I am Thankful for Family

Today, I wanted to share a few of the things for which I am thankful.

 

I am thankful that my parents decided, after the fact, that they wanted more than the original 6 children they had planned to have .... I am number 7 and am shown above with my oldest sister, Julie. I loved growing up in a large family, another brother and sister came along after me.  In fact being a part of a large family was so fun, that from as early as I can remember I wanted to have a large family too.

I am also thankful for an amazing family heritage ... in my genealogy I have a president of the United States,  an Indian Chief, an apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and a boat load of pioneers and missionaries ...

 

Above is my grandmother's cousin, Hanna Wang, she was Norwegian, and served all of her adult life as a Christian missionary to China ..

I am also grateful for my amazing progeny ... My children and grandchildren greatly enrich my life.  I also love seeing them being amazing additions to society.  All adults are fully employed, and are active in doing good works.

 

Above is my granddaughter Eva, she and her cousins are a delight in my life daily.

Of course everything I have and am, is a result of my amazing parents.  My mother and father were small town social reformers ... sometimes that was hard to live with ... like when we had a cross burned in our lawn when my mother was running for political office as a candidate in a minor party, or when my father developed a bleeding ulcer while working as a social worker.

 

They sacrificed greatly to make the world a better place, and they are a amazing great example to me.

 

... and last, but not least, is my beloved partner of 40 years ... he is also amazing ... he is kind, and capable ... if I can imagine it, he can do it, and believe me, I can and have imagined a lot!!

 

Thanks you dear for 40 amazing years (we met 40 years ago last month)

 

I am so grateful for the amazing people in my life ... friends and family alike. Thank you all for all you do to make me a better person.

Its ROCC Instasale Time

Yep, lots of fun yesterday getting ready for the Reclaimologists Instasale on Instagram.

One of the projects I chose was this old wood box ... I found it at a yard sale this summer.  I love these old shop projects, they are so carefully made ... and this one even had the name of the boy and the date, 1928, that it was made.

I painted it, striped it, distressed it and lined it with polkadot paper.  Perfect for our Christmas Theme, don't you think?

Of course the finishing touch is an old post card that I found on Graphics Fairy, which is probably about the same vintage as the box!

To the right is the writing that is in the lid, now covered by paper ... pretty cool eh?

Below is the collage I put together for the instasale posting.  If you are on instagram, be sure to check out Reclaimologists and Other Crafty Chicks today ... there will be lots of fun, crafty and Christmasy stuff for sale.

Grand Children's Halloween Dinner

... and what can be more fun that eating spooky food the day before Halloween?  That's what my dear husband and I thought when we hatched a plan to have our grandchildren over for an All Hallow's Eve Eve dinner party.

Above is the menu, with graphics thanks to Karen at Graphics Fairy.

Dragon Scales with Snake Sauce (Trader Joe's Mini Ravioli in Alfredo with a touch of green)

Ghoulish pumpkin's dinner rerun (Good old spaghetti)

Witch's Head Under Glass

Wicked Witch of the West Fingers ... not to be confused with lady fingers, of course.

Vampire's Delight is just a one layer cake from Macey's our local grocery store.

 Festive paper products, and a copy of the menu tucked into the drinking glasses for each ghoulish goblin completed the table.

My 11 and 12 year old grandsons were a lot of help in finding the clues in the Treasures Hunt, which the kids all loved.  They also carved their own pumpkins and helped with those of younger cousins ...

In all we had a clown, a wolf, a spaceman, a fireman, a cowboy a mermaid and a alien ...  Gotta love the alien, 12 year old Ian made the costume himself, and he is always super creative.  We loved having them all come, and hope to make this a yearly event, after all the three three year olds will be four next year!!