Winter in the mountains

We have had our share of heavy snowfalls this season, Ken is outside with the snow blower as I write, yes, another four inches of snow last night.

Our first snowfall was on thanksgiving eve, and than we have had inter-mitten snowfalls through our December and now January.

It's been frigid up here on the mountains.  With this frigid cold and having to deal with the windy conditions, I think I have had my share of winter.  It used to be nice and pleasant when we did not have to deal with the cold, but, now having to trek up the house in the cold, summer can't come soon enough.

The folks here say, we have not seen nothing yet, I dread that, please God, spare us, this is our first winter up here on the mountains, please be kind to us and not let is snow too badly.

I still enjoy watching the snow fall, but, we have to go out, we have to drive to work, we do not have the luxury of staying home and enjoying our retirement.  It's off to the salt mines with us, so, let it snow, but not too badly.

Christmas with family

Ken and I started our Christmas this year with Christmas eve mass at Our Lady of the Valley Church in Walker Valley.  The mass was beautiful, the priest, Rev. Fr. Ben (from Nigeria) gave a beautiful homily.  Through out mass I could sense the wonderful Christmas spirit which lifted my own spirit and there was joy and cheer in my heart. It was Real Christmas Joy, I was so pleased and felt so blessed to be able to attend Christmas Eve mass together with Ken.

Christmas Joy filled my heart and being this Christmas.  The true meaning of Christmas visited me this Christmas .... I am so very blessed.  Praise to our good and gracious God.

We came home and had a candle light meal, which is a tradition Ken and I created three years ago, of baked fish in cheese sauce with rice and broccoli.  It was simply delicious.

Christmas Day started bright and early for me, was up around 8am and started preparing for our Christmas dinner.

We had roast beef, roasted potatoes and carrots, baked ziti, ham and egg and lettuce salad and our bottles of wine.

Sue, Joe and Joey, Barb and Bryan were sharing our Christmas dinner with us.

We did a tour of the house before partaking our meal.  It was such a delight to have family sit at our table and share our meal together.

Do we do this on a yearly basis now?  Only time will tell .....

The firsts

Dave, Annmarie McDowell and the boys, together with Missy shared our Thanksgiving meal at our home.  Ken and I were able to unpack boxes and decorate the house in time for Thanksgiving.  We even managed to set up the Christmas tree.

We had butter nut squash soup, sweet potato bake, mashed potato, stuffing, lasagna, an 18 pound roasted turkey and some French beans.  The company made the sharing of the meal even more meaningful.  We appreciate good friends who travelled along with us on our journey and were always going the extra mile with their support and help through out the years.

Of course we had five inches of snow on thanksgiving eve, Ken and I were out shoveling snow a couple of times.  On thanksgiving day, Ken was out shoveling again and  to ensure the pathway was not icy, we did not want any slipping and sliding or bad accidents on our guests and hosts.

It was a nice, warm and cozy gathering.  The place was filled with children running around, lots of laughter and chatter and eating and merry making.

Everyone had lots of left overs to take home. A Thanksgiving to remember, that's for sure!

And here we are

We finally moved on Oct 25, 2014 and here we are all settled into our home and the place is looking homey and warm.

Well we had lots of infrastructure repairs, a new 180 feet well which cost us eleven thousand off the bat. Than the servicing of the furnace which had not been done in four years, really! we still have electrical wires hanging off the ceiling from the alarm system which is ten years old and needs to be rewired in the not too distant future. The house needs better insulation, since we are loosing heat.

A million dollars is what we need to fix up the place and fit in a another bathroom and fix the garage and the basement floor which is breaking in places.  A motion sensor light has to be fix on the side of the front lawn, oh of course the well guy tore up our asphalt drive way and now that has to be fixed.

One repair at a time!

We are loving our home. Ken and I just enjoy being able to relax and live our lives in complete abandonment without having outside influences and foot traffic and the drop of a hat.

Now we have the rest of our lives to enjoy our new home, a place we can call our own and so proud being able to say, yes, finally we are home owners.

We thank God for allowing us this opportunity and for blessing us along the way.  Amen.