Busy holiday weekend

The month of December started out with a busy weekend.  We had dinner with Sonja on Thursday.  We hadn't seen her in quite a while.  She is doing well and has just added a new companion to her home.  Sonja has always been fond of dogs and has been without a dog for a short while.  She decided to adopt this cute little dog and named him Murphy.  He is a puppy and even for a non-dog person, he is cute.    

 As you can see, I even enjoyed him.  He is very friendly and full of energy.

 He also loves to give kisses.  Bud got one here.

 Sunday Bud drove me down to Coleman for the Lewis family Christmas lunch.  I had originally invited Leo to meet us there but he called on Saturday and said he is working this week, 12 hours a day and 7 days a week.  I did stop by and leave him some treats in his truck.  I made Christmas cookies as part of my contribution to the potluck and some extra for him.
Kay and Greta, part of the 'cousins' stopped by.  We didn't have a lot of time to catch up.  I wanted to spend a little time with the aunts and uncles.  It is nice to talk to them and since they are the older generation, I like to spend a little time with them when I visit.

 Uncle Vernell came alone this year.  Marilyn, his daughter is here with him.  Aunt Glenna was home, her arthritis was bothering her so she didn't come this year.

 Aunt Florence and my cousin Joanne were there too.  When you get these two together, a lot of laughter fills the air.

 My cousin Denny was here with his grandson.  They are a very good pair.  It is nice to see the grandchildren of my generation coming along to some family events.

 The 'trio' did manage to get their picture taken.  We missed Eva who is often in the picture too.

 I thought a picture of the cousins was important.  I remember seeing pictures of their Lewis parents and I think it is important to keep a record of this generation too.  About half of us were there. Back row: Bill (Aunt Florence's son) Victor Long (Aunt Kathleen's son) Jack Lewis (Uncle Vernell's son) Jim Lewis (Uncle Clarence's son) Next row Denny Lewis (Uncle Carl's son) Kay Shelby (Uncle Clarence's daughter) Me (the only representative of Dad's family) Greta Tigner (Aunt Ruth's daughter) Marilyn ( I always forget her last name but she is Uncle Vernell's daughter) Front row and sitting because they are the oldest Joanne Waddington (Uncle Carl's daughter) and Jerry Lewis (Uncle Clarence's son)  No representatives of Uncle Elmer's family but I did visit them.  The Lewis crowd of the next generation looks pretty good.  I hope to see many more family gatherings and great pictures.

 After leaving the family gathering, I did my duty of putting this nice wreath on Mom and Dad's grave site.  It is ready for winter.  While standing there I remember the time that Sara was here with us at Christmas time and she showed us a traditional Norwegian custom of placing a candle in the snow.  It was a beautiful little ceremony and I was thinking how now the next generation is coming along and Sara is waiting for those little babies out on the Cape.  We had great times with family in Coleman.  I am thankful for those family memories.

 I had one more thing to do before leaving Coleman.  I took some of my cookies out to Aunt Mary and Uncle Elmer.  Uncle Elmer is looking a little weaker but he was enjoying football with his son.  Uncle Elmer is 92 years old.

 His son Scott was visiting too so one more cousin of my generation.

Finally we drove home just in time to meet up with friends for the November birthday dinner.  Bud and Andy were born within two days of each other.  We try to get together for dinner and a birthday celebration every year.  We were a month late this year but we made it.  It was great to catch up.

 So we had a great weekend, busy with all kinds activities with family and friends.

 One last thing that I am sharing.  I just finished this small wall hanging Christmas quilt.  I used some fabric that I had left over from another project and put this together.  I really like how it turned out.  It is full of  a LOT of 'half square triangles' that have to fit together in the center to make the stars. I am actually thinking of doing the quilting on this piece. For those of you that aren't quilters, I usually just do the piecing of the fabric together for the front of the quilt.  The 'quilting'  part is when you put a batting in between the back and front fabric and sew all three layers together.  My mother and her friends always did this by hand.  I am going to attempt to do this on my sewing machine.  This will be my first attempt at this skill so I hope that I don't ruin this beautiful piece but I would like to give this a try.  I think I will be able to hide any bad stitches in the dark fabric.

If you click on this picture you can make it larger and maybe see the half square triangles.

SO, busy with family and friends.  That was my weekend.  I enjoyed every moment.