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Fall Leaves...Part Two

 

Hello December...goodbye fall. Yeah, it's December 10th. Fall leaves me a liar! I just read the end of my last post. Making an empty promise to write about the rest of our fall later that week. I don't know what to say about that. It's not procrastination or lack of motivation. My best ideas for writing come to me at the most inopportune time, like 5:30 a.m. while I'm getting ready for the day but I don't have the time to sit down and write. I have to get Lorelei to the pool, or myself to school for tutoring. The day flies by with all the usual routines...pick up from school, dinner, light chores, homework, and school work for me. Setting aside time for writing is something I am going to do better in 2023! But...don't hold me to that. 

Motherhood failure on my part...I failed to mention we celebrated Bailey's 23rd birthday at the end of October. October 24 to be exact. Just a little get-together...sushi for dinner, some shopping, and lots of silliness from his siblings. John and Savannah couldn't go because of school and work, but we made the most of it.   

Lorelei made him a cake!





Jonas celebrated his birthday too, on November 2nd. He turned 17 this year. His birthday was on a school day, so he opted for a steak dinner at home. 



He wanted some simple gifts, a radio that's also a Bluetooth player and a dart board! 




I had some grown-up fun that weekend when I headed out for a girls' 
football weekend! My principal and friend Lori graduated from A&M and you all know I am a Gator girl through and through. Pre-Covid we had talked about going to a game together and this year I actually made it happen! We had a great time. We stayed outside of College Station due to all the rooms being booked and outrageously priced that weekend. It turned out okay though! We stayed in a little town called Somerville and found the best breakfast place. I loved being in College Station and on a college campus. We took a ton of pictures!

Our America's Best Hotel! I felt like we were in the movie, My Cousin Vinny. I heard a train whistle about a dozen times on the first night there!


All smiles and on our way!



Lori had Terri one of our front office staff make us the cutest t-shirts! "Friends or Rivals, It's Complicated!" We got tons of compliments on them.







We were tired by the end of the day and maybe didn't quite have the stamina we did back in our college days but we did have a great time. By the way, did I mention the Gators won?  GO GATORS!



We headed to UT Austin just two weeks later to celebrate Savannah at her Ring Ceremony! It's a big thing here in Texas (maybe at other schools now too?!?). I remember just going to the student union to pick mine up and that was that. There was a small ceremony and celebration to mark this milestone for students. You have to have at least 75 credits to receive one. Savannah has worked so hard and we couldn't be prouder of her! We drove up to Austin on November 18. John and Bailey had to work so they couldn't join us. 











We celebrated with dinner out. It was quite an evening which included getting stuck in a parking garage and parallel parking the Suburban! 




Thanksgiving break followed. It was restful and packed with family time. 

Dentist appointment for Savannah.


We shopped till we dropped at IKEA. 




Lorelei had diving and got to practice with the ropes. 


Thanksgiving day was spent cooking at home and heading to my Mom's and Dad's.




Nana is slowly on the mend. 











Savannah brought her puppy home over the break too. Rio and Dianne LOVE each other!




We loved having Savannah home for the week and were sad to see her and Rio go. But she was ready to head back to Austin. She's loving college life now and being on her own. 



Last weekend we worked hard to prep for my first book club gathering! I'm so excited to be co-hosting the Wernli Book Club. We had a very small turnout for our first meeting, but that's okay. I'm excited for it to grow.




Today I finally finished putting up Christmas decorations.  Time to switch gears and finally let go of fall and get into the Christmas spirit. 

Lorelei swore the tree was shorter this year. It's just a 6ft tree. I promised it was her that was growing and not the tree shrinking! 






I keep it pretty simple around here and that's just the way we like it. Two smaller trees have been our thing for a few years now, and I love them. 

Finland, our Elf on the Shelf is of course retired, but you are never too old to have him at least hang around. 



Now it's time to start actually buying a few presents! Yikes! This is the last week of school before our Winter break. Savannah will be home by Thursday. Looking forward to a peaceful and relaxing holiday season.

Hello December...happy holidays friends!


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