Love is in the air

We have two weddings to look forward to in the near and far future.

Our daughter Erin and her boyfriend Chris became engaged this past week.
(Must take picture of them - I have one from Christmas but it's not a "couple" picture)

Chris is from Scotland and the wedding is currently planned for this summer in his hometown. Looks like Rob & I will be getting our passports soon! They could get married where he currently works, Lands of Loyal, or possibly the Scone Palace near Perth.

They have been lovely to watch and the engagement is not unexpected. He spoke with Rob prior to Thanksgiving about asking Erin to marry him and received our blessing then. We've been waiting for the past few weeks for the good news to finally come about.

The other couple getting married is my brother Art and his long-time girlfriend, Kendra. Yay! She's been an absolute blessing and I'm glad her place in our family will be permanent.

This Christmas Day, May You

Have loved ones to spend the day with


Be rich in blessings


Have a warm place to be


And food to eat


Merry Christmas!

A knitting FO and some weather

First, the good news: I finished the Christmas stocking.



Mailed it out to Chicago so that Miss G could have her first Christmas with a handknit stocking made by Auntie Gina. Knit on Denise size 8s with Wintuck and Red Heart yarns. Gingerbread boys are knit in Reynolds Utopia and the faces used the Red Heart. Red gumdrop buttons and the string of candy and the other little candies are miniature ornaments from JoAnn's.

Since I mailed it out, we had a little bit of snowfall that melted quickly in Vancouver.


But since that early snowfall this past week, we had a bit more yesterday:


Definitely not as much as one sister was expecting in Central Washington (12 inches!), but this morning we had a coating of ice as well.


Not what we wanted since Mom was driving up from San Diego. I tried to get out of PDX yesterday to fly to Sacramento and drive up the rest of the way with her, but had my flight cancelled due to Southwest's lack of working de-icers. Mom figured she'd then spend the night at her sister's home and drive up today.

Instead, she kept driving and ended up at my brother's home in Gladstone at 2am. She did stop along the way to put on chains and she'll drive the rest of the way to our house today. It's only a 30-minute drive in good weather, so it'll probably take twice that today.

But it sure is pretty when you don't need to go out.

How did they know?

You Are Considerate and Mature

You approach the holidays with responsibility and cooperation. You'll do your part to make sure that everyone else has a happy holiday. You aren't particularly picky or high maintenance during the holidays. You're happy to be in the company of people you love, and you're willing to "go with the flow." Of all the types, you are the most likely to give someone exactly what they want. You're also the most likely to wrap all your presents well - to prevent peeking!

The Wrapping Paper Test

Taking it off for charity

Mom raised money for St. Baldrick's and shaved her head. Doesn't she look great?

A friend said craziness must run in the family.

Really?

You Are an Argyle Sweater

You are contemplative, brainy, and serious. You don't take much lightly - life is too important for that. You are a very determined person. You don't let anything stand in your way. You think out your actions and act deliberately. You don't waste time, money, or resources.

What Kind of Sweater Are You?

Christmas knitting

Working on a Christmas stocking for Gigi:



It's knit with size 8 needles and used Red Heart White & Wintuk Christmas Red for the stocking itself. I scrounged up some remnants of Reynolds Utopia for the gingerbread man. His gumdrops are buttons and the face was sewn on with the RH White. And he has a little bit of stuffing to make him pop out. There's a similar gingerbread man (no stuffing though) on the other side.

I just need to put her name on it and it'll hit the mail this week :) I'm tempted to figure out how to add "candies" to the stocking as additional embellishments, though.

I'm also knitting a pair of socks for Miss S:



Size 2 needles using Knitpicks now discontinued Dancing sock yarn in Ballet. The pattern is from Knit Socks! and it's called Straight Laced. I'm just about to start the toe decreases on this first sock and then I'll have to work hard to avoid Second Sock Syndrome.

Yum!

You Are a Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin

You are smart, sophisticated, and savvy. You love taking risks, and you are the first to know about new trends. You are curious about the world and tend to have many interests. You also are very talented. It sometimes seems like you are good at everything. You are very social and inclusive. You'll be friends with anyone. Even though you're very cultured, you're not a snob.

What Kind of Muffin Are You?

I've been lost in Ravelry with the knitting projects, but seem to be knitting less.

I've taken far fewer pictures than I want to.

I've read far fewer books than last year.

Seems like less is happening but I'm not sure where the big time suck is.

But Erin graduated high school in June with her HS diploma and her AA from Clark College. Here's Rob and Erin on that very chilly June night.


She left for college in September. This is actually two photos side by side to show how small a room she has.


Rob and I escaped to the Oregon coast for 5 days in October. Here's a sunset outside our room.


We kept driving past this window:


Had to take a pic of it for you, Mom!

I still love this show

A Friends Music Quiz



Score: 83% (10 out of 12)