Mark in his tux

What an awesome sight! My son Mark all dressed up in a black tuxedo. As I have mentioned in previous posts, Mark is a senior in high school and we are experiencing all of the wonderful yet scary things that happen during that last year of high school. He has been accepted to the college of his choice, we are gearing up for senior trip, we have been awarded financial aid (thank goodness!) and we are well on our way! I guess I should say “Mark” is well on “his” way. But, the thought of him on his own is one of those scary thoughts I mentioned above.

Last Saturday was the junior-senior prom and Mark went with his friend Jessica. Jess is best friends with my daughter Haley, so the two of them were locked in Haley’s bathroom for hours getting ready. Haley is great with hair and make-up and by the time she was finished, Jessica looked like a princess.

Haley and Jessica

After all the pictures were taken, a group of kids took off for dinner at Enrico’s Italian Restaurant then off to the prom where they had an awesome time. They all came home with sore legs from dancing so much! From there, they went to a friends for a get together after prom. Finally, at about 2:30 AM a group of about eight kids came home with Mark and asked if they could spend the night at my house! I happily agreed and after talking with them all for what seemed forever, we finally got to sleep about 4:00 Sunday morning.

These are the memories that will live forever and I am so glad that I get to be a part of these young people’s lives. They are great kids and I am so blessed to be able to share in their adventures through life.

Senior trip is next week….stay tuned!

Turkey Dinner

Finally! My Mother and brother have arrived from the northern part of Michigan. My Mom calls it “God’s Country”. Normally they don’t come until just before Christmas, but I think that they were quite ready to take a break from the cold weather. So, this is the first year we get to spend Thanksgiving together for a long time.

While I am at work, my Mother does the laundry and has a great dinner ready when we all get home and my brother picks my youngest child up from school every day. Yesterday, he even gave the dog a bath. This allows me more time to work on my blog.

When they come, all diets are called off!! My Mom is an excellent baker. She makes homemade cinnamon rolls, banana bread and molasses cookies, just to name a few. I always seem to put on a few extra pounds when she comes.

My family loves to play all sorts of games. We play Phase 10, poker and Rummy. However, Canasta is our favorite. We
have an annual competition to see who can win the most games during her stay. My son Mark usually comes the closest to beating her; she is good!

All my friends love to come over when Mom and Ray are here. We usually get quite loud as we tell stories and
reminisce about the silly things we have done over the years. The stories tend to grow and have more exaggerations
added to them each year.

I look forward to spending Christmas and New Years with my Mom and brother will be here. I expect we will have a lot
of fun and make a lot of memories to pass down to the generations to come.