We also celebrated Christmas with my mom’s side of the family and my dad’s side of the family. I was so busy chasing the kids around and talking to family I hardly took pictures! Mangan family Christmas Gebhart family Christmas It’s all I’ve got. But I cherished both days—some family members I see hardly ever [...]
balled-and-burlap Christmas tree handmade gift wrap + tags glass snowflakes and reindeer hanging from chandelier gifts! playing with gifts Mom, Dad, Katy and Tom My mom made one of these dolls for each of the children. I love them, the kids love them, anyone who comes to our house loves them. Thanks, Mom and Dad, [...]
Dear Sophie, I dreamt of days like these, before you were born. Days when gummy candy was served on fine china underneath a homemade fort with your favorite stuffed baby lamb as a guest. Days when my childhood bear (made by my mom, your nini), was dressed in a dress you had outgrown and crowned [...]
Christmas evening my parents and brother joined us for a delicious meal, which my in-laws cooked for everyone. It was our last evening to see Kyle, so I was grateful for the time together. Sophie “reading” to Kyle Kyle brought our children gifts, including a “band in a box” for Sophie. I told him I [...]
“One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don’t clean it up too quickly.” —Andy Rooney
Paw Paw and Sophie James and me Grandma and Owen reading Christmas stories wrestling with Daddy homemade buckeyes James giving Tucker a Christmas hug the Christmas garland Sophie and I made reading “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” After we put the boys to bed, Lizz, Grandma and Sophie worked on making the icing for the [...]
We celebrated Kyle’s birthday when he was in town for Thanksgiving (someday, hopefully before February, I will be caught up with this blog—I have yet to bombard you with Christmas pictures). We watched the OSU vs. Michigan game, and had lunch and (vegan) chocolate cake and pudding. The cake sort of crumbled but was really [...]
The day after Thanksgiving we invited Katy, Tom, Colleen, Kyle and my parents over for dinner. How I wish we all lived closer and could do this routinely, monthly, even. But instead I will be grateful for evenings like these, even though rare. “When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses.” [...]
My mom’s table settings are always beautiful. Mom, Kyle and Dad cooking in the kitchen. Grandma making stuffing. Mom cooking. beautiful Colleen Owen could have spent hours doing this. Sophie decked out for the holiday. fresh flowers (a gift from my dad to my mom), vintage linens, dinner plates from France, antique crystal wine glasses [...]
Happy birthday, Dad. I love you! “There’s something like a line of gold thread running through a man’s words when he talks to his daughter, and gradually over the years it gets to be long enough for you to pick up in your hands and weave into a cloth that feels like love itself.” —John [...]
