The Big Six Oh!

Yup, yesterday was my 60th birthday.   Enough said about that!
This was what our yard looked like yesterday when we woke up....

The sign reads....."Debbie says 60 is the new 40!"   It made me chuckle to see the joggers slow down as they gawked at the flamingos and then stopped to read the sign.   Our retiree neighbors also got a big kick out of it, too.

What a busy day we had!   Jeremy flew in and Julie and family picked him up at the airport on their way into town.   How exciting it is for us to have all our kids and grandkids in one place at the same time!

Thank goodness Julie played photographer and grabbed some shots for me.   Love these of the grandkids....
Some posed just so....

....and some silly.   Of course, the boys just love to ham it up.....it's hard to sit still when you know there are Christmas presents waiting for you inside the house......and Grammy won't let you open them yet!   What's up with that???

I have to back up a moment here and set the stage for the pics that follow.    Because we share our kids and grands with their in-laws, we sometimes need to juggle our holidays.....and since my big birthday occurred this year, we decided to combine Christmas and my birthday into one big celebration.  

Just this once, I was willing to break my own rule about not mixing the two.   After all, December 23rd is NOT Christmas Day, it's my birthday!   The whole family makes sure that any birthday cards or wrapping paper coming my way has zero hint of Christmas.  But in order to allow us to all be together we decided to do it all at once.   Whew!

So, to make it easy on myself, I ordered yummy Italian food from Cesarina's on East Bay.   OH. My.  Scrumptious!    We all feasted on stuffed shells, lasagna, chicken parmesan, meatballs and Italian bread.   And, of course, no family meal would be complete without a Greek salad from Greek Village.   After the meal, I asked Julie to help me get some hot chocolate started in the crock pot.   I wanted it to be hot when we returned from our outing.

I anxiously kept checking my watch because I was the only one that knew what was coming next.   Julie rounded up all the kids and took them outside and they were told to wait for a strange vehicle to arrive and when it did they needed to let me know.   Boy, were they ever surprised when this pulled up to the curb.........

 It's the Rocketship Car!   That seats 12!   And drives around town!  This used to be part of an amusement park ride in Ohio.  Joe, the owner and driver, bought it and converted it to road use and drives happy people around Largo in the winter and somewhere in Ohio in the summer.

Here we all are, ready for "take off".   There was a lot of giggling going on, let me tell you.   The grandsons were so quiet, Dawn says she thinks they were completely mesmerized.

Nate was really enjoying the breeze in his hair and the slightly loud Christmas carols coming out of the speakers in front of each seat.

That's one happy kid!   The funny part is that about halfway thru the ride Nate fell fast asleep in his seat.   I think the fresh air lulled him to sleep.

 Because Joel and I sat in the back, the only pics I got were the back of everyone's heads.   Except for Dawn and Jarrad.   Who said they'd never forget this birthday!   Ha!   That was the idea!!

 Joe, the driver, drove us up to Clearwater Beach and back.   I think the thing that was the most fun about the whole experience was seeing the happy expressions on the faces of the people who stopped to wave at us as we drove by.

We did a lot of smiling and waving...

 Julie and Cameron chatting it up with Jeremy.

 How cute is that expression from Jackson?    Happy, happy boy.   He says I'm the fun Grammy.   Awwww, how sweet is that?

So glad Jeremy could be here to share in all of our fun and to help make this birthday a truly memorable one for me.

We arrived back home just after the sun set into the Gulf of Mexico.   After an hour of carols blasting around us I think we were all ready to go inside and open our Christmas presents.    Pretty cool ride, though, pretty cool ride.  If you're interested in reading more about the rocket ship car, go to www.rocketshipcar.com.

 

I had almost forgotten about the birthday cake until Julie brought it out and asked me where my candles were.  Ummmmmm......somewhere in the storage unit, I replied.   She wouldn't hear of not having a candle, so we improvised and used a Yankee candle instead as the family sang Happy Birthday to me.   I guess it was appropriate to use such a big candle for such a big birthday!  Whew, we were all a little windblown after the ride in the rocketship car.

Yes, this is a flourless chocolate cake.   My favorite dessert in the whole world!   I was tempted to just put my whole face in it but decided I had better share it with everyone instead.

But now, the boys are sooooo ready to start opening their gifts.

Oh my goodness, isn't Sydney beautiful?  She's getting so grown up.

We finally handed out presents to all the anxious kids.   I just loving hearing all the squeals of delight as they rip open the paper and expose the surprise present inside.   Three little boys automatically gravitated to Joel's office space where they could hunker down with their "stash" of new toys and played quietly for the rest of the evening.    

Yummy marshmallows

We adults all settled into the living room with our coffee, hot chocolate and desserts.   Julie baked up a storm the day before and brought Christmas cookies(all my favorites), cherry nut cakes(a family recipe), and homemade marshmallows for the hot chocolate(my request as a present for me).   As we exchanged presents I tried to soak up every single moment and lock away the memory so I could conjure up the image whenever I wanted to remember this special day with my loving family.

I'm sure you are like me in that you take the time to find presents that are meaningful for each and every member of your family.   Some years it seems like it's easier to find just the right thing for everyone and some years you struggle a little more to make the gift "personal".    Well, this year, I knew we had nailed it for Jarrad.   You've seen the pics of his VW bus restoration.   Here's Jarrad's gift:

 Jarrad's gift was the last one we handed out. 

I know he's smiling here, but he was also crying.    When he saw his gift he says he broke down with tears of joy.

I

I didn't want all of Jarrad's hard work on the bus to go unremembered, so I blew up a pic I took the day we did a photo shoot together, and paired it with a custom license plate and framed it all in one big frame.    He called me this morning and said it is already hanging on the wall in his office at work.   Lots of hugging and tears all around....just sayin'.    We're so proud of all our kids and their accomplishments and the holidays are a great time to remember your loved ones and to tell them how special they are to you.

And so from the Roberts family to yours, we'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a joyous holiday season with your family.

Debbie (just one day over 59!)

Hog Fish

Oh.  My.   Scrumptious.

One of Joel's friends is a dive instructor and he regularly goes spear fishing out in the Gulf.   Every time he sees Joel he brings him a full zip bag of fresh fish....this time it was flaky, sweet hog fish.   To prepare it I brushed the top of the filets with light mayo, layered some thinly sliced onions and sprinkled the whole baking dish with parmesan cheese.    Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the  fish is no longer opague and serve.

Quick, easy and delicious.
Thanks, Bill, for yet another fresh taste from the Gulf of Mexico.   And, thanks, Mom, for the easy peasy recipe for the fish.

Still wiping my chin,
Debbie

Christmas, Abbreviated

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...........most every where you go.   But with over half our belongings in storage, I've had to decorate the rental house with the decorations I could get my hands on.  That's ok, it'll be less to put away after the holidays are behind us.   I really and truly love to decorate for the holidays and seasons, all of them.   From Christmas to Easter, for Fall and summer's patriotic holidays......I have a bin in the garage with appropriate decor for each and every one of them.   But this year Christmas will be a bit abbreviated, at least when it comes to decor.

 At least I was able to find my red tea kettle and Christmas towels......

 ....and a couple of boxes of colorful ornaments.    Publix has these cute 3' live trees.   Perfect for a little house.    On a little table.    With one long strand of lights.   Simple, simple.

 ....and a crazy tree topper in bright Florida colors.

 Our stockings are hung....

.....and we wish you glad tidings.

Hope you're not rushing around too much and that you have a Blessed Christmas!
Love and kisses from our house to yours,
Debbie & Joel

First Thanksgiving

Well, now we've had our first Thanksgiving at the farm.   Joel and I drove up to the farm with both of the dogs in the backseat of my car.   We towed the utility trailer filled with our fire pit and adirondack chairs and the back of the Tahoe was packed to the roof.   When we got up to the farm Joel had to de-winterize the travel trailer so we could use the water systems for cooking and washing and flushing.    Didn't take us long though to warm it up as the fireplace pumped out heat along with the propane heater.   The dogs settled down in front of the fireplace and "assumed the position".  Ha!

They look pretty comfy, don't they?     It just cracked us up that they plopped down on their towels and promptly fell asleep.  It was pretty cold the next morning when I took Molly outside at 6:30am.   As a matter of fact, it was 17 degrees and a bit breezy.   A couple of days later we even had sleet!

 The leaves were "crunchy" under our feet because they had a thin layer of ice on them.

I have always thought it was goofy to put articles of clothing on animals, but when I saw this water repellant coat for Molly, I just couldn't resist.   And at least it kept her from getting so wet.....awww, come on.....she looks adorable, don't you think?

 Not only did  the temps stay in the 20's and 30's for most of the week, we also got some snow!

 Just enough snow to put a soft coating on the ground....

 ....and on the roofs.....

.....and around the trees.   It was fun to see snow again, even if it was only a dusting.

 It was cold enough outside that we put food on the picnic table to keep it frozen until we were ready to heat it up.    There just wasn't enough room in the RV refrigerator, but that wasn't a problem with the low temps we were experiencing.

On Thanksgiving Day, I put the pumpkin pies outside to finish cooling and then to chill them before we had them for dessert!

Jeremy drove in from S.D. and arrived in time for Thanksgiving dinner.   We had Jeremy call us when he was in the nearest town and we quickly got in our car and drove out to the highway to meet him and show him how to get to the farm.   Boy, was he ever a sight for sore eyes.   And this mama was just grateful that he had safely made the trip to be with us for the holiday.

And his dog, Winston, looked pretty happy to see him, too.    Jeremy took Winston back to S.D. with him as he is his dog and we were just dog sitting for a while.   Now it's just us and the little fluffy dog.

 After we had our fill of turkey, mashed potatoes and all the trimmings, Jeremy brought out his guitar and played for us.

 Early next morning I made my guys one of their favorite breakfasts......thick, smokey bacon fried crisp with biscuits and scrambled eggs and lots of coffee to go with it all.  I just love cooking for my boys.

 Later on Friday the guys went into the woods and collected a bunch of wood and we sat around the campfire, catching up with each other.   It was so nice to have the whole day Friday to just relax and explore around the farm.

 Friday night we surprised Jeremy by celebrating his birthday 2 days early.    We cooked his favorite dinner....steaks on the grill and baked potatoes.

He had asked for some t-shirts from the local sports teams so, we got him a selection of shirts and baseball caps representing Tampa Bay that he can proudly wear around Sioux Falls.

 Saturday morning came all too soon and it was time for Jeremy to "turn and burn" as he had a 16 hour drive ahead of him to get back home.    We couldn't find Molly and then I turned the corner and there she was.....sitting in the passenger seat of Jeremy's truck.   He had the door to his truck open and she jumped in and made herself at home.  She loves to go for a ride!

 One last time for the dogs to play together......for Molly's whole life she has had Winston around to play with her.   We wondered how she was going to react without having him in the house anymore.  Winston will probably be glad to sleep more as he is much older than she is.

 Ok, buddy, time to get in the car.....this time your ride is going to be even longer.

 It was hard to watch Jeremy drive away again, but we're sure he will come back to the farm one day soon.    He confided to me that when we told him we had bought the farm he thought we were nuts.   But now that he saw it all in person, he understood why we were so excited about it.   That was a really nice thing for this mama to hear.

Hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday,
Debbie