I picked up gingerbread houses on after Christmas clearance sales because we hadn't done that yet this year. Made for a fun NYE activity. Ruby came for supper and to spend the night. We all watched the Rockin' New Year's Eve special and watched the ball drop in New York City. We played SkipBo, also. Pretty low key evening.
We enjoyed Bingo and grab bags made by Grandma with gift cards to a variety of places. Prime Rib was delicious as usual. Grandma had Grandpa's flannel shirts made into bears and each one of us got one. Our last gift from Dad/Grandpa.
When the weather turned colder this fall, I looked for my air compressor that Dad had bought me and I couldn't find it. I was really sad that I'd lost it considering Dad is gone now. On Christmas Day, I got into my tool cabinet and found the air compressor behind my tool box. It felt like a reminder that Dad was still around and looking out for us.
Grandma came for dinner and church with us. Maggie filled half her plate with sweet potatoes and declared there was no need to eat any other foods which made Grandma and I laugh! Grandma was glad to get a gift certificate to get her nails done with us this spring. Friends came to the same service we came to at St. Mark's so we took family photos for each other.
Christmas Eve morning, we opened presents and had monkey bread for breakfast. The first presents they opened were a phone case (Maggie) and a heat/cold pack that Philomena picked out and then saw when I forgot it in the trunk of my car so she wasn't surprised. They each got an ornament from Ten Thousand Villages, a gift certificate to get their nails done, and a Bible cover. Their stockings included the usual candy and toothbrush and a few other small things.