THANKSGIVING AND FRIENDS AND PHAMILY

I hope each and everyone of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.  I ate smaller portions but when I was shopping I purchased a wedge of Brie cheese. My hubby and youngest daughter Hannah loves it and so do I! The cashier said there was no price on it and since it was for Thanksgiving, it's free and Happy Thanksgiving! I was tickled! But she is my favorite cashier!  Brie cheese is a real weakness for me. We also had a beautiful selection of pies and lots of tasty side dishes to compliment our turkey.

Oh my gosh, this Princess Sassy Pants had me chuckling! I love this sweet sentiment.

These two fruitcakes will be married on Dec 2. I called them that affectionately because Rebekah is very into all the Irish traditions for weddings. One of them is the bride and groom eat a fruitcake together. So being a good mother, I bought them one from Collin Street Bakery.

It is being soaked in Irish whiskey for the wedding event. Jameson to be exact. Boy this mom love her girl.

Cousins, Jayden (6), Michael (2 1/2) and Harrison (21 months). These fellows make the holidays jolly.

Police humor makes me smile. Our youngest Nick has a BFF Jazin and he is a local police officer. Oh the stories you can already share! People are silly. This pooch is quite handsome too so he might enjoy visiting Aw...Mondays with Sandee and the gang.

You know you are saying Aw........Mondays!

Police Dog filing his report.

Ha Ha Ha! This police dog is not a fan of the feline ! He's pretty serious about his work.

Hope this police dog humor made you smile today.

My phamily has grown from 7 of us to currently 24 1/2. We have to count the new baby boy who will join us in March 2017. We need our own private hall to hold our holiday dinners. My folks would be so proud. They really loved their siblings and all the extended phamily we had. I hope you stop by Blue Monday and say hello.

Aw....Love is...can always make me smile.

I'm not a big shopper these days. Too much rudeness, crazy drivers and all the rest. I like to shop from home. SO I agree with Maxine here. SHe makes me smile every day.

Thinking about people who need encouragement today.

Always lots of prayer requests. A high school friends son-in-law lost his sister in a motorcycle accident. Don and Vickie, struggle with health issues. Always needing extra prayer. Pray for those homeless without anywhere to go. Pray for those struck with mental illness and unable to help themselves. Prayers for many needing full time employment, pray for young parents, as my friend Maureen says, the older generation, we can never stop telling our grands about Jesus. Pray for young married couple that they keep Christ at the center of their marriages. I have prayed for my little friends Kaydence and Mayah since before their birth. I never forget them in my nightly prayers. So many hurting hearts. Thinking of a small kindness you can do for someone hurting.  Appreciate all good thoughts you have and the prayers lifted up.

Pinterest makes me smile. Love this tea time which can be anytime at all. Look at those sweet macroons. Remember to follow me and leave comments so you can be in the second part of my giveaway, this one will be a Christmas Tea Tyme Giveaway. Come join the fun. Thank you for visiitng me and letting me share a smile, a prayer or a simple story today.

Oh Monday Monday

Aw...Mondays! I hope you stop by and tell Sandee hello and join the fun. These two seem to be playing a game of peek-a-boo! Cats and dogs seem to get along beautifully. Don't you wish people would too?

I hope you will share a cup of tea (or coffee) with me in this beautiful blue tea cup set. I love the pretty scallop design on the cup. Feeling poorly is not any fun at all but drinking hot tea with lemon and honey always makes me feel a bit better. I would love to find this tea cup because I would share it with the folks at Blue Monday along with all their beautiful blues.

Love is...always has the right thing to say. It is fun to laugh more and worry less. Not much good in worry. You won't feel any better and nothing will be accomplished.

Maxine always knows just what to say and during the holidays we all know someone who would rather not have some relatives around. I guess sometime people can be annoying. I like my relatives. It is nice to gather together and enjoy the holiday season.

Princess Sassy Pants always has a positive note to share. She is a joy and she must have read my mind, I love a slice of pie anytime! Do you? What is your favorite?

A thoughtful Scripture to remind us of the gifts we receive at Thanksgiving and all through the holiday season.

A Kocman Phamily Gathering. I am guessing this was the Summer of 1949. My grandmother is holding my sister Mary, her namesake, on her lap. I was not born yet so my mom on your far left is holding on one my cousins, the twins, Marla and Darla. My dad is in the back row, far left and standing next to his brother, my Uncle Moon. Next to him is Uncle Art and he is holding cousin Kay. This is a huge group of my paternal phamily. I saw this photo and I cried happy tears. I sure love my life.

A Little Weekend Fever

I have a viral thing again!  Nothing a flu shot can protect and after my dental appointment on Monday, this bug kicked into high gear to kick me down! So I am stopping by the blog to give a few updates.

Here are some teacups that would make me feel better. I have been living on herbal tea and honey and soup.  Stop by Beverly's and visit some Pinks. It has been a challenge watching my little sidekick great  grand boy but somehow we have managed. He drinks soup out of a pretty cup just like me! He has been quite a helper too.

He said I better make a u turn and head the right direction to Grammie Noelle's so we can take care of Trek.

He loves his leaves. He likes to crunch them under his feet. He is quite the great outdoorsman!

A pretty pink image. Love this tea set. Wanted to check in, since my first winner and I are trying to get together so she can get her giveaway win. Sometime life is just so busy. I am going to draw the final two winners after Rebekah;s wedding. Most days I see myself coming or going or something. I may have worn myself out trying to keep up with everyone and everything. I will make good on my promise to send out beautiful packages I hope the winners will love their treasures.

If we are to properly represent God we need to be careful how we treat the beasts of the earth that He so lovingly created for us.

My daughter Noelle was with my sister Mary today. Because I am feeling so badly I could not go and was sad. My friend Kathy lost her precious mom Simi. Noelle is like the adopted child of Kathy since she stood by me all the years I was a single parent.  Noelle attended the memorial service for Kathy's mom. I am sad and ask for prayers, not only for Kathy and her phamily grieving this difficult loss, her mom was a tiny bundle of energy and a wonderful nurse. But please pray for my friend Vivian too. She fell and could not get up and was moved into a nursing home. I have to get home after the wedding and the holidays to visit with her. She is one of those friends that sticks by you no matter what.  While she was visiting, Noelle took a photo of this childhood photo where my sister Mary is front and center and my brother Eddie in on your left and cousin Kenny on your right while the twins, (cousins) Marla and Darla were in the middle. The four of them made their first communion and my sister was dressed like a lovely angel, which she really is. I sure love my life.

Something Blue for Monday's

If you check in with Sandee and say Aw...Mondays she would love to see your sweet share! These intellectuals are having a game of chess. Quite intense and it was never my cup of tea. The cats and dog think otherwise.

I usually post on Veteran's Day. Today and all weekend long I tried to thank as many service members as I could, active and retired. I'm not going to get political but if our flag and our military offend you, there is a whole wide world out there to see.

Denver has one of the largest Veteran's Day parades in our country. We celebrated Rebekah's bridal shower so we were unable to attend this year. The state capital is behind these various military  men and women.

Colorful hair highlights are quite the trend. I like this pretty shade of blue. Maybe the folks at Blue Monday will too. Stop by and say hello and share your blue today.

Fitting words in this troubled world.

I thought these words were fitting for our military. Active and retired, resting in peace, they all served us all so well.

Maxine on the time change. SHe is one sassy but smart gal!

We like the movies, how about you? Love is...looks overwhelmed! I'm not much into a lot of violence in movies although I do like the Justice League characters.

Love this pinterest find, a cherry teapot for one. Love the sentiment too. I will draw a second winner this week. Trying to cram everything into my tight schedule Wedding projects, Harrison time, the dentist, doctor appointments. Always something happening here. I will post some photos too as I prepare to send the giveaway gifts. Stop by Beverly's and visit some Pinks!

11th Tea Cup/ Tea Mug Exchange

This is the gorgeous tea cup sent to me by Brenda J. from Marietta, Georgia. Oh my goodness, what a beautiful and delightful gift. Have you visited Beverly at Pink Saturday lately? You should. Lots of pink shares to see.

Here is the saucer. I love butterflies and I noticed this sweet little fluttering friend perched on the saucer. I will always remember Brenda by this beautiful gift. She also sent me the sweetest and most precious Tea Wallet. It was stitched by her hand and boy does it mean a lot to me! I find extreme value in treasures that someone hand crafts with their artistic hand.

This was so darling and made my heart smile. She stitched "2017" on the back and I carry this in my purse.

Brenda is a really bad influence. Do you see the Godiva chocolate? Cadbury chocolate? A tea spoon treasure. A journaling book. Oh Brenda, she was a first time participate with Stephanie and I have to say this Southern girl did a beautiful job making me happy! Don't forget the tea and tea biscuits too. She covered everything that makes tea a happy place! Thank you Brenda for each and every beautiful item.

Lovely Ms. Alena from Oregon gifted me the prettiest Currier and Ives Tea Mug. She said she fell in love with it when she found it. I was feeling a tad guilty because I love it as much as she did! I thin she might be one of those soul sisters we get to know in our lives. I will tell you, for a young lady  she chose some of the loveliest gifts for me. The book  The Excellent Wife, chocolate and tea and a beautiful book of verses. So perfect for me. I was over the moon with this package too. I really felt a connection with the four ladies I was involved with during the tea exchange. I was lucky enough to gift JoAnne in Texas a tea cup and Anna in Oregon a tea mug. I wish I had taken photos.

Here is my Currier and Ives Tea Mug from Alena. Isn't it just gorgeous? Thank you Alena.

This is the Tea Set I sent to Anna in Oregon. It included the mini teapot with a mug and lid and a cute teaspoon/teabag holder.

These are the other items I included. It was a fun experience. I think everyone involved in this exchange gave wonderful treasures. I am looking forward to the next week. Make sure you visit Stephanie's blog so you can see all the treasures. Have a great weekend.