Tidbits...

I think someone around here needs to update their blog!! Okay, that would be me...so here goes.
Thanksgiving, the 22nd
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day. We are normally in TN for Thanksgiving and end up being at both of our parents' houses in one day but this year we are not and I will explain why in a bit. We always have a "Reagan Family Thanksgiving" by ourselves before the "real" Thanksgiving in TN but this year we actually got to do it on the exact day! We invited Jamin and Joy Boyer over to spend the day with us. We have a few traditions that we always do with the kids which includes reading to them about our first Thanksgiving, playing several old games with them that they used to play in the olden days. The children always look forward to us playing these games with them. Their daddy reads to them while I get dinner finalized. I always enjoy setting the table really beautiful and I make the kids dress in their church clothes. All of the children (well, not Audrey) get to use real glasses to drink from and they get knives at their place setting. They get so excited! It is very cute. We had turkey (of course), stuffing, corn, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, and yummy yeast rolls. I asked the kids what they wanted for desserts and Isaiah wanted ice cream, Briley wanted pumpkin pie, and Caleb wanted that "round purple stuff we had last year". Don't worry, I didn't know what it was either for a while. Then we figured it out...cranberry sauce!! So, he got cranberry sauce.:) I also made Egg Custard Pies and Chocolate Cream Pies for my honey (although he likes the rolls for dessert as well as anything else! Joy made the green beans, a yummy pecan pie and meat balls for a late evening appetizer.
We invited a man from church who didn't have anywhere to go. His name is Ron and he is a very lonely man. I think he enjoyed eating dinner with us. He is nuts about the kids and loves to play with them. There is no loneliness around here!!
We had a wonderful day with Jamin and Joy. They are such a blessing to us and we are all becoming very good friends. We are so thankful the Lord brought them here. We played games, ate more food, talked and talked, connived Jamin into helping Jimmy move my entertainment center downstairs, and ended the day with "It's A Wonderful Life" Ahh...what a fun day! I regret that I have hardly any pictures because my camera batteries died and I did not have any more charged. Can you believe it?

Jimmy playing a game with Audrey. Notice the broom...aka ~ "the Indian".

Ron holding Macey.
Friday, the 23rd
The tradition for Friday after Thanksgiving is to get all of our Christmas stuff out. Well, there were some good sales going on and I really wanted to shop a tiny bit so Jimmy took us to Maysville. It was a very enjoyable morning. It was snowing like crazy the whole time and it sure got us in the Christmas mood. We were back home by 1:00 p.m. Once we got home, we wanted to decorate. Decorating the tree is the first thing that we do. After that is done, then I can concentrate on the Snow Village of Reaganville (more on that at a later date), my snowman collection and my mantle and other places. We got all the tubs of Christmas stuff out (can you believe we have 4 tubs of stuff!!) and got the tree put together, plugged in the lights and...they didn't work. Out of 3 sets of net lights, I had a half of a set that worked. I changed so many light bulbs!! I could not get any of them to work and I was getting frustrated! So, we all loaded up again and went and bought some more lights! It was very fun. I am sure it would have been easier for one of us to run to Wal-Mart and get lights but we were in such a holiday spirit that we all went together. We finally got the tree up. I put hooks on and the kids hung the ornaments with a little help from Daddy. For some reason, many of the ornaments are kind of congregating in the front of the tree.:) Audrey was so cute. She will be a lot of fun this year!

"Baby, it's cold outside..."

The problem lights...

Back to Wal-Mart we go...





Decorating the tree...(Like Audrey's hat? She wore it the whole time and would not take it off! It was so cute.)
My Basement
We have been working to get the basement "homey". We really want a Christmas tree downstairs also this year. My brother, Nevin and his family are coming back from Idaho this week to spend a couple of weeks for the holidays. They will staying with us from this Tuesday-Saturday so we wanted to have the basement liveable for them to have their own place for their family while they are here. So, we have painted, and moved in furniture. It is look ing so much better. Finally, all of the pictures I have had in my head are coming to fruition! I will post some pictures after tomorrow. We are going to be putting up the tree and some lights tomorrow to finish it up and I want the pictures to have that in it. We still have to trim the whole this and some finish carpentry for wiring lights in the ceiling and things like that. Bob (our deacon) is coming over tomorrow to cut heat vent in the duct work so it will be warm down there! It is all very exciting!

Conclusion
I'm sure you are wondering if I ever would conclude this post! Because Nevin and Jennibeth and the boys are coming in, I don't know when I will be able to post again so I thought I better put everything into this one. For those of you who dislike it when people do that...I am sorry!:)