly free.
(Don't worry Mickey, we will see you later in the year) I am ready for some down time and so thankful we can make the trip.
As I think about the title I chose for this blog, I think it is only fitting to share with you some of the babies in my life and the fun we have had this past week. Austin was with his Dad, so he is missing from the pictures....but the others are snapshots of our week.
My birthday was this week and we had a wonderful night on the town...and then Christmas Eve is our SPECIAL TIME! We always start with the candlelight church service, THAT is a MUST...and then opening gifts at our house. There is nothing that compares to the eyes of a child at Christmas time. THIS year was especially sweet to see the eyes of MY BOY, as he looked into the eyes of HIS BOY! Dreams do come true.

Grayson opening his FIRST PACKAGE EVER......A DADDY IN LOVE!

AND THEN THERE IS JACK

ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITE PICTURES!PARKER IS A GREAT BIG BROTHER

AMANDA AND HER FAMILY OUTSIDE THE CHEESECAKE BISTRO ON MY BIRTHDAY NIGHT....and don't let me forget to say I got GREAT gifts....can you say SPA DAYS....which I LOVE!!!

A HAPPY COUPLE

JACK THINKING ABOUT GOING ON STAGE AT CHURCH

What a fun night celebrating THE BABY THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING and celebrating the little boys that changed our lives forever. WISHING YOU A

HAPPY, HEALTHY, and MEMORY FILLED 2010!

SOME OF MY FAVORITE THINGS JOY TO THE WORLD

ITS ALL ABOUT JOY TO THE WORLD!

MY FAVORITE NEW BOOK FOR THE SEASON. I LOVE EVERY PAGE!!

A FABULOUS BOOK AND A GREAT LADY

A NEW LITTLE SNOWMAN

THE REASON FOR THE SEASON

DAYS LEADING TO CHRISTMAS DAY

BEAUTIFULLY WRAPPED PACKAGES

GLITTERING ORNAMENTS

THE KIDS KORNER

PLENTY OF PRESENTS FOR THE BOYS! I AM AFRAID TO SHOW YOU ALL THE PACKAGES UNDER THE OTHER TREES FOR FEAR THAT YOU WILL THINK I AM EXTRAVAGANT. I JUST WANT MY FAMILY TO FEEL EXTRAVAGANTLY LOVED!!!!

FAVORITE ORNAMENTS
AND MOST OF ALL LOVE


a small shot of our family tree....



Sweet little Jack

AND THIS IS CHRISTMAS

AND NOW FOR THE WINNERS OF THE TREES THAT CAUGHT MY EYE ARE...........................................

LISA at MOORE'S MINUTES and TIDY MOM (don't know your name !please send me your names and addresses (annah99@aol.com) and a goodie will be on its way! Please visit their blogs. I spent some time on both and loved them. I am working on my post from our weekend trip to THE POLAR EXPRESS, which I am going to post on my MAIN BLOG! Look for it tomorrow...and then a special post from my birthday dinner this week. In between trying to post, I am wrapping, making sure I have mailed all my Christmas cards, still buying, hugging old friends (don't you just love running into old friends when out Christmas shopping), hugging my little men..Truly enjoying the season! Tomorrow night is my favorite service of the year. The Christmas Eve service is a MUST in our celebration at the Powell home.

*****Well it is 4 AM and tornadoes are spotted everywhere near us...so needless to say we are glued to the TV. One was just spotted near my son's house so they are in the hall closet with little Grayson and Austin. This will be a night of no sleep.

I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN

I am still looking through all the trees on the Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash...and still remember that a prize is going out to a special blogger. PROBLEM is, its taking me longer than I had expected....I am hoping to have some blog time late tonight after a birthday dinner! (yes tomorrow is my birthday and it comes so close to Christmas that its just one more thing to cram in the busy holiday schedule). Our entire family is eating dinner at The Cheesecake Factory tonight and nothing makes me happier than an evening out with the entire bunch. That is LIFE at its BEST!!!
SO TOMORROW, look for a post, a winner and maybe even a few cute pictures.

PASS IT ON

*******PLEASE do not take this as bragging.....but this is an email that
I received in my inbox this morning. Needless to say it brought tears. But that's not the reason for the post....It is to share what a difference an email can make and WHAT a WONDERFUL SEASON for us all to
PASS IT ON. I already have several people in mind. Think of someone that has touched your life and TELL THEM. My prayer today is that everyone that reads this post will MAKE SOMEONE ELSE'S DAY with just a simple email....

Here is the email I received from my precious friend.

Dear Santa,
Just a few more days and you will be coming down to
deliver presents all over the world. What a magical fellow you are.

I am writing a much over-due
thank you letter; like over 25 years. You gave me one of the best gifts ever when I met
a girl named Teresa Powell.
She opened up a magical world
of beauty and celebration I had never known this up close & personal. And now all these years later we are older
and have grandchildren, she has widened her circle of (good) magic at such a breathtaking time of year anyway!
So, Santa thanks for my friend for life, Teresa.
Load her up this season on
peace, joy, health, and many
more years of life with us.
I ask a simple request for a
young coach's wife somewhere
who needs a good friend - that
you will repeat this same gift
to this lucky girl.
Thanks in advance on her behalf.
Your friend,
Patti
(p.s. i just love the snapshot
of you kneeling at the manger,
didn't that baby just change
everything!)

I cannot end the post without saying that Patti is a JEWEL....and I love her so much!

I will save the POLAR EXPRESS post for tonight or tomorrow...IT is a POST ....lets just say JACK was tired and not on his BEST BEHAVIOUR, to say the least. But oh how I love that little man. As Parker said, he had a case of BADIDIOUS.
Off to have some fun, shopping and a movie......Hotels are great....no beds to make.

FUN and MORE FUN..THE KIND THAT ONLY COMES WITH GRANDCHILDREN

THIS IS ONE OF THOSE POSTS THAT IS RANDOM, REALLY RANDOM!!!! STAY WITH ME!

IT IS BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS WITH LOTS OF MICKEY PACKAGES UNDER THE TREE AT OUR HOUSE!

THIS IS A TABLETOP TREE THAT I LITERALLY PUT TOGETHER IN THIRTY MINUTES YESTERDAY FOR ONE OF MY MOST SPECIAL FRIENDS THAT NEEDED A SPIRIT LIFT. I HOPE IT DID THE JOB!!!! I LIKED IT SO MUCH THAT I CAME HOME AND MADE ME ONE JUST LIKE IT. Tomorrow we are leaving for the NORTH POLE via the POLAR EXPRESS.
We are driving to a city a few hours away, taking our little men and having a grandparent trip....we have lots planned for the next few days and its NO WORK and ALL FUN....lots of pictures to come.....Can you imagine that?
I will announce the winner of my favorite tree this weekend...I will even ask my number one ELF to help me choose. Stop by and say hello to her. She joined the blog world this week and I am so HAPPY. I have not had time to look at all of the trees.

Thanks for participating in the Holly Bloggy Christmas Bash. A special thanks to Jerri for hosting for me. It is not too late to enter your tree....You have until late Friday night to show your tree. I love looking at all the trees. I have been sneaking an hour here and there and looking at all the HOLIDAY HOME TOURS. I have seen absolutely stunning trees....and this is a gal that knows trees...
Though keeping up two blogs during the holidays has been a challenge, I have been so blessed to be able to PAY IT FORWARD to other bloggers and answer as many tree questions as possible. I hope I have answered all the emails..I really did try. Your compliments have been so sweet. I still have some funny tree stories to tell you in the next two weeks...I will continue to post on this blog until mid January and then plan to stay close to home on my main blog.
I am looking for a total makeover, so if you have suggestions, sites, or ideas, please send them to me at annah99@aol.com
If you know a new designer that would like to show off her look, send me her name. I love connecting people with people. I LOVE helping people PERIOD! I am one of those people that sees a new blog everyday that I want mine to look just like...that makes it a tad hard to decide what look I REALLY want.

In an upcoming blog I am going to share my favorite blogs. My blog life will be a year old in FEBRUARY and I plan to GIVE AWAY GIFTS all month.

The people I have met through blogging this year have enriched my life, looked at my grandkids probably much more than they wanted to, and given me a new hobby. (That could and maybe has become an addiction) Blogging has enabled me to document family moments; the good, the bad and the ugly, and YOU have read it. That still blows my mind. My goal for 2010 is to learn to make and post FANTASTIC pictures...If there a blogger out there that wants to tutor me (and I mean walk me through it as the older I get the harder I find reading instructions..Ha) I would be happy to pay you for your time. I know there are tutorials out there, but I need someone with skin to talk to. See what I mean about random.

I need to go and pack warm clothes for our trip to see Santa...so I will leave you with a few more tree pictures...Have a wonderful weekend and check back here on Friday or Saturday.

a very simple centerpiece....and very easy to make! a great look for the kitchen....a coffee table, an entry hall and you could easily add lights. This is one of my favorite simple looks....red berries and snow dipped trees.

ANOTHER TREE FROM MY HEAD ELF

Just had to show you this fabulous tree from my head elf and good friend!

From Terri,
This was my last official tree to decorate for this long tree season. I did this tree for my son Colin and his wife Olga for their first Christmas in their new home. Last year was their first Christmas together so we did a wedding tree with silver and gold. So this year I added some copper and brown to the silver gold mixture and it worked beautifully. Next year I think we will do the same tree for them, but I will get to add a little girl tree for my new granddaughter due in May. I’ve already bought pink ornaments and can’t wait to decorate that tree! But for now no more tree decorating for this season. Time to enjoy family and friends. Merry Christmas to all.