Breakfast with Santa

We were all up bright and early this morning.... because it was a BIG DAY .... We had a date to have breakfast with Santa.

Before we left, we had a family photo shoot

Late, during breakfast who should appear but......... Here he is ..... SANTA!

Olivia was a little shy at first, but when she finally settled on Santa's lap, she had no problem giving him her Christmas list.

Oh how I wish my Grand Children would stay little forever .... but no matter what, we will always keep The Magic of Christmas alive in this family!

Christmas in Virginia - a little early

As you can see from the photos below, our Christmas in Virginia was a wonderful one for us all - even little Cup Cake enjoyed the day.

The Mah Jongg "Dragon Ladies" enjoy an afternoon at the Grove Park Inn - to celebrate Christmas

We "Dragon Ladies" meet every Monday afternoon to play Mah Jongg. For those of you who understand the game, you'll understand what I mean by the game "going to the wall" and for those of you who don't know what on earth I'm talking about - it simply means that no one wins or "mah jonggs' for that round. When this happens, we all put in a quarter and each December we take that money and enjoy a Christmas luncheon together.

We try to find somewhere special and this year, we really "hit the jackpot". We all traveled to Grove Park Inn and enjoyed their sumptuous buffet. In fact we ate "non stop" for nearly two hours - from a beautifully presented buffet - that covered two rooms, while we enjoyed a view overlooking the North Carolina Mountains.

Afterwards, we joined the Christmas caroling in the lobby of this beautiful lodge and even found a willing soul to take our photo in the Santa's sleigh by one of the huge fireplaces.

To top off the afternoon, we marveled over the ginger bread houses - works of art - and submitted by people from all over the United States. You've probably seen some of them on "Good Morning America". Below are a couple - but these are not the ones that won any honors. They were incredible and unfortunately, I was too awestruck to take many pictures.

Holiday Fun

It seems that we've been "non stop" partying for the past three weeks - but oh what fun we've had - thought I'd share some with you.

Our "Whist Group" went to eat at The Charlotte Street Grill in Asheville the other night. Asheville has been "likened" to a little New York City - and in a a way it is. Lots of trendy, out of the way restaurants and this was one of them. We ate upstairs in a private room and our very obliging waiter snapped these photos of us.

.

And now there are Five!

For years, a group of my friends and I had a "Birthday Party" group. We got together for lunch and celebrated the birthdays of those whose birthday fell during that month. (We all brought that person or persons a small gift). Since we had no birthdays to celebrate in December, we drew names and had a Christmas luncheon and exchanged gifts during the holiday.

We all made a vow - nearly twenty years ago that we would continue to do this until there were only two of us left.

Well, the years have passed and we have lost many of our members - and now there are only five of us. We've joked over the years that someday we'd be using canes or walkers or maybe be in nursing homes.

We were young then and thought - of course this would never happen to any of us. Well, it has ---- and though we are still young at heart ---- of those who are left, one is in a nursing home and uses a walker and one uses a cane.

This is a photo of us today in the lobby of The Inn on Church street in Hendersonville, NC - where we celebrated our annual Christmas Luncheon and gift exchange.

Moral of the story ------- Remain young at heart - but cherish each moment you have with your friends - you will not be all together forever - but your memories will last forever!

Just Three Little Elves who wish you a Merry Christmas

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Today we visited College Walk - a retirement community we may "retire" to some day.

http://www.collegewalkretirement.com/ As part of our "wait list" package, we get free dinner tickets to their dining room several times a year. We hadn't used any of ours so far this year - so tonight was the night. We have decided that this Grandma and Grandpa are definitely not ready for life in a retirement community yet - maybe NEVER!!!!!

Their web page certainly does not reflect the "real" thing - most everyone was using walkers and the buffet spread looked nothing like the elaborate spread they pictured. I think we'll stay where we are until we are can no longer function physically or mentally. (Or both). In other words - we'll just "struggle along" - singing a song - side by side"