Pam & Doc invited a few friends in for dinner last night..
Served up their “family” famous tacos and margaritas!! uumm.. so good.. Great fun with wonderful friends!
Happy New Year!!
The pictures I took didn’t come out so great.. dang..
Beautiful Clearlake in California
Pacific Ocean/Mendocino Feb 2016
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Tacos with Friends
Friday, December 27, 2013
Christmas Day 12/25/2013
We switched it up a bit this year. Normally Ev and I have Christmas Day here at our home. However this year due to extenuating circumstances with Chris’ work schedule we had our Christmas Celebration at Chris & Lindsy’s house.
Everything was wonderful! We got up Christmas morning and were able to see how excited Colin was that Santa Claus had come! We enjoyed watching him open every gift! You could just feel the joy and excitement he felt.. Wonderful…
Colin opened a couple of presents before his “Grammy & Pa” got there.. He was very patient.. surprise surprise!! 
Soon after their arrival Colin was in full swing opening gifts! I do believe that was the best part of the day!
Chris & Lindsy fixed up some quiches, mimosa's for breakfast.. umm we were good..After Colin was done opening his gifts, all the adults did their gift exchange.. Thanks everyone! You all put so much into giving wonderful gifts!
Ev and I went over to my sister Kim’s about noon. Michelle was home from Hawaii for a week. It was nice to see her.. We got a few family shots with the kids.. I think this was the first time in years that I had been with my sister on Christmas.. It was nice.. We stayed a couple of hours and then back over to Lindsy to help get dinner going..
Lindsy had the table all decorated by the time we got back. I began getting the ham ready to go in. Mixed up the scalloped potatoes going as well as some candied yams.. uumm delicious.. Janet made some dessert as well at green bean casserole, Carrie made up some corn & zucchini dish.. Mike & Julia brought the crab salad.. We were good to go.. Lots of yummy food! We had 13 for dinner.. Lindsy, Chris, Colin, Ev & I, Mike, Julia, Bob, Janet, Carrie, Jason, Jeff and Cesar..
It was a GREAT CHRISTMAS! Thank you everyone for making this Christmas so special!! Happy New Year.. May you all have a Happy & Healthy 2014!!
Carrie & Jason are expecting their first baby April 15th 2014!
Christmas Eve with Phil & Toni
We finally arrived at Lindsy’s about 3pm I think? Hadn’t seen her in awhile. I had only seen her once since she had her tonsils out. And that day she wasn’t feeling too good. It was a 10 days post op.. She looked great! Colin grows like a weed! He is getting so grown up!!
Lindsy/Chris/Colin were headed over to Lindsy’s Dad for their annual Christmas Eve dinner with Mike’s side of the family..
About 5pm we headed over to spend a nice quite evening with Phil & Toni.. They have such a neat place.. Love it there!
I helped Toni wrap up some last minute packages.. She was baking cookies. Ev & Phil were sitting at the “Meacham Road” bar..of course there is a story, but won’t tell it now..We enjoyed some pizza and called it an early evening..
When we arrived back at Lindsy’s, Janet & Bob and Carrie & Jason were there.. We didn’t visit long and headed to bed..
Early this morning my sister Kim called to let us know that John’s Mom, Helen Cavanagh had passed away peacefully early that morning. Helen was 94 years old. She was a wonderfully gracious lady.. We will miss her.. R.I.P.
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Pre-Christmas Celebration at the Swesey’s
As I had said in an earlier post we kidnapped our dear friend Donnie from his sister Gayle. We got him for a couple of days! Donnie arrived on Saturday early afternoon. Of course I was still primping when he arrived.. dang hate that when that happens.. oh well.. Had Donnie come sit on the side of the bathtub in our bath while I continued to put make up on. 
While he was sitting there, he said “did you know your cupboard door” needs adjustment? and of course I answered yes I know.. So went to the kitchen and got him a screw driver so he could keep busy while finished up the important stuff.. and the plus is that my cupboard door is now straight.. I should have pointed out the others that needed some adjustment too.. But wanted to visit and catch up… This was the first time Donnie had been to our home, so I had to show him the view and of course all the Christmas decorations.. And then of course there were the two parties later in the day..
Sunday, we had planned to have a “friends/family” Christmas dinner. Our special guest were, Donnie, Cheri & Ali and Charles.
We (Donnie & Us) had a nice late breakfast and then Ev and Donnie took a ride over to the vacation house, while I stayed home to get ready for Cheri & Ali (Ev’s nieces, well mine too )to arrive and to get dinner started.
Ali is so grown up! I was so surprised to see how tall she was and so grown up looking. Cheri looked wonderful as always.
Both Cheri & Ali were a help to me to get dinner going. Dinner would be simple really. We got this fabulous ham from Costco (Kirkland Ham), Delicious and not salty at all!
Made some scalloped potatoes, bacon wrapped asparagus, applesauce and some bread/butter. Dinner was nice.. Loved having them all at our table to share this special time.
After dinner we sat around and did some sharing of stories and watched some TV.. soon Charles was on his way, he had to work the next morning. It was early evening and we said our good nights..
As soon as everyone was up on Monday morning I decided to make this breakfast called a “Breakfast Bake”..uumm so good.. will post the recipe later..
Got every feed and Donnie was packing up so he could leave and head down to the bay area to visit some friends for a couple of days.
After Donnie left we did a little gift exchange with Cheri & Ali..
Cheri, Ali and Ev & I had decided we would all go and see the movie “Saving Mr. Banks” over in Lakeport. As soon as we were all ready to go we all jumped in the car to head over there. Cheri had to go to the bank.. we also stopped at Rene’s to have a late lunch before going to the movie.. We stopped a couple little shops before actually getting to the theatre..
Great movie.. we all cried..
When we got home we spent the evening relaxing and watching a little tv before going to bed..
Tuesday would be a busy day.. that is Christmas Eve..
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Martin Christmas Party
Here we go party #2!! Same day.. 
We arrived a bit late to the Ron & Brenda’s Christmas party.. all due to that dang tree falling earlier in the day.. ummm?
We came through the door and everyone was so joyful and greeted us with warm wishes of Merry Christmas and “your late”! oppps.. We wasted no time in joining in the festivities.. that would be singing/dancing/eating (not much food left when we arrived/that is what we get for being LATE!) Brenda is an awesome chef!! OMG she cooks for 3 days prior to the party and her horderves are to die for!! and cookies/candies/etc..
Brenda was so sweet when we were going to leave she handed me a plate of goodies!! uumm yummy!
The party was in full swing when we arrived. So many familiar faces! Every dressed is festive Christmas attire! Some just glamorous, some in funny attire! It is great to see everyone get into the Christmas Spirit!! God knows it is my favorite time of the year!!Lots of smiles, warm embraces that is what it is all about!
Merry Christmas to all of you! Thank you for everything! We wish you a Happy & Healthy New Year!!!!!!!!!!
Mallow Get Together at Christmas Time
Dave & Terry threw a nice little get together up at his place this year. A nice group of people (quaint).. Ev and I also had a kidnapped guest with us as well. We had Donnie, Gayle’s brother for a couple of days!! Loved it!
We left here Saturday afternoon about 4pm and by the time we got on Hwy 20 heading west, the traffic was stopped!! OMG! Can you believe it? As we would soon find out after trying to take detours (didn’t help, only slowed us more I think). There was a HUGE oak tree that had fallen across the road right at Hwy 20/Lakeview Drive. So the road was closed in both directions for over an hour while crews worked with chain saws to clear the road. Finally after about 45 minutes of being parked, we were on our way. We did see some of the people that were invited to the party also stuck! 
The party was well worth the wait.. There were lots of familiar faces.. People were enjoying the gorgeous view and the season.
Dave & Terry perfect host and hostess! Lots of yummy horderves and the booze was flowing freely.. Dave had the karaoke machine all ready to go.. And as you will see Terri and I are up on the “mike” singing “Sisters”.. need I say more??
We had two parties to attend that same evening.. so we tried to share our time with each equal.. Dam tree downed messed up the time schedule.. hour late to the first party so an hour late to the second party!!
Merry Christmas my Friends!! Thank you so much!! We had a blast!
Friday, December 20, 2013
Maxwell Inn with Friends
Another fun fun time at the Maxwell Inn with great friends!
We have sort of made it the “place” to go at the holidays for “gift exchange” with each other. Rich, Judy, Larry, Lynn and us.. Rich & Judy’s car is the only car that can accommodate us all and the presents. However, I thinking we might have to scale down on the gifts (naaa) or just get smaller stuff!! It was a bit tight this year. However, we were also celebrating all of us ladies birthdays. Me 11/21, Judy 12/26 and Lynn 1/26.. As you can see by the photos we had a GREAT TIME!
The Inn is decorated so festively and love all the animal heads (taxidermy stuff). Some I guess wouldn’t like the heads, but we all like it just fine..
We started out with Martini’s, Rob Roy’s and Larry always hits the hard stuff early on, BUD LIGHT!! We had a couple of rounds of drinks, opened our gifts.. So fun! All of us laughing and really enjoying one another’s company. We would all go our separate ways at Christmas, so this works out so nice!
We always have a lovely dinner at the Maxwell Inn. The staff remembers us from year to year.. Imagine that? 
we even get the same table..
Merry Christmas my Friends! We had another GREAT year!!
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Cookie Exchange/Christmas Arrangement
Gayle & Rob invited me to her Cookie Exchange/Christmas Arrangement back a few weeks ago. Made sure I put it on the calendar. Been a very busy month and it will just get more heck-tic more into the month. The cookie exchange sounded fun.. I really have never been to one, so this was a real treat for me..
When I arrived their house was all Christmassy.. 
So warm and inviting.. Loved it! Donnie, Gayle’s brother from Chattanooga was also there visiting for the holidays!
Several ladies were also there.. Some I knew some I didn’t. But soon would know the ones I didn’t know..
We started out with the flower arrangements. Gayle purchased some flowers from the local floral department. Roses, carnations (red & white) along with some babies breath. I brought some greens and she also had some.. She had some containers and we were good.. All the arrangements were unique and very creative.. Not one was the same..
After we did the floral arrangements we sat down to a nice little dinner Rob & Gayle did.. we had some marinated chicken and a cabbage salad.. Perfect.. After dinner we went into the bedroom where she had all the cookies laid out on the bed..We all took our 6 dozen..
Gayle at the beginning of the evening told us a wonderful story about when she was a waitress in a small restaurant in Santa Cruz on Christmas Eve.. brought tears to my eyes.. Very heart warming… Gayle 18 years old, 3 months pregnant.. woman came to the counter down on her luck (long story). Gayle gave her tips she had made for the day.. only $4 but a true gift to this woman who had 4 children at home and no money.. Gayle shared the story that evening with family and most everyone said that she did probably been “doped”/scammed her. Gayle didn’t’ let it dampen her spirit, she knew she had done the right thing and felt good about what she had done. A few weeks later after the new year, that woman came into the little coffee shop Gayle was working at and paid her back the $4 and her and her children had made Gayle this lovely “Thank you” card.. I am sure you can use your imagination to how things turned out.. Gayle tells this story every Christmas when she has a cookie exchange.. What a wonderful memory..
Merry Christmas my friends!!
Sunday, December 15, 2013
San Francisco/Union Square at Christmas Time
For the past 7 years or so I have tried to get into the Donatello at Union Square at Christmas time. It seems like I always think about making the reservations way to late.. So this year I called in February to get reservations and I got them! I got 3 rooms for 2 nights. One for Rich & Judy, one for Larry & Lynn and of course one for us.. 
Lynn made all the reservations for dinner and the show, Beach Blanket Babylon.
We arrived in SF at the Donatello mid-afternoon on Tuesday Dec 10th. We tried to check in when arrived but they weren’t ready for us yet. So we left our things with the bell captain and off to the shoe store we went, DSW! 4 floors of shoes!! Heaven!! Donatello called while we were shopping to let us know our room was ready.. Our room not the other two, so we just put everyone’s luggage in our room had some horderves and then headed to dinner downstairs at the Zingari’s.
we stopped off in the bar for Martini’s, etc.. Lynn’s son Anthony also dropped by to have a drink with us all.
Nice atmosphere, food is pretty good not crazy about the owner, a bit stuffy.. Overall it was nice.. We partied pretty good that night.. Imagine that?
After dinner and drinks Ev and I walked down into Union Square to enjoy the beautiful huge Christmas tree. People were ice skating on the seasonal ice rink. There were lots and lots of people!! And it was late like 10pm! We also went into Macy’s and walked through.. everything was so pretty! Loved our walk..
We got back to the room probably around 11 or so.
When I woke up in the morning had a sore throat! 
Coming down with something for sure.. We had our breakfast in the room. We had all decided to be on our own for the day of shopping.
Ev and I headed to Macy’s. Even in the day time hours the square was so festive. We shopped at Macy’s for awhile.. found a few things for Ev. I didn’t’ find anything for myself.. that is amazing.. From Macy’s we went back to DSW the totally amazing show store! 4 floors! and you would think I could find a pair of shoes!? nope they didn’t have my size in the shoes that I wanted.. However, Ev found some shoes. His shopping day was a success! We headed back to the room about 230 or so.. rested up before meeting everyone at the bar about 4pm so we could go to dinner over in North Beach and then onto the show, Beach Blanket Babylon. By this time I was starting to feel even worse, the cold I was catching was getting hold of me good! But took some meds and tried to make the best of it. we went to Vicoletto, it was pasta. We were the only ones there for awhile, then a party of about 10 men came in from Oracle. One of the gentlemen took a liking to us all and I believe his name was Matteo.. He posed in some of our photos.. He was funny..
From dinner we walked over to theatre where we would see Beach Blanket Babylon.. It was really cold and I didn’t’ bring a jacket.. With getting sick and not wearing a jacket was not to smart on my part. So Ev being the wonderful husband he is, gave me his coat.. What a guy!!
We had great seats at the show! (thanks to Lynn) The show was wonderful and funny! However I wasn’t feeling well at all.. I feel like I didn’t really get to fully enjoy the play cause I was feeling so lousy!
We soon got a taxi and back to the hotel we went. We went straight up to bed..
We all met up in the morning and partied ways.. Rich & Judy had their car and Larry & Lynn were with us.. We were home in no time, even with the few stops we had…
Great time!!
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Swesey Christmas Party 2013
Another great Christmas Party!!
Phil & Toni arrived late this last week to help us do a few things to get ready for the party. They arrived Thursday afternoon in their 37’ Motorhome!! OMG that thing looked like a bus coming up the driveway.. Phil was very confident about getting it up and parking it.. I, on the other hand had some well, you know?? reservations! But, hey it was no problem and before you knew it, it was parked and we were ready to settle in..
Toni made some killer Turkey stew (soup) and brought fresh bread.. uummm.. delicious!
Everett’s friend Lee came up on Friday afternoon. Poor guy right after he got here he fell backward onto the concrete and busted his head open! Oh Lord! We got home right after he had done it. So Ev was putting wet cloths on. It wasn’t long and Ev and Lee were off to the ER.. When they got back Lee was bandaged up pretty well..No concussion, Thank God!
Lee of course didn’t sleep well at all that night, so in the mid afternoon before the party he thought he should get home.
He got home safe and sound..
In the meantime we were all working diligently to get all the finally touches done for the party. Kim (my sister) arrived early that afternoon so she was busy helping too.. This was the second year for our redneck bar in the garage with the karaoke machine all set up..
Toni set up some tables with their home grown Olive Oil and the beautiful pillow cases she does. She is a quilter, kind of tells you that they are gorgeous! 
Guests started arriving about 530pm a little early, but oh well.. Lets get the party going!! Everything looks great!
Party wrapped up about 1’30pm.. We put a few things away before retiring for the a absolutely wonderful evening!!
Sunday morning we all pitched in and got it all cleaned up and relaxed for the day..
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